diff options
Diffstat (limited to '1750.txt')
| -rw-r--r-- | 1750.txt | 22743 |
1 files changed, 22743 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/1750.txt b/1750.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..719b3be --- /dev/null +++ b/1750.txt @@ -0,0 +1,22743 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Laws, by Plato + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Laws + +Author: Plato + +Posting Date: October 29, 2008 [EBook #1750] +Release Date: May, 1999 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LAWS *** + + + + +Produced by Sue Asscher + + + + + +LAWS + +By Plato + + +Translated By Benjamin Jowett + + + + +INTRODUCTION AND ANALYSIS. + +The genuineness of the Laws is sufficiently proved (1) by more than +twenty citations of them in the writings of Aristotle, who was residing +at Athens during the last twenty years of the life of Plato, and who, +having left it after his death (B.C. 347), returned thither twelve years +later (B.C. 335); (2) by the allusion of Isocrates + +(Oratio ad Philippum missa, p.84: To men tais paneguresin enochlein +kai pros apantas legein tous sunprechontas en autais pros oudena legein +estin, all omoios oi toioutoi ton logon (sc. speeches in the assembly) +akuroi tugchanousin ontes tois nomois kai tais politeiais tais upo ton +sophiston gegrammenais.) --writing 346 B.C., a year after the death +of Plato, and probably not more than three or four years after the +composition of the Laws--who speaks of the Laws and Republics written by +philosophers (upo ton sophiston); (3) by the reference (Athen.) of the +comic poet Alexis, a younger contemporary of Plato (fl. B.C 356-306), to +the enactment about prices, which occurs in Laws xi., viz that the same +goods should not be offered at two prices on the same day + + (Ou gegone kreitton nomothetes tou plousiou + Aristonikou tithesi gar nuni nomon, + ton ichthuopolon ostis an polon tini + ichthun upotimesas apodot elattonos + es eipe times, eis to desmoterion + euthus apagesthai touton, ina dedoikotes + tes axias agaposin, e tes esperas + saprous apantas apopherosin oikade. + +Meineke, Frag. Com. Graec.); (4) by the unanimous voice of later +antiquity and the absence of any suspicion among ancient writers worth +speaking of to the contrary; for it is not said of Philippus of Opus +that he composed any part of the Laws, but only that he copied them +out of the waxen tablets, and was thought by some to have written the +Epinomis (Diog. Laert.) That the longest and one of the best writings +bearing the name of Plato should be a forgery, even if its genuineness +were unsupported by external testimony, would be a singular phenomenon +in ancient literature; and although the critical worth of the consensus +of late writers is generally not to be compared with the express +testimony of contemporaries, yet a somewhat greater value may be +attributed to their consent in the present instance, because the +admission of the Laws is combined with doubts about the Epinomis, +a spurious writing, which is a kind of epilogue to the larger work +probably of a much later date. This shows that the reception of the Laws +was not altogether undiscriminating. + +The suspicion which has attached to the Laws of Plato in the judgment +of some modern writers appears to rest partly (1) on differences in +the style and form of the work, and (2) on differences of thought and +opinion which they observe in them. Their suspicion is increased by the +fact that these differences are accompanied by resemblances as striking +to passages in other Platonic writings. They are sensible of a want +of point in the dialogue and a general inferiority in the ideas, +plan, manners, and style. They miss the poetical flow, the dramatic +verisimilitude, the life and variety of the characters, the dialectic +subtlety, the Attic purity, the luminous order, the exquisite urbanity; +instead of which they find tautology, obscurity, self-sufficiency, +sermonizing, rhetorical declamation, pedantry, egotism, uncouth forms +of sentences, and peculiarities in the use of words and idioms. They are +unable to discover any unity in the patched, irregular structure. The +speculative element both in government and education is superseded by +a narrow economical or religious vein. The grace and cheerfulness of +Athenian life have disappeared; and a spirit of moroseness and religious +intolerance has taken their place. The charm of youth is no longer +there; the mannerism of age makes itself unpleasantly felt. The +connection is often imperfect; and there is a want of arrangement, +exhibited especially in the enumeration of the laws towards the end of +the work. The Laws are full of flaws and repetitions. The Greek is in +places very ungrammatical and intractable. A cynical levity is displayed +in some passages, and a tone of disappointment and lamentation over +human things in others. The critics seem also to observe in them bad +imitations of thoughts which are better expressed in Plato's other +writings. Lastly, they wonder how the mind which conceived the Republic +could have left the Critias, Hermocrates, and Philosophus incomplete or +unwritten, and have devoted the last years of life to the Laws. + +The questions which have been thus indirectly suggested may be +considered by us under five or six heads: I, the characters; II, the +plan; III, the style; IV, the imitations of other writings of Plato; +V; the more general relation of the Laws to the Republic and the other +dialogues; and VI, to the existing Athenian and Spartan states. + +I. Already in the Philebus the distinctive character of Socrates has +disappeared; and in the Timaeus, Sophist, and Statesman his function of +chief speaker is handed over to the Pythagorean philosopher Timaeus, and +to the Eleatic Stranger, at whose feet he sits, and is silent. More and +more Plato seems to have felt in his later writings that the character +and method of Socrates were no longer suited to be the vehicle of his +own philosophy. He is no longer interrogative but dogmatic; not 'a +hesitating enquirer,' but one who speaks with the authority of a +legislator. Even in the Republic we have seen that the argument which is +carried on by Socrates in the old style with Thrasymachus in the first +book, soon passes into the form of exposition. In the Laws he is nowhere +mentioned. Yet so completely in the tradition of antiquity is Socrates +identified with Plato, that in the criticism of the Laws which we find +in the so-called Politics of Aristotle he is supposed by the writer +still to be playing his part of the chief speaker (compare Pol.). + +The Laws are discussed by three representatives of Athens, Crete, and +Sparta. The Athenian, as might be expected, is the protagonist or chief +speaker, while the second place is assigned to the Cretan, who, as +one of the leaders of a new colony, has a special interest in the +conversation. At least four-fifths of the answers are put into his +mouth. The Spartan is every inch a soldier, a man of few words himself, +better at deeds than words. The Athenian talks to the two others, +although they are his equals in age, in the style of a master +discoursing to his scholars; he frequently praises himself; he +entertains a very poor opinion of the understanding of his companions. +Certainly the boastfulness and rudeness of the Laws is the reverse of +the refined irony and courtesy which characterize the earlier dialogues. +We are no longer in such good company as in the Phaedrus and Symposium. +Manners are lost sight of in the earnestness of the speakers, and +dogmatic assertions take the place of poetical fancies. + +The scene is laid in Crete, and the conversation is held in the course +of a walk from Cnosus to the cave and temple of Zeus, which takes place +on one of the longest and hottest days of the year. The companions start +at dawn, and arrive at the point in their conversation which terminates +the fourth book, about noon. The God to whose temple they are going is +the lawgiver of Crete, and this may be supposed to be the very cave +at which he gave his oracles to Minos. But the externals of the scene, +which are briefly and inartistically described, soon disappear, and we +plunge abruptly into the subject of the dialogue. We are reminded by +contrast of the higher art of the Phaedrus, in which the summer's day, +and the cool stream, and the chirping of the grasshoppers, and the +fragrance of the agnus castus, and the legends of the place are present +to the imagination throughout the discourse. + +The typical Athenian apologizes for the tendency of his countrymen +'to spin a long discussion out of slender materials,' and in a similar +spirit the Lacedaemonian Megillus apologizes for the Spartan brevity +(compare Thucydid.), acknowledging at the same time that there may be +occasions when long discourses are necessary. The family of Megillus is +the proxenus of Athens at Sparta; and he pays a beautiful compliment to +the Athenian, significant of the character of the work, which, though +borrowing many elements from Sparta, is also pervaded by an Athenian +spirit. A good Athenian, he says, is more than ordinarily good, because +he is inspired by nature and not manufactured by law. The love of +listening which is attributed to the Timocrat in the Republic is also +exhibited in him. The Athenian on his side has a pleasure in speaking to +the Lacedaemonian of the struggle in which their ancestors were jointly +engaged against the Persians. A connexion with Athens is likewise +intimated by the Cretan Cleinias. He is the relative of Epimenides, +whom, by an anachronism of a century,--perhaps arising as Zeller +suggests (Plat. Stud.) out of a confusion of the visit of Epimenides +and Diotima (Symp.),--he describes as coming to Athens, not after the +attempt of Cylon, but ten years before the Persian war. The Cretan and +Lacedaemonian hardly contribute at all to the argument of which the +Athenian is the expounder; they only supply information when asked about +the institutions of their respective countries. A kind of simplicity or +stupidity is ascribed to them. At first, they are dissatisfied with the +free criticisms which the Athenian passes upon the laws of Minos and +Lycurgus, but they acquiesce in his greater experience and knowledge of +the world. They admit that there can be no objection to the enquiry; for +in the spirit of the legislator himself, they are discussing his laws +when there are no young men present to listen. They are unwilling to +allow that the Spartan and Cretan lawgivers can have been mistaken +in honouring courage as the first part of virtue, and are puzzled at +hearing for the first time that 'Goods are only evil to the evil.' +Several times they are on the point of quarrelling, and by an effort +learn to restrain their natural feeling (compare Shakespeare, Henry V, +act iii. sc. 2). In Book vii., the Lacedaemonian expresses a momentary +irritation at the accusation which the Athenian brings against the +Spartan institutions, of encouraging licentiousness in their women, +but he is reminded by the Cretan that the permission to criticize them +freely has been given, and cannot be retracted. His only criterion of +truth is the authority of the Spartan lawgiver; he is 'interested,' +in the novel speculations of the Athenian, but inclines to prefer the +ordinances of Lycurgus. + +The three interlocutors all of them speak in the character of old +men, which forms a pleasant bond of union between them. They have the +feelings of old age about youth, about the state, about human things in +general. Nothing in life seems to be of much importance to them; they +are spectators rather than actors, and men in general appear to the +Athenian speaker to be the playthings of the Gods and of circumstances. +Still they have a fatherly care of the young, and are deeply impressed +by sentiments of religion. They would give confidence to the aged by an +increasing use of wine, which, as they get older, is to unloose their +tongues and make them sing. The prospect of the existence of the soul +after death is constantly present to them; though they can hardly be +said to have the cheerful hope and resignation which animates Socrates +in the Phaedo or Cephalus in the Republic. Plato appears to be +expressing his own feelings in remarks of this sort. For at the time of +writing the first book of the Laws he was at least seventy-four years of +age, if we suppose him to allude to the victory of the Syracusans under +Dionysius the Younger over the Locrians, which occurred in the year 356. +Such a sadness was the natural effect of declining years and failing +powers, which make men ask, 'After all, what profit is there in life?' +They feel that their work is beginning to be over, and are ready to say, +'All the world is a stage;' or, in the actual words of Plato, 'Let us +play as good plays as we can,' though 'we must be sometimes serious, +which is not agreeable, but necessary.' These are feelings which have +crossed the minds of reflective persons in all ages, and there is no +reason to connect the Laws any more than other parts of Plato's writings +with the very uncertain narrative of his life, or to imagine that this +melancholy tone is attributable to disappointment at having failed to +convert a Sicilian tyrant into a philosopher. + +II. The plan of the Laws is more irregular and has less connexion than +any other of the writings of Plato. As Aristotle says in the Politics, +'The greater part consists of laws'; in Books v, vi, xi, xii the +dialogue almost entirely disappears. Large portions of them are rather +the materials for a work than a finished composition which may rank with +the other Platonic dialogues. To use his own image, 'Some stones are +regularly inserted in the building; others are lying on the ground ready +for use.' There is probably truth in the tradition that the Laws were +not published until after the death of Plato. We can easily believe that +he has left imperfections, which would have been removed if he had +lived a few years longer. The arrangement might have been improved; +the connexion of the argument might have been made plainer, and the +sentences more accurately framed. Something also may be attributed +to the feebleness of old age. Even a rough sketch of the Phaedrus or +Symposium would have had a very different look. There is, however, an +interest in possessing one writing of Plato which is in the process of +creation. + +We must endeavour to find a thread of order which will carry us through +this comparative disorder. The first four books are described by Plato +himself as the preface or preamble. Having arrived at the conclusion +that each law should have a preamble, the lucky thought occurs to him at +the end of the fourth book that the preceding discourse is the +preamble of the whole. This preamble or introduction may be abridged as +follows:-- + +The institutions of Sparta and Crete are admitted by the Lacedaemonian +and Cretan to have one aim only: they were intended by the legislator +to inspire courage in war. To this the Athenian objects that the true +lawgiver should frame his laws with a view to all the virtues and not +to one only. Better is he who has temperance as well as courage, than he +who has courage only; better is he who is faithful in civil broils, +than he who is a good soldier only. Better, too, is peace than war; the +reconciliation than the defeat of an enemy. And he who would attain all +virtue should be trained amid pleasures as well as pains. Hence +there should be convivial intercourse among the citizens, and a man's +temperance should be tested in his cups, as we test his courage amid +dangers. He should have a fear of the right sort, as well as a courage +of the right sort. + +At the beginning of the second book the subject of pleasure leads to +education, which in the early years of life is wholly a discipline +imparted by the means of pleasure and pain. The discipline of pleasure +is implanted chiefly by the practice of the song and the dance. Of +these the forms should be fixed, and not allowed to depend on the fickle +breath of the multitude. There will be choruses of boys, girls, and +grown-up persons, and all will be heard repeating the same strain, that +'virtue is happiness.' One of them will give the law to the rest; this +will be the chorus of aged minstrels, who will sing the most beautiful +and the most useful of songs. They will require a little wine, to mellow +the austerity of age, and make them amenable to the laws. + +After having laid down as the first principle of politics, that peace, +and not war, is the true aim of the legislator, and briefly discussed +music and festive intercourse, at the commencement of the third book +Plato makes a digression, in which he speaks of the origin of society. +He describes, first of all, the family; secondly, the patriarchal stage, +which is an aggregation of families; thirdly, the founding of regular +cities, like Ilium; fourthly, the establishment of a military and +political system, like that of Sparta, with which he identifies Argos +and Messene, dating from the return of the Heraclidae. But the aims of +states should be good, or else, like the prayer of Theseus, they may +be ruinous to themselves. This was the case in two out of three of the +Heracleid kingdoms. They did not understand that the powers in a state +should be balanced. The balance of powers saved Sparta, while the excess +of tyranny in Persia and the excess of liberty at Athens have been the +ruin of both...This discourse on politics is suddenly discovered to have +an immediate practical use; for Cleinias the Cretan is about to give +laws to a new colony. + +At the beginning of the fourth book, after enquiring into the +circumstances and situation of the colony, the Athenian proceeds to make +further reflections. Chance, and God, and the skill of the legislator, +all co-operate in the formation of states. And the most favourable +condition for the foundation of a new one is when the government is +in the hands of a virtuous tyrant who has the good fortune to be +the contemporary of a great legislator. But a virtuous tyrant is a +contradiction in terms; we can at best only hope to have magistrates who +are the servants of reason and the law. This leads to the enquiry, what +is to be the polity of our new state. And the answer is, that we are to +fear God, and honour our parents, and to cultivate virtue and justice; +these are to be our first principles. Laws must be definite, and +we should create in the citizens a predisposition to obey them. The +legislator will teach as well as command; and with this view he will +prefix preambles to his principal laws. + +The fifth book commences in a sort of dithyramb with another and higher +preamble about the honour due to the soul, whence are deduced the duties +of a man to his parents and his friends, to the suppliant and stranger. +He should be true and just, free from envy and excess of all sorts, +forgiving to crimes which are not incurable and are partly involuntary; +and he should have a true taste. The noblest life has the greatest +pleasures and the fewest pains...Having finished the preamble, and +touched on some other preliminary considerations, we proceed to the +Laws, beginning with the constitution of the state. This is not the best +or ideal state, having all things common, but only the second-best, +in which the land and houses are to be distributed among 5040 citizens +divided into four classes. There is to be no gold or silver among +them, and they are to have moderate wealth, and to respect number and +numerical order in all things. + +In the first part of the sixth book, Plato completes his sketch of the +constitution by the appointment of officers. He explains the manner +in which guardians of the law, generals, priests, wardens of town +and country, ministers of education, and other magistrates are to be +appointed; and also in what way courts of appeal are to be constituted, +and omissions in the law to be supplied. Next--and at this point +the Laws strictly speaking begin--there follow enactments respecting +marriage and the procreation of children, respecting property in slaves +as well as of other kinds, respecting houses, married life, common +tables for men and women. The question of age in marriage suggests the +consideration of a similar question about the time for holding offices, +and for military service, which had been previously omitted. + +Resuming the order of the discussion, which was indicated in the +previous book, from marriage and birth we proceed to education in the +seventh book. Education is to begin at or rather before birth; to be +continued for a time by mothers and nurses under the supervision of +the state; finally, to comprehend music and gymnastics. Under music is +included reading, writing, playing on the lyre, arithmetic, geometry, +and a knowledge of astronomy sufficient to preserve the minds of the +citizens from impiety in after-life. Gymnastics are to be practised +chiefly with a view to their use in war. The discussion of education, +which was lightly touched upon in Book ii, is here completed. + +The eighth book contains regulations for civil life, beginning with +festivals, games, and contests, military exercises and the like. On such +occasions Plato seems to see young men and maidens meeting together, +and hence he is led into discussing the relations of the sexes, the evil +consequences which arise out of the indulgence of the passions, and the +remedies for them. Then he proceeds to speak of agriculture, of arts and +trades, of buying and selling, and of foreign commerce. + +The remaining books of the Laws, ix-xii, are chiefly concerned with +criminal offences. In the first class are placed offences against the +Gods, especially sacrilege or robbery of temples: next follow offences +against the state,--conspiracy, treason, theft. The mention of thefts +suggests a distinction between voluntary and involuntary, curable and +incurable offences. Proceeding to the greater crime of homicide, Plato +distinguishes between mere homicide, manslaughter, which is partly +voluntary and partly involuntary, and murder, which arises from avarice, +ambition, fear. He also enumerates murders by kindred, murders by +slaves, wounds with or without intent to kill, wounds inflicted in +anger, crimes of or against slaves, insults to parents. To these, +various modes of purification or degrees of punishment are assigned, and +the terrors of another world are also invoked against them. + +At the beginning of Book x, all acts of violence, including sacrilege, +are summed up in a single law. The law is preceded by an admonition, in +which the offenders are informed that no one ever did an unholy act or +said an unlawful word while he retained his belief in the existence of +the Gods; but either he denied their existence, or he believed that they +took no care of man, or that they might be turned from their course +by sacrifices and prayers. The remainder of the book is devoted to the +refutation of these three classes of unbelievers, and concludes with the +means to be taken for their reformation, and the announcement of their +punishments if they continue obstinate and impenitent. + +The eleventh book is taken up with laws and with admonitions relating to +individuals, which follow one another without any exact order. There are +laws concerning deposits and the finding of treasure; concerning slaves +and freedmen; concerning retail trade, bequests, divorces, enchantments, +poisonings, magical arts, and the like. In the twelfth book the same +subjects are continued. Laws are passed concerning violations of +military discipline, concerning the high office of the examiners and +their burial; concerning oaths and the violation of them, and the +punishments of those who neglect their duties as citizens. Foreign +travel is then discussed, and the permission to be accorded to citizens +of journeying in foreign parts; the strangers who may come to visit +the city are also spoken of, and the manner in which they are to be +received. Laws are added respecting sureties, searches for property, +right of possession by prescription, abduction of witnesses, theatrical +competition, waging of private warfare, and bribery in offices. Rules +are laid down respecting taxation, respecting economy in sacred rites, +respecting judges, their duties and sentences, and respecting sepulchral +places and ceremonies. Here the Laws end. Lastly, a Nocturnal Council +is instituted for the preservation of the state, consisting of older and +younger members, who are to exhibit in their lives that virtue which is +the basis of the state, to know the one in many, and to be educated +in divine and every other kind of knowledge which will enable them to +fulfil their office. + +III. The style of the Laws differs in several important respects from +that of the other dialogues of Plato: (1) in the want of character, +power, and lively illustration; (2) in the frequency of mannerisms +(compare Introduction to the Philebus); (3) in the form and rhythm of +the sentences; (4) in the use of words. On the other hand, there are +many passages (5) which are characterized by a sort of ethical grandeur; +and (6) in which, perhaps, a greater insight into human nature, and a +greater reach of practical wisdom is shown, than in any other of Plato's +writings. + +1. The discourse of the three old men is described by themselves as an +old man's game of play. Yet there is little of the liveliness of a game +in their mode of treating the subject. They do not throw the ball to +and fro, but two out of the three are listeners to the third, who is +constantly asserting his superior wisdom and opportunities of knowledge, +and apologizing (not without reason) for his own want of clearness of +speech. He will 'carry them over the stream;' he will answer for them +when the argument is beyond their comprehension; he is afraid of their +ignorance of mathematics, and thinks that gymnastic is likely to be more +intelligible to them;--he has repeated his words several times, and yet +they cannot understand him. The subject did not properly take the form +of dialogue, and also the literary vigour of Plato had passed away. The +old men speak as they might be expected to speak, and in this there is +a touch of dramatic truth. Plato has given the Laws that form or want of +form which indicates the failure of natural power. There is no regular +plan--none of that consciousness of what has preceded and what is to +follow, which makes a perfect style,--but there are several attempts +at a plan; the argument is 'pulled up,' and frequent explanations are +offered why a particular topic was introduced. + +The fictions of the Laws have no longer the verisimilitude which +is characteristic of the Phaedrus and the Timaeus, or even of the +Statesman. We can hardly suppose that an educated Athenian would have +placed the visit of Epimenides to Athens ten years before the +Persian war, or have imagined that a war with Messene prevented the +Lacedaemonians from coming to the rescue of Hellas. The narrative of the +origin of the Dorian institutions, which are said to have been due to +a fear of the growing power of the Assyrians, is a plausible invention, +which may be compared with the tale of the island of Atlantis and the +poem of Solon, but is not accredited by similar arts of deception. +The other statement that the Dorians were Achaean exiles assembled +by Dorieus, and the assertion that Troy was included in the Assyrian +Empire, have some foundation (compare for the latter point, Diod. +Sicul.). Nor is there anywhere in the Laws that lively enargeia, that +vivid mise en scene, which is as characteristic of Plato as of some +modern novelists. + +The old men are afraid of the ridicule which 'will fall on their heads +more than enough,' and they do not often indulge in a joke. In one +of the few which occur, the book of the Laws, if left incomplete, is +compared to a monster wandering about without a head. But we no longer +breathe the atmosphere of humour which pervades the Symposium and the +Euthydemus, in which we pass within a few sentences from the broadest +Aristophanic joke to the subtlest refinement of wit and fancy; instead +of this, in the Laws an impression of baldness and feebleness is often +left upon our minds. Some of the most amusing descriptions, as, for +example, of children roaring for the first three years of life; or of +the Athenians walking into the country with fighting-cocks under their +arms; or of the slave doctor who knocks about his patients finely; and +the gentleman doctor who courteously persuades them; or of the way of +keeping order in the theatre, 'by a hint from a stick,' are narrated +with a commonplace gravity; but where we find this sort of dry humour we +shall not be far wrong in thinking that the writer intended to make us +laugh. The seriousness of age takes the place of the jollity of youth. +Life should have holidays and festivals; yet we rebuke ourselves when we +laugh, and take our pleasures sadly. The irony of the earlier dialogues, +of which some traces occur in the tenth book, is replaced by a severity +which hardly condescends to regard human things. 'Let us say, if you +please, that man is of some account, but I was speaking of him in +comparison with God.' + +The imagery and illustrations are poor in themselves, and are not +assisted by the surrounding phraseology. We have seen how in the +Republic, and in the earlier dialogues, figures of speech such as 'the +wave,' 'the drone,' 'the chase,' 'the bride,' appear and reappear at +intervals. Notes are struck which are repeated from time to time, as +in a strain of music. There is none of this subtle art in the Laws. The +illustrations, such as the two kinds of doctors, 'the three kinds of +funerals,' the fear potion, the puppet, the painter leaving a successor +to restore his picture, the 'person stopping to consider where three +ways meet,' the 'old laws about water of which he will not divert the +course,' can hardly be said to do much credit to Plato's invention. The +citations from the poets have lost that fanciful character which gave +them their charm in the earlier dialogues. We are tired of images taken +from the arts of navigation, or archery, or weaving, or painting, or +medicine, or music. Yet the comparisons of life to a tragedy, or of +the working of mind to the revolution of the self-moved, or of the aged +parent to the image of a God dwelling in the house, or the reflection +that 'man is made to be the plaything of God, and that this rightly +considered is the best of him,' have great beauty. + +2. The clumsiness of the style is exhibited in frequent mannerisms and +repetitions. The perfection of the Platonic dialogue consists in the +accuracy with which the question and answer are fitted into one another, +and the regularity with which the steps of the argument succeed one +another. This finish of style is no longer discernible in the Laws. +There is a want of variety in the answers; nothing can be drawn out +of the respondents but 'Yes' or 'No,' 'True,' 'To be sure,' etc.; the +insipid forms, 'What do you mean?' 'To what are you referring?' are +constantly returning. Again and again the speaker is charged, or charges +himself, with obscurity; and he repeats again and again that he will +explain his views more clearly. The process of thought which should +be latent in the mind of the writer appears on the surface. In several +passages the Athenian praises himself in the most unblushing manner, +very unlike the irony of the earlier dialogues, as when he declares that +'the laws are a divine work given by some inspiration of the Gods,' and +that 'youth should commit them to memory instead of the compositions of +the poets.' The prosopopoeia which is adopted by Plato in the Protagoras +and other dialogues is repeated until we grow weary of it. The +legislator is always addressing the speakers or the youth of the state, +and the speakers are constantly making addresses to the legislator. A +tendency to a paradoxical manner of statement is also observable. 'We +must have drinking,' 'we must have a virtuous tyrant'--this is too much +for the duller wits of the Lacedaemonian and Cretan, who at first start +back in surprise. More than in any other writing of Plato the tone is +hortatory; the laws are sermons as well as laws; they are considered to +have a religious sanction, and to rest upon a religious sentiment in the +mind of the citizens. The words of the Athenian are attributed to the +Lacedaemonian and Cretan, who are supposed to have made them their own, +after the manner of the earlier dialogues. Resumptions of subjects which +have been half disposed of in a previous passage constantly occur: the +arrangement has neither the clearness of art nor the freedom of nature. +Irrelevant remarks are made here and there, or illustrations used which +are not properly fitted in. The dialogue is generally weak and laboured, +and is in the later books fairly given up, apparently, because unsuited +to the subject of the work. The long speeches or sermons of the +Athenian, often extending over several pages, have never the grace +and harmony which are exhibited in the earlier dialogues. For Plato is +incapable of sustained composition; his genius is dramatic rather than +oratorical; he can converse, but he cannot make a speech. Even the +Timaeus, which is one of his most finished works, is full of abrupt +transitions. There is the same kind of difference between the dialogue +and the continuous discourse of Plato as between the narrative and +speeches of Thucydides. + +3. The perfection of style is variety in unity, freedom, ease, +clearness, the power of saying anything, and of striking any note in the +scale of human feelings without impropriety; and such is the divine gift +of language possessed by Plato in the Symposium and Phaedrus. From this +there are many fallings-off in the Laws: first, in the structure of +the sentences, which are rhythmical and monotonous,--the formal and +sophistical manner of the age is superseding the natural genius of +Plato: secondly, many of them are of enormous length, and the latter end +often forgets the beginning of them,--they seem never to have received +the second thoughts of the author; either the emphasis is wrongly +placed, or there is a want of point in a clause; or an absolute case +occurs which is not properly separated from the rest of the sentence; or +words are aggregated in a manner which fails to show their relation to +one another; or the connecting particles are omitted at the beginning of +sentences; the uses of the relative and antecedent are more indistinct, +the changes of person and number more frequent, examples of pleonasm, +tautology, and periphrasis, antitheses of positive and negative, false +emphasis, and other affectations, are more numerous than in the other +writings of Plato; there is also a more common and sometimes unmeaning +use of qualifying formulae, os epos eipein, kata dunamin, and of double +expressions, pante pantos, oudame oudamos, opos kai ope--these are too +numerous to be attributed to errors in the text; again, there is an +over-curious adjustment of verb and participle, noun and epithet, and +other artificial forms of cadence and expression take the place of +natural variety: thirdly, the absence of metaphorical language is +remarkable--the style is not devoid of ornament, but the ornament is of +a debased rhetorical kind, patched on to instead of growing out of the +subject; there is a great command of words, and a laboured use of +them; forced attempts at metaphor occur in several passages,--e.g. +parocheteuein logois; ta men os tithemena ta d os paratithemena; oinos +kolazomenos upo nephontos eterou theou; the plays on the word nomos = +nou dianome, ode etara: fourthly, there is a foolish extravagance of +language in other passages,--'the swinish ignorance of arithmetic;' 'the +justice and suitableness of the discourse on laws;' over-emphasis; 'best +of Greeks,' said of all the Greeks, and the like: fifthly, poor and +insipid illustrations are also common: sixthly, we may observe an +excessive use of climax and hyperbole, aischron legein chre pros autous +doulon te kai doulen kai paida kai ei pos oion te olen ten oikian: dokei +touto to epitedeuma kata phusin tas peri ta aphrodisia edonas ou monon +anthropon alla kai therion diephtharkenai. + +4. The peculiarities in the use of words which occur in the Laws have +been collected by Zeller (Platonische Studien) and Stallbaum +(Legg.): first, in the use of nouns, such as allodemia, apeniautesis, +glukuthumia, diatheter, thrasuxenia, koros, megalonoia, paidourgia: +secondly, in the use of adjectives, such as aistor, biodotes, +echthodopos, eitheos, chronios, and of adverbs, such as aniditi, anatei, +nepoivei: thirdly, in the use of verbs, such as athurein, aissein +(aixeien eipein), euthemoneisthai, parapodizesthai, sebein, temelein, +tetan. These words however, as Stallbaum remarks, are formed according +to analogy, and nearly all of them have the support of some poetical or +other authority. + +Zeller and Stallbaum have also collected forms of words in the Laws, +differing from the forms of the same words which occur in other places: +e.g. blabos for blabe, abios for abiotos, acharistos for acharis, +douleios for doulikos, paidelos for paidikos, exagrio for exagriaino, +ileoumai for ilaskomai, and the Ionic word sophronistus, meaning +'correction.' Zeller has noted a fondness for substantives ending in +-ma and -sis, such as georgema, diapauma, epithumema, zemioma, komodema, +omilema; blapsis, loidoresis, paraggelsis, and others; also a use +of substantives in the plural, which are commonly found only in the +singular, maniai, atheotetes, phthonoi, phoboi, phuseis; also, a +peculiar use of prepositions in composition, as in eneirgo, apoblapto, +dianomotheteo, dieiretai, dieulabeisthai, and other words; also, a +frequent occurrence of the Ionic datives plural in -aisi and -oisi, +perhaps used for the sake of giving an ancient or archaic effect. + +To these peculiarities of words he has added a list of peculiar +expressions and constructions. Among the most characteristic are the +following: athuta pallakon spermata; amorphoi edrai; osa axiomata pros +archontas; oi kata polin kairoi; muthos, used in several places of +'the discourse about laws;' and connected with this the frequent use +of paramuthion and paramutheisthai in the general sense of 'address,' +'addressing'; aimulos eros; ataphoi praxeis; muthos akephalos; ethos +euthuporon. He remarks also on the frequent employment of the abstract +for the concrete; e.g. uperesia for uperetai, phugai for phugades, +mechanai in the sense of 'contrivers,' douleia for douloi, basileiai +for basileis, mainomena kedeumata for ganaika mainomenen; e chreia ton +paidon in the sense of 'indigent children,' and paidon ikanotes; to +ethos tes apeirias for e eiothuia apeiria; kuparitton upse te kai kalle +thaumasia for kuparittoi mala upselai kai kalai. He further notes some +curious uses of the genitive case, e.g. philias omologiai, maniai orges, +laimargiai edones, cheimonon anupodesiai, anosioi plegon tolmai; and of +the dative, omiliai echthrois, nomothesiai, anosioi plegon tolmai; and +of the dative omiliai echthrois, nomothesiai epitropois; and also some +rather uncommon periphrases, thremmata Neilou, xuggennetor teknon for +alochos, Mouses lexis for poiesis, zographon paides, anthropon spermata +and the like; the fondness for particles of limitation, especially +tis and ge, sun tisi charisi, tois ge dunamenois and the like; the +pleonastic use of tanun, of os, of os eros eipein, of ekastote; and +the periphrastic use of the preposition peri. Lastly, he observes the +tendency to hyperbata or transpositions of words, and to rhythmical +uniformity as well as grammatical irregularity in the structure of the +sentences. + +For nearly all the expressions which are adduced by Zeller as arguments +against the genuineness of the Laws, Stallbaum finds some sort of +authority. There is no real ground for doubting that the work was +written by Plato, merely because several words occur in it which are +not found in his other writings. An imitator may preserve the usual +phraseology of a writer better than he would himself. But, on the other +hand, the fact that authorities may be quoted in support of most of +these uses of words, does not show that the diction is not peculiar. +Several of them seem to be poetical or dialectical, and exhibit an +attempt to enlarge the limits of Greek prose by the introduction of +Homeric and tragic expressions. Most of them do not appear to have +retained any hold on the later language of Greece. Like several +experiments in language of the writers of the Elizabethan age, they were +afterwards lost; and though occasionally found in Plutarch and imitators +of Plato, they have not been accepted by Aristotle or passed into the +common dialect of Greece. + +5. Unequal as the Laws are in style, they contain a few passages which +are very grand and noble. For example, the address to the poets: 'Best +of strangers, we also are poets of the best and noblest tragedy; for +our whole state is an imitation of the best and noblest life, which we +affirm to be indeed the very truth of tragedy.' Or again, the sight +of young men and maidens in friendly intercourse with one another, +suggesting the dangers to which youth is liable from the violence of +passion; or the eloquent denunciation of unnatural lusts in the same +passage; or the charming thought that the best legislator 'orders +war for the sake of peace and not peace for the sake of war;' or the +pleasant allusion, 'O Athenian--inhabitant of Attica, I will not say, +for you seem to me worthy to be named after the Goddess Athene because +you go back to first principles;' or the pithy saying, 'Many a victory +has been and will be suicidal to the victors, but education is never +suicidal;' or the fine expression that 'the walls of a city should +be allowed to sleep in the earth, and that we should not attempt to +disinter them;' or the remark that 'God is the measure of all things in +a sense far higher than any man can be;' or that 'a man should be from +the first a partaker of the truth, that he may live a true man as long +as possible;' or the principle repeatedly laid down, that 'the sins of +the fathers are not to be visited on the children;' or the description +of the funeral rites of those priestly sages who depart in innocence; +or the noble sentiment, that we should do more justice to slaves than +to equals; or the curious observation, founded, perhaps, on his own +experience, that there are a few 'divine men in every state however +corrupt, whose conversation is of inestimable value;' or the acute +remark, that public opinion is to be respected, because the judgments +of mankind about virtue are better than their practice; or the deep +religious and also modern feeling which pervades the tenth book +(whatever may be thought of the arguments); the sense of the duty of +living as a part of a whole, and in dependence on the will of God, who +takes care of the least things as well as the greatest; and the picture +of parents praying for their children--not as we may say, slightly +altering the words of Plato, as if there were no truth or reality in the +Gentile religions, but as if there were the greatest--are very striking +to us. We must remember that the Laws, unlike the Republic, do not +exhibit an ideal state, but are supposed to be on the level of human +motives and feelings; they are also on the level of the popular +religion, though elevated and purified: hence there is an attempt made +to show that the pleasant is also just. But, on the other hand, the +priority of the soul to the body, and of God to the soul, is always +insisted upon as the true incentive to virtue; especially with great +force and eloquence at the commencement of Book v. And the work of +legislation is carried back to the first principles of morals. + +6. No other writing of Plato shows so profound an insight into the world +and into human nature as the Laws. That 'cities will never cease from +ill until they are better governed,' is the text of the Laws as well as +of the Statesman and Republic. The principle that the balance of power +preserves states; the reflection that no one ever passed his whole life +in disbelief of the Gods; the remark that the characters of men are best +seen in convivial intercourse; the observation that the people must be +allowed to share not only in the government, but in the administration +of justice; the desire to make laws, not with a view to courage only, +but to all virtue; the clear perception that education begins with +birth, or even, as he would say, before birth; the attempt to purify +religion; the modern reflections, that punishment is not vindictive, and +that limits must be set to the power of bequest; the impossibility of +undeceiving the victims of quacks and jugglers; the provision for water, +and for other requirements of health, and for concealing the bodies +of the dead with as little hurt as possible to the living; above all, +perhaps, the distinct consciousness that under the actual circumstances +of mankind the ideal cannot be carried out, and yet may be a guiding +principle--will appear to us, if we remember that we are still in the +dawn of politics, to show a great depth of political wisdom. + +IV. The Laws of Plato contain numerous passages which closely resemble +other passages in his writings. And at first sight a suspicion arises +that the repetition shows the unequal hand of the imitator. For why +should a writer say over again, in a more imperfect form, what he had +already said in his most finished style and manner? And yet it may +be urged on the other side that an author whose original powers +are beginning to decay will be very liable to repeat himself, as in +conversation, so in books. He may have forgotten what he had written +before; he may be unconscious of the decline of his own powers. Hence +arises a question of great interest, bearing on the genuineness of +ancient writers. Is there any criterion by which we can distinguish +the genuine resemblance from the spurious, or, in other words, the +repetition of a thought or passage by an author himself from the +appropriation of it by another? The question has, perhaps, never been +fully discussed; and, though a real one, does not admit of a precise +answer. A few general considerations on the subject may be offered:-- + +(a) Is the difference such as might be expected to arise at different +times of life or under different circumstances?--There would be nothing +surprising in a writer, as he grew older, losing something of his own +originality, and falling more and more under the spirit of his +age. 'What a genius I had when I wrote that book!' was the pathetic +exclamation of a famous English author, when in old age he chanced to +take up one of his early works. There would be nothing surprising again +in his losing somewhat of his powers of expression, and becoming less +capable of framing language into a harmonious whole. There would also be +a strong presumption that if the variation of style was uniform, it was +attributable to some natural cause, and not to the arts of the imitator. +The inferiority might be the result of feebleness and of want of +activity of mind. But the natural weakness of a great author would +commonly be different from the artificial weakness of an imitator; it +would be continuous and uniform. The latter would be apt to fill his +work with irregular patches, sometimes taken verbally from the writings +of the author whom he personated, but rarely acquiring his spirit. +His imitation would be obvious, irregular, superficial. The patches +of purple would be easily detected among his threadbare and tattered +garments. He would rarely take the pains to put the same thought into +other words. There were many forgeries in English literature which +attained a considerable degree of success 50 or 100 years ago; but it is +doubtful whether attempts such as these could now escape detection, +if there were any writings of the same author or of the same age to +be compared with them. And ancient forgers were much less skilful than +modern; they were far from being masters in the art of deception, and +had rarely any motive for being so. + +(b) But, secondly, the imitator will commonly be least capable of +understanding or imitating that part of a great writer which is most +characteristic of him. In every man's writings there is something like +himself and unlike others, which gives individuality. To appreciate +this latent quality would require a kindred mind, and minute study +and observation. There are a class of similarities which may be called +undesigned coincidences, which are so remote as to be incapable of +being borrowed from one another, and yet, when they are compared, find +a natural explanation in their being the work of the same mind. The +imitator might copy the turns of style--he might repeat images or +illustrations, but he could not enter into the inner circle of Platonic +philosophy. He would understand that part of it which became popular +in the next generation, as for example, the doctrine of ideas or of +numbers: he might approve of communism. But the higher flights of Plato +about the science of dialectic, or the unity of virtue, or a person who +is above the law, would be unintelligible to him. + +(c) The argument from imitation assumes a different character when +the supposed imitations are associated with other passages having the +impress of original genius. The strength of the argument from undesigned +coincidences of style is much increased when they are found side by +side with thoughts and expressions which can only have come from a great +original writer. The great excellence, not only of the whole, but even +of the parts of writings, is a strong proof of their genuineness--for +although the great writer may fall below, the forger or imitator cannot +rise much above himself. Whether we can attribute the worst parts of a +work to a forger and the best to a great writer,--as for example, in the +case of some of Shakespeare's plays,--depends upon the probability that +they have been interpolated, or have been the joint work of two writers; +and this can only be established either by express evidence or by a +comparison of other writings of the same class. If the interpolation or +double authorship of Greek writings in the time of Plato could be shown +to be common, then a question, perhaps insoluble, would arise, not +whether the whole, but whether parts of the Platonic dialogues are +genuine, and, if parts only, which parts. Hebrew prophecies and Homeric +poems and Laws of Manu may have grown together in early times, but there +is no reason to think that any of the dialogues of Plato is the result +of a similar process of accumulation. It is therefore rash to say +with Oncken (Die Staatslehre des Aristoteles) that the form in which +Aristotle knew the Laws of Plato must have been different from that in +which they have come down to us. + +It must be admitted that these principles are difficult of application. +Yet a criticism may be worth making which rests only on probabilities +or impressions. Great disputes will arise about the merits of different +passages, about what is truly characteristic and original or trivial +and borrowed. Many have thought the Laws to be one of the greatest of +Platonic writings, while in the judgment of Mr. Grote they hardly rise +above the level of the forged epistles. The manner in which a writer +would or would not have written at a particular time of life must be +acknowledged to be a matter of conjecture. But enough has been said to +show that similarities of a certain kind, whether criticism is able to +detect them or not, may be such as must be attributed to an original +writer, and not to a mere imitator. + +(d) Applying these principles to the case of the Laws, we have now +to point out that they contain the class of refined or unconscious +similarities which are indicative of genuineness. The parallelisms are +like the repetitions of favourite thoughts into which every one is apt +to fall unawares in conversation or in writing. They are found in a work +which contains many beautiful and remarkable passages. We may therefore +begin by claiming this presumption in their favour. Such undesigned +coincidences, as we may venture to call them, are the following. The +conception of justice as the union of temperance, wisdom, courage +(Laws; Republic): the latent idea of dialectic implied in the notion +of dividing laws after the kinds of virtue (Laws); the approval of the +method of looking at one idea gathered from many things, 'than which a +truer was never discovered by any man' (compare Republic): or again the +description of the Laws as parents (Laws; Republic): the assumption +that religion has been already settled by the oracle of Delphi (Laws; +Republic), to which an appeal is also made in special cases (Laws): the +notion of the battle with self, a paradox for which Plato in a manner +apologizes both in the Laws and the Republic: the remark (Laws) that +just men, even when they are deformed in body, may still be perfectly +beautiful in respect of the excellent justice of their minds (compare +Republic): the argument that ideals are none the worse because they +cannot be carried out (Laws; Republic): the near approach to the idea of +good in 'the principle which is common to all the four virtues,' a +truth which the guardians must be compelled to recognize (Laws; compare +Republic): or again the recognition by reason of the right pleasure and +pain, which had previously been matter of habit (Laws; Republic): or +the blasphemy of saying that the excellency of music is to give pleasure +(Laws; Republic): again the story of the Sidonian Cadmus (Laws), which +is a variation of the Phoenician tale of the earth-born men (Republic): +the comparison of philosophy to a yelping she-dog, both in the Republic +and in the Laws: the remark that no man can practise two trades (Laws; +Republic): or the advantage of the middle condition (Laws; Republic): +the tendency to speak of principles as moulds or forms; compare the +ekmageia of song (Laws), and the tupoi of religion (Republic): or the +remark (Laws) that 'the relaxation of justice makes many cities out of +one,' which may be compared with the Republic: or the description of +lawlessness 'creeping in little by little in the fashions of music and +overturning all things,'--to us a paradox, but to Plato's mind a fixed +idea, which is found in the Laws as well as in the Republic: or the +figure of the parts of the human body under which the parts of the state +are described (Laws; Republic): the apology for delay and diffuseness, +which occurs not unfrequently in the Republic, is carried to an excess +in the Laws (compare Theaet.): the remarkable thought (Laws) that the +soul of the sun is better than the sun, agrees with the relation in +which the idea of good stands to the sun in the Republic, and with the +substitution of mind for the idea of good in the Philebus: the passage +about the tragic poets (Laws) agrees generally with the treatment of +them in the Republic, but is more finely conceived, and worked out in a +nobler spirit. Some lesser similarities of thought and manner should not +be omitted, such as the mention of the thirty years' old students in the +Republic, and the fifty years' old choristers in the Laws; or the +making of the citizens out of wax (Laws) compared with the other image +(Republic); or the number of the tyrant (729), which is NEARLY equal +with the number of days and nights in the year (730), compared with the +'slight correction' of the sacred number 5040, which is divisible by all +the numbers from 1 to 12 except 11, and divisible by 11, if two families +be deducted; or once more, we may compare the ignorance of solid +geometry of which he complains in the Republic and the puzzle about +fractions with the difficulty in the Laws about commensurable and +incommensurable quantities--and the malicious emphasis on the word +gunaikeios (Laws) with the use of the same word (Republic). These and +similar passages tend to show that the author of the Republic is also +the author of the Laws. They are echoes of the same voice, expressions +of the same mind, coincidences too subtle to have been invented by the +ingenuity of any imitator. The force of the argument is increased, if we +remember that no passage in the Laws is exactly copied,--nowhere do +five or six words occur together which are found together elsewhere in +Plato's writings. + +In other dialogues of Plato, as well as in the Republic, there are to +be found parallels with the Laws. Such resemblances, as we might expect, +occur chiefly (but not exclusively) in the dialogues which, on other +grounds, we may suppose to be of later date. The punishment of evil is +to be like evil men (Laws), as he says also in the Theaetetus. Compare +again the dependence of tragedy and comedy on one another, of which he +gives the reason in the Laws--'For serious things cannot be understood +without laughable, nor opposites at all without opposites, if a man +is really to have intelligence of either'; here he puts forward the +principle which is the groundwork of the thesis of Socrates in the +Symposium, 'that the genius of tragedy is the same as that of comedy, +and that the writer of comedy ought to be a writer of tragedy also.' +There is a truth and right which is above Law (Laws), as we learn also +from the Statesman. That men are the possession of the Gods (Laws), is +a reflection which likewise occurs in the Phaedo. The remark, whether +serious or ironical (Laws), that 'the sons of the Gods naturally +believed in the Gods, because they had the means of knowing about them,' +is found in the Timaeus. The reign of Cronos, who is the divine ruler +(Laws), is a reminiscence of the Statesman. It is remarkable that in the +Sophist and Statesman (Soph.), Plato, speaking in the character of the +Eleatic Stranger, has already put on the old man. The madness of the +poets, again, is a favourite notion of Plato's, which occurs also in the +Laws, as well as in the Phaedrus, Ion, and elsewhere. There are traces +in the Laws of the same desire to base speculation upon history which +we find in the Critias. Once more, there is a striking parallel with +the paradox of the Gorgias, that 'if you do evil, it is better to be +punished than to be unpunished,' in the Laws: 'To live having all goods +without justice and virtue is the greatest of evils if life be immortal, +but not so great if the bad man lives but a short time.' + +The point to be considered is whether these are the kind of parallels +which would be the work of an imitator. Would a forger have had the wit +to select the most peculiar and characteristic thoughts of Plato; would +he have caught the spirit of his philosophy; would he, instead of openly +borrowing, have half concealed his favourite ideas; would he have formed +them into a whole such as the Laws; would he have given another +the credit which he might have obtained for himself; would he have +remembered and made use of other passages of the Platonic writings and +have never deviated into the phraseology of them? Without pressing +such arguments as absolutely certain, we must acknowledge that such a +comparison affords a new ground of real weight for believing the Laws to +be a genuine writing of Plato. + +V. The relation of the Republic to the Laws is clearly set forth by +Plato in the Laws. The Republic is the best state, the Laws is the best +possible under the existing conditions of the Greek world. The Republic +is the ideal, in which no man calls anything his own, which may or may +not have existed in some remote clime, under the rule of some God, or +son of a God (who can say?), but is, at any rate, the pattern of +all other states and the exemplar of human life. The Laws distinctly +acknowledge what the Republic partly admits, that the ideal is +inimitable by us, but that we should 'lift up our eyes to the heavens' +and try to regulate our lives according to the divine image. The +citizens are no longer to have wives and children in common, and are +no longer to be under the government of philosophers. But the spirit of +communism or communion is to continue among them, though reverence for +the sacredness of the family, and respect of children for parents, not +promiscuous hymeneals, are now the foundation of the state; the sexes +are to be as nearly on an equality as possible; they are to meet +at common tables, and to share warlike pursuits (if the women will +consent), and to have a common education. The legislator has taken the +place of the philosopher, but a council of elders is retained, who are +to fulfil the duties of the legislator when he has passed out of life. +The addition of younger persons to this council by co-optation is +an improvement on the governing body of the Republic. The scheme of +education in the Laws is of a far lower kind than that which Plato had +conceived in the Republic. There he would have his rulers trained in all +knowledge meeting in the idea of good, of which the different branches +of mathematical science are but the hand-maidens or ministers; here he +treats chiefly of popular education, stopping short with the preliminary +sciences,--these are to be studied partly with a view to their practical +usefulness, which in the Republic he holds cheap, and even more with a +view to avoiding impiety, of which in the Republic he says nothing; he +touches very lightly on dialectic, which is still to be retained for +the rulers. Yet in the Laws there remain traces of the old educational +ideas. He is still for banishing the poets; and as he finds the works of +prose writers equally dangerous, he would substitute for them the study +of his own laws. He insists strongly on the importance of mathematics +as an educational instrument. He is no more reconciled to the Greek +mythology than in the Republic, though he would rather say nothing about +it out of a reverence for antiquity; and he is equally willing to have +recourse to fictions, if they have a moral tendency. His thoughts recur +to a golden age in which the sanctity of oaths was respected and in +which men living nearer the Gods were more disposed to believe in them; +but we must legislate for the world as it is, now that the old beliefs +have passed away. Though he is no longer fired with dialectical +enthusiasm, he would compel the guardians to 'look at one idea gathered +from many things,' and to 'perceive the principle which is the same in +all the four virtues.' He still recognizes the enormous influence of +music, in which every youth is to be trained for three years; and he +seems to attribute the existing degeneracy of the Athenian state and +the laxity of morals partly to musical innovation, manifested in the +unnatural divorce of the instrument and the voice, of the rhythm from +the words, and partly to the influence of the mob who ruled at the +theatres. He assimilates the education of the two sexes, as far as +possible, both in music and gymnastic, and, as in the Republic, he would +give to gymnastic a purely military character. In marriage, his object +is still to produce the finest children for the state. As in the +Statesman, he would unite in wedlock dissimilar natures--the passionate +with the dull, the courageous with the gentle. And the virtuous tyrant +of the Statesman, who has no place in the Republic, again appears. +In this, as in all his writings, he has the strongest sense of the +degeneracy and incapacity of the rulers of his own time. + +In the Laws, the philosophers, if not banished, like the poets, are +at least ignored; and religion takes the place of philosophy in the +regulation of human life. It must however be remembered that the +religion of Plato is co-extensive with morality, and is that purified +religion and mythology of which he speaks in the second book of the +Republic. There is no real discrepancy in the two works. In a practical +treatise, he speaks of religion rather than of philosophy; just as he +appears to identify virtue with pleasure, and rather seeks to find +the common element of the virtues than to maintain his old paradoxical +theses that they are one, or that they are identical with knowledge. The +dialectic and the idea of good, which even Glaucon in the Republic could +not understand, would be out of place in a less ideal work. There may +also be a change in his own mind, the purely intellectual aspect of +philosophy having a diminishing interest to him in his old age. + +Some confusion occurs in the passage in which Plato speaks of the +Republic, occasioned by his reference to a third state, which he +proposes (D.V.) hereafter to expound. Like many other thoughts in the +Laws, the allusion is obscure from not being worked out. Aristotle +(Polit.) speaks of a state which is neither the best absolutely, nor +the best under existing conditions, but an imaginary state, inferior +to either, destitute, as he supposes, of the necessaries of +life--apparently such a beginning of primitive society as is described +in Laws iii. But it is not clear that by this the third state of Plato +is intended. It is possible that Plato may have meant by his third state +an historical sketch, bearing the same relation to the Laws which the +unfinished Critias would have borne to the Republic; or he may, perhaps, +have intended to describe a state more nearly approximating than the +Laws to existing Greek states. + +The Statesman is a mere fragment when compared with the Laws, yet +combining a second interest of dialectic as well as politics, which is +wanting in the larger work. Several points of similarity and contrast +may be observed between them. In some respects the Statesman is +even more ideal than the Republic, looking back to a former state of +paradisiacal life, in which the Gods ruled over mankind, as the Republic +looks forward to a coming kingdom of philosophers. Of this kingdom of +Cronos there is also mention in the Laws. Again, in the Statesman, the +Eleatic Stranger rises above law to the conception of the living voice +of the lawgiver, who is able to provide for individual cases. A similar +thought is repeated in the Laws: 'If in the order of nature, and by +divine destiny, a man were able to apprehend the truth about these +things, he would have no need of laws to rule over him; for there is no +law or order above knowledge, nor can mind without impiety be deemed +the subject or slave of any, but rather the lord of all.' The union of +opposite natures, who form the warp and the woof of the political web, +is a favourite thought which occurs in both dialogues (Laws; Statesman). + +The Laws are confessedly a Second-best, an inferior Ideal, to which +Plato has recourse, when he finds that the city of Philosophers is no +longer 'within the horizon of practical politics.' But it is curious +to observe that the higher Ideal is always returning (compare Arist. +Polit.), and that he is not much nearer the actual fact, nor more on +the level of ordinary life in the Laws than in the Republic. It is also +interesting to remark that the new Ideal is always falling away, and +that he hardly supposes the one to be more capable of being realized +than the other. Human beings are troublesome to manage; and the +legislator cannot adapt his enactments to the infinite variety of +circumstances; after all he must leave the administration of them to his +successors; and though he would have liked to make them as permanent +as they are in Egypt, he cannot escape from the necessity of change. +At length Plato is obliged to institute a Nocturnal Council which is +supposed to retain the mind of the legislator, and of which some of the +members are even supposed to go abroad and inspect the institutions of +foreign countries, as a foundation for changes in their own. The spirit +of such changes, though avoiding the extravagance of a popular assembly, +being only so much change as the conservative temper of old members +is likely to allow, is nevertheless inconsistent with the fixedness of +Egypt which Plato wishes to impress upon Hellenic institutions. He is +inconsistent with himself as the truth begins to dawn upon him that 'in +the execution things for the most part fall short of our conception of +them' (Republic). + +And is not this true of ideals of government in general? We are always +disappointed in them. Nothing great can be accomplished in the +short space of human life; wherefore also we look forward to another +(Republic). As we grow old, we are sensible that we have no power +actively to pursue our ideals any longer. We have had our opportunity +and do not aspire to be more than men: we have received our 'wages and +are going home.' Neither do we despair of the future of mankind, because +we have been able to do so little in comparison of the whole. We look in +vain for consistency either in men or things. But we have seen enough of +improvement in our own time to justify us in the belief that the world +is worth working for and that a good man's life is not thrown away. Such +reflections may help us to bring home to ourselves by inward sympathy +the language of Plato in the Laws, and to combine into something like a +whole his various and at first sight inconsistent utterances. + +VI. The Republic may be described as the Spartan constitution appended +to a government of philosophers. But in the Laws an Athenian element is +also introduced. Many enactments are taken from the Athenian; the four +classes are borrowed from the constitution of Cleisthenes, which Plato +regards as the best form of Athenian government, and the guardians of +the law bear a certain resemblance to the archons. In the constitution +of the Laws nearly all officers are elected by a vote more or less +popular and by lot. But the assembly only exists for the purposes of +election, and has no legislative or executive powers. The Nocturnal +Council, which is the highest body in the state, has several of the +functions of the ancient Athenian Areopagus, after which it appears to +be modelled. Life is to wear, as at Athens, a joyous and festive look; +there are to be Bacchic choruses, and men of mature age are encouraged +in moderate potations. On the other hand, the common meals, the public +education, the crypteia are borrowed from Sparta and not from Athens, +and the superintendence of private life, which was to be practised by +the governors, has also its prototype in Sparta. The extravagant dislike +which Plato shows both to a naval power and to extreme democracy is the +reverse of Athenian. + +The best-governed Hellenic states traced the origin of their laws to +individual lawgivers. These were real persons, though we are uncertain +how far they originated or only modified the institutions which are +ascribed to them. But the lawgiver, though not a myth, was a fixed idea +in the mind of the Greek,--as fixed as the Trojan war or the earth-born +Cadmus. 'This was what Solon meant or said'--was the form in which the +Athenian expressed his own conception of right and justice, or argued a +disputed point of law. And the constant reference in the Laws of Plato +to the lawgiver is altogether in accordance with Greek modes of thinking +and speaking. + +There is also, as in the Republic, a Pythagorean element. The highest +branch of education is arithmetic; to know the order of the heavenly +bodies, and to reconcile the apparent contradiction of their movements, +is an important part of religion; the lives of the citizens are to have +a common measure, as also their vessels and coins; the great blessing of +the state is the number 5040. Plato is deeply impressed by the antiquity +of Egypt, and the unchangeableness of her ancient forms of song and +dance. And he is also struck by the progress which the Egyptians had +made in the mathematical sciences--in comparison of them the Greeks +appeared to him to be little better than swine. Yet he censures the +Egyptian meanness and inhospitality to strangers. He has traced the +growth of states from their rude beginnings in a philosophical spirit; +but of any life or growth of the Hellenic world in future ages he is +silent. He has made the reflection that past time is the maker of states +(Book iii.); but he does not argue from the past to the future, that +the process is always going on, or that the institutions of nations +are relative to their stage of civilization. If he could have stamped +indelibly upon Hellenic states the will of the legislator, he would have +been satisfied. The utmost which he expects of future generations is +that they should supply the omissions, or correct the errors which +younger statesmen detect in his enactments. When institutions have been +once subjected to this process of criticism, he would have them fixed +for ever. + +THE PREAMBLE. + +BOOK I. Strangers, let me ask a question of you--Was a God or a man the +author of your laws? 'A God, Stranger. In Crete, Zeus is said to have +been the author of them; in Sparta, as Megillus will tell you, Apollo.' +You Cretans believe, as Homer says, that Minos went every ninth year to +converse with his Olympian sire, and gave you laws which he brought from +him. 'Yes; and there was Rhadamanthus, his brother, who is reputed among +us to have been a most righteous judge.' That is a reputation worthy of +the son of Zeus. And as you and Megillus have been trained under these +laws, I may ask you to give me an account of them. We can talk about +them in our walk from Cnosus to the cave and temple of Zeus. I am told +that the distance is considerable, but probably there are shady places +under the trees, where, being no longer young, we may often rest and +converse. 'Yes, Stranger, a little onward there are beautiful groves of +cypresses, and green meadows in which we may repose.' + +My first question is, Why has the law ordained that you should have +common meals, and practise gymnastics, and bear arms? 'My answer is, +that all our institutions are of a military character. We lead the life +of the camp even in time of peace, keeping up the organization of an +army, and having meals in common; and as our country, owing to its +ruggedness, is ill-suited for heavy-armed cavalry or infantry, our +soldiers are archers, equipped with bows and arrows. The legislator was +under the idea that war was the natural state of all mankind, and that +peace is only a pretence; he thought that no possessions had any +value which were not secured against enemies.' And do you think that +superiority in war is the proper aim of government? 'Certainly I do, and +my Spartan friend will agree with me.' And are there wars, not only of +state against state, but of village against village, of family against +family, of individual against individual? 'Yes.' And is a man his own +enemy? 'There you come to first principles, like a true votary of the +goddess Athene; and this is all the better, for you will the sooner +recognize the truth of what I am saying--that all men everywhere are the +enemies of all, and each individual of every other and of himself; +and, further, that there is a victory and defeat--the best and the +worst--which each man sustains, not at the hands of another, but of +himself.' And does this extend to states and villages as well as to +individuals? 'Certainly; there is a better in them which conquers or +is conquered by the worse.' Whether the worse ever really conquers +the better, is a question which may be left for the present; but your +meaning is, that bad citizens do sometimes overcome the good, and that +the state is then conquered by herself, and that when they are defeated +the state is victorious over herself. Or, again, in a family there may +be several brothers, and the bad may be a majority; and when the +bad majority conquer the good minority, the family are worse than +themselves. The use of the terms 'better or worse than himself or +themselves' may be doubtful, but about the thing meant there can be no +dispute. 'Very true.' Such a struggle might be determined by a judge. +And which will be the better judge--he who destroys the worse and lets +the better rule, or he who lets the better rule and makes the others +voluntarily obey; or, thirdly, he who destroys no one, but reconciles +the two parties? 'The last, clearly.' But the object of such a judge or +legislator would not be war. 'True.' And as there are two kinds of war, +one without and one within a state, of which the internal is by far +the worse, will not the legislator chiefly direct his attention to +this latter? He will reconcile the contending factions, and unite them +against their external enemies. 'Certainly.' Every legislator will +aim at the greatest good, and the greatest good is not victory in war, +whether civil or external, but mutual peace and good-will, as in the +body health is preferable to the purgation of disease. He who makes war +his object instead of peace, or who pursues war except for the sake of +peace, is not a true statesman. 'And yet, Stranger, the laws both of +Crete and Sparta aim entirely at war.' Perhaps so; but do not let us +quarrel about your legislators--let us be gentle; they were in earnest +quite as much as we are, and we must try to discover their meaning. The +poet Tyrtaeus (you know his poems in Crete, and my Lacedaemonian friend +is only too familiar with them)--he was an Athenian by birth, and a +Spartan citizen:--'Well,' he says, 'I sing not, I care not about any +man, however rich or happy, unless he is brave in war.' Now I should +like, in the name of us all, to ask the poet a question. Oh Tyrtaeus, I +would say to him, we agree with you in praising those who excel in war, +but which kind of war do you mean?--that dreadful war which is termed +civil, or the milder sort which is waged against foreign enemies? You +say that you abominate 'those who are not eager to taste their enemies' +blood,' and you seem to mean chiefly their foreign enemies. 'Certainly +he does.' But we contend that there are men better far than your heroes, +Tyrtaeus, concerning whom another poet, Theognis the Sicilian, says that +'in a civil broil they are worth their weight in gold and silver.' For +in a civil war, not only courage, but justice and temperance and wisdom +are required, and all virtue is better than a part. The mercenary +soldier is ready to die at his post; yet he is commonly a violent, +senseless creature. And the legislator, whether inspired or uninspired, +will make laws with a view to the highest virtue; and this is not brute +courage, but loyalty in the hour of danger. The virtue of Tyrtaeus, +although needful enough in his own time, is really of a fourth-rate +description. 'You are degrading our legislator to a very low level.' +Nay, we degrade not him, but ourselves, if we believe that the laws of +Lycurgus and Minos had a view to war only. A divine lawgiver would have +had regard to all the different kinds of virtue, and have arranged his +laws in corresponding classes, and not in the modern fashion, which +only makes them after the want of them is felt,--about inheritances and +heiresses and assaults, and the like. As you truly said, virtue is the +business of the legislator; but you went wrong when you referred all +legislation to a part of virtue, and to an inferior part. For the object +of laws, whether the Cretan or any other, is to make men happy. Now +happiness or good is of two kinds--there are divine and there are human +goods. He who has the divine has the human added to him; but he who +has lost the greater is deprived of both. The lesser goods are health, +beauty, strength, and, lastly, wealth; not the blind God, Pluto, but one +who has eyes to see and follow wisdom. For mind or wisdom is the most +divine of all goods; and next comes temperance, and justice springs from +the union of wisdom and temperance with courage, which is the fourth or +last. These four precede other goods, and the legislator will arrange +all his ordinances accordingly, the human going back to the divine, +and the divine to their leader mind. There will be enactments about +marriage, about education, about all the states and feelings and +experiences of men and women, at every age, in weal and woe, in war and +peace; upon all the law will fix a stamp of praise and blame. There will +also be regulations about property and expenditure, about contracts, +about rewards and punishments, and finally about funeral rites and +honours of the dead. The lawgiver will appoint guardians to preside over +these things; and mind will harmonize his ordinances, and show them to +be in agreement with temperance and justice. Now I want to know whether +the same principles are observed in the laws of Lycurgus and Minos, +or, as I should rather say, of Apollo and Zeus. We must go through the +virtues, beginning with courage, and then we will show that what has +preceded has relation to virtue. + +'I wish,' says the Lacedaemonian, 'that you, Stranger, would first +criticize Cleinias and the Cretan laws.' Yes, is the reply, and I will +criticize you and myself, as well as him. Tell me, Megillus, were not +the common meals and gymnastic training instituted by your legislator +with a view to war? 'Yes; and next in the order of importance comes +hunting, and fourth the endurance of pain in boxing contests, and in the +beatings which are the punishment of theft. There is, too, the so-called +Crypteia or secret service, in which our youth wander about the country +night and day unattended, and even in winter go unshod and have no beds +to lie on. Moreover they wrestle and exercise under a blazing sun, and +they have many similar customs.' Well, but is courage only a combat +against fear and pain, and not against pleasure and flattery? 'Against +both, I should say.' And which is worse,--to be overcome by pain, or +by pleasure? 'The latter.' But did the lawgivers of Crete and Sparta +legislate for a courage which is lame of one leg,--able to meet the +attacks of pain but not those of pleasure, or for one which can meet +both? 'For a courage which can meet both, I should say.' But if so, +where are the institutions which train your citizens to be equally brave +against pleasure and pain, and superior to enemies within as well as +without? 'We confess that we have no institutions worth mentioning which +are of this character.' I am not surprised, and will therefore only +request forbearance on the part of us all, in case the love of truth +should lead any of us to censure the laws of the others. Remember that +I am more in the way of hearing criticisms of your laws than you can be; +for in well-ordered states like Crete and Sparta, although an old man +may sometimes speak of them in private to a ruler or elder, a similar +liberty is not allowed to the young. But now being alone we shall not +offend your legislator by a friendly examination of his laws. 'Take any +freedom which you like.' + +My first observation is, that your lawgiver ordered you to endure +hardships, because he thought that those who had not this discipline +would run away from those who had. But he ought to have considered +further, that those who had never learned to resist pleasure would be +equally at the mercy of those who had, and these are often among the +worst of mankind. Pleasure, like fear, would overcome them and take away +their courage and freedom. 'Perhaps; but I must not be hasty in giving +my assent.' + +Next as to temperance: what institutions have you which are adapted +to promote temperance? 'There are the common meals and gymnastic +exercises.' These are partly good and partly bad, and, as in medicine, +what is good at one time and for one person, is bad at another time and +for another person. Now although gymnastics and common meals do good, +they are also a cause of evil in civil troubles, and they appear to +encourage unnatural love, as has been shown at Miletus, in Boeotia, and +at Thurii. And the Cretans are said to have invented the tale of Zeus +and Ganymede in order to justify their evil practices by the example of +the God who was their lawgiver. Leaving the story, we may observe that +all law has to do with pleasure and pain; these are two fountains which +are ever flowing in human nature, and he who drinks of them when and as +much as he ought, is happy, and he who indulges in them to excess, is +miserable. 'You may be right, but I still incline to think that the +Lacedaemonian lawgiver did well in forbidding pleasure, if I may judge +from the result. For there is no drunken revelry in Sparta, and any one +found in a state of intoxication is severely punished; he is not excused +as an Athenian would be at Athens on account of a festival. I myself +have seen the Athenians drunk at the Dionysia--and at our colony, +Tarentum, on a similar occasion, I have beheld the whole city in a +state of intoxication.' I admit that these festivals should be properly +regulated. Yet I might reply, 'Yes, Spartans, that is not your vice; but +look at home and remember the licentiousness of your women.' And to +all such accusations every one of us may reply in turn:--'Wonder not, +Stranger; there are different customs in different countries.' Now this +may be a sufficient answer; but we are speaking about the wisdom of +lawgivers and not about the customs of men. To return to the question of +drinking: shall we have total abstinence, as you have, or hard drinking, +like the Scythians and Thracians, or moderate potations like the +Persians? 'Give us arms, and we send all these nations flying before +us.' My good friend, be modest; victories and defeats often arise +from unknown causes, and afford no proof of the goodness or badness of +institutions. The stronger overcomes the weaker, as the Athenians have +overcome the Ceans, or the Syracusans the Locrians, who are, perhaps, +the best governed state in that part of the world. People are apt to +praise or censure practices without enquiring into the nature of them. +This is the way with drink: one person brings many witnesses, who sing +the praises of wine; another declares that sober men defeat drunkards +in battle; and he again is refuted in turn. I should like to conduct the +argument on some other method; for if you regard numbers, there are two +cities on one side, and ten thousand on the other. 'I am ready to pursue +any method which is likely to lead us to the truth.' Let me put the +matter thus: Somebody praises the useful qualities of a goat; another +has seen goats running about wild in a garden, and blames a goat or any +other animal which happens to be without a keeper. 'How absurd!' Would +a pilot who is sea-sick be a good pilot? 'No.' Or a general who is sick +and drunk with fear and ignorant of war a good general? 'A general +of old women he ought to be.' But can any one form an estimate of any +society, which is intended to have a ruler, and which he only sees in an +unruly and lawless state? 'No.' There is a convivial form of society--is +there not? 'Yes.' And has this convivial society ever been rightly +ordered? Of course you Spartans and Cretans have never seen anything of +the kind, but I have had wide experience, and made many enquiries about +such societies, and have hardly ever found anything right or good in +them. 'We acknowledge our want of experience, and desire to learn of +you.' Will you admit that in all societies there must be a leader? +'Yes.' And in time of war he must be a man of courage and absolutely +devoid of fear, if this be possible? 'Certainly.' But we are talking now +of a general who shall preside at meetings of friends--and as these +have a tendency to be uproarious, they ought above all others to have a +governor. 'Very good.' He should be a sober man and a man of the world, +who will keep, make, and increase the peace of the society; a drunkard +in charge of drunkards would be singularly fortunate if he avoided doing +a serious mischief. 'Indeed he would.' Suppose a person to censure such +meetings--he may be right, but also he may have known them only in their +disorderly state, under a drunken master of the feast; and a drunken +general or pilot cannot save his army or his ships. 'True; but although +I see the advantage of an army having a good general, I do not equally +see the good of a feast being well managed.' If you mean to ask what +good accrues to the state from the right training of a single youth or +a single chorus, I should reply, 'Not much'; but if you ask what is the +good of education in general, I answer, that education makes good +men, and that good men act nobly and overcome their enemies in +battle. Victory is often suicidal to the victors, because it creates +forgetfulness of education, but education itself is never suicidal. 'You +imply that the regulation of convivial meetings is a part of education; +how will you prove this?' I will tell you. But first let me offer a +word of apology. We Athenians are always thought to be fond of talking, +whereas the Lacedaemonian is celebrated for brevity, and the Cretan +is considered to be sagacious and reserved. Now I fear that I may be +charged with spinning a long discourse out of slender materials. For +drinking cannot be rightly ordered without correct principles of music, +and music runs up into education generally, and to discuss all these +matters may be tedious; if you like, therefore, we will pass on to +another part of our subject. 'Are you aware, Athenian, that our family +is your proxenus at Sparta, and that from my boyhood I have regarded +Athens as a second country, and having often fought your battles in my +youth, I have become attached to you, and love the sound of the Attic +dialect? The saying is true, that the best Athenians are more than +ordinarily good, because they are good by nature; therefore, be assured +that I shall be glad to hear you talk as much as you please.' 'I, +too,' adds Cleinias, 'have a tie which binds me to you. You know that +Epimenides, the Cretan prophet, came and offered sacrifices in your city +by the command of an oracle ten years before the Persian war. He told +the Athenians that the Persian host would not come for ten years, and +would go away again, having suffered more harm than they had inflicted. +Now Epimenides was of my family, and when he visited Athens he entered +into friendship with your forefathers.' I see that you are willing to +listen, and I have the will to speak, if I had only the ability. But, +first, I must define the nature and power of education, and by this +road we will travel on to the God Dionysus. The man who is to be good +at anything must have early training;--the future builder must play at +building, and the husbandman at digging; the soldier must learn to ride, +and the carpenter to measure and use the rule,--all the thoughts and +pleasures of children should bear on their after-profession.--Do you +agree with me? 'Certainly.' And we must remember further that we are +speaking of the education, not of a trainer, or of the captain of a +ship, but of a perfect citizen who knows how to rule and how to obey; +and such an education aims at virtue, and not at wealth or strength or +mere cleverness. To the good man, education is of all things the most +precious, and is also in constant need of renovation. 'We agree.' And +we have before agreed that good men are those who are able to control +themselves, and bad men are those who are not. Let me offer you an +illustration which will assist our argument. Man is one; but in one +and the same man are two foolish counsellors who contend within +him--pleasure and pain, and of either he has expectations which we call +hope and fear; and he is able to reason about good and evil, and reason, +when affirmed by the state, becomes law. 'We cannot follow you.' Let +me put the matter in another way: Every creature is a puppet of the +Gods--whether he is a mere plaything or has any serious use we do not +know; but this we do know, that he is drawn different ways by cords +and strings. There is a soft golden cord which draws him towards +virtue--this is the law of the state; and there are other cords made +of iron and hard materials drawing him other ways. The golden reasoning +influence has nothing of the nature of force, and therefore requires +ministers in order to vanquish the other principles. This explains the +doctrine that cities and citizens both conquer and are conquered by +themselves. The individual follows reason, and the city law, which is +embodied reason, either derived from the Gods or from the legislator. +When virtue and vice are thus distinguished, education will be better +understood, and in particular the relation of education to convivial +intercourse. And now let us set wine before the puppet. You admit that +wine stimulates the passions? 'Yes.' And does wine equally stimulate +the reasoning faculties? 'No; it brings the soul back to a state of +childhood.' In such a state a man has the least control over himself, +and is, therefore, worst. 'Very true.' Then how can we believe that +drinking should be encouraged? 'You seem to think that it ought to be.' +And I am ready to maintain my position. 'We should like to hear you +prove that a man ought to make a beast of himself.' You are speaking +of the degradation of the soul: but how about the body? Would any man +willingly degrade or weaken that? 'Certainly not.' And yet if he goes to +a doctor or a gymnastic master, does he not make himself ill in the hope +of getting well? for no one would like to be always taking medicine, or +always to be in training. 'True.' And may not convivial meetings have a +similar remedial use? And if so, are they not to be preferred to other +modes of training because they are painless? 'But have they any such +use?' Let us see: Are there not two kinds of fear--fear of evil and fear +of an evil reputation? 'There are.' The latter kind of fear is opposed +both to the fear of pain and to the love of pleasure. This is called by +the legislator reverence, and is greatly honoured by him and by every +good man; whereas confidence, which is the opposite quality, is the +worst fault both of individuals and of states. This sort of fear or +reverence is one of the two chief causes of victory in war, fearlessness +of enemies being the other. 'True.' Then every one should be both +fearful and fearless? 'Yes.' The right sort of fear is infused into +a man when he comes face to face with shame, or cowardice, or the +temptations of pleasure, and has to conquer them. He must learn by +many trials to win the victory over himself, if he is ever to be made +perfect. 'That is reasonable enough.' And now, suppose that the Gods had +given mankind a drug, of which the effect was to exaggerate every sort +of evil and danger, so that the bravest man entirely lost his presence +of mind and became a coward for a time:--would such a drug have any +value? 'But is there such a drug?' No; but suppose that there were; +might not the legislator use such a mode of testing courage and +cowardice? 'To be sure.' The legislator would induce fear in order to +implant fearlessness; and would give rewards or punishments to those +who behaved well or the reverse, under the influence of the drug? +'Certainly.' And this mode of training, whether practised in the case +of one or many, whether in solitude or in the presence of a large +company--if a man have sufficient confidence in himself to drink the +potion amid his boon companions, leaving off in time and not taking too +much,--would be an equally good test of temperance? 'Very true.' Let +us return to the lawgiver and say to him, 'Well, lawgiver, no such +fear-producing potion has been given by God or invented by man, but +there is a potion which will make men fearless.' 'You mean wine.' +Yes; has not wine an effect the contrary of that which I was just now +describing,--first mellowing and humanizing a man, and then filling him +with confidence, making him ready to say or do anything? 'Certainly.' +Let us not forget that there are two qualities which should be +cultivated in the soul--first, the greatest fearlessness, and, secondly, +the greatest fear, which are both parts of reverence. Courage and +fearlessness are trained amid dangers; but we have still to consider how +fear is to be trained. We desire to attain fearlessness and confidence +without the insolence and boldness which commonly attend them. For +do not love, ignorance, avarice, wealth, beauty, strength, while they +stimulate courage, also madden and intoxicate the soul? What better and +more innocent test of character is there than festive intercourse? Would +you make a bargain with a man in order to try whether he is honest? Or +would you ascertain whether he is licentious by putting your wife or +daughter into his hands? No one would deny that the test proposed is +fairer, speedier, and safer than any other. And such a test will be +particularly useful in the political science, which desires to know +human natures and characters. 'Very true.' + +BOOK II. And are there any other uses of well-ordered potations? There +are; but in order to explain them, I must repeat what I mean by right +education; which, if I am not mistaken, depends on the due regulation +of convivial intercourse. 'A high assumption.' I believe that virtue +and vice are originally present to the mind of children in the form of +pleasure and pain; reason and fixed principles come later, and happy is +he who acquires them even in declining years; for he who possesses +them is the perfect man. When pleasure and pain, and love and hate, are +rightly implanted in the yet unconscious soul, and after the attainment +of reason are discovered to be in harmony with her, this harmony of the +soul is virtue, and the preparatory stage, anticipating reason, I +call education. But the finer sense of pleasure and pain is apt to be +impaired in the course of life; and therefore the Gods, pitying the +toils and sorrows of mortals, have allowed them to have holidays, +and given them the Muses and Apollo and Dionysus for leaders and +playfellows. All young creatures love motion and frolic, and utter +sounds of delight; but man only is capable of taking pleasure in +rhythmical and harmonious movements. With these education begins; and +the uneducated is he who has never known the discipline of the chorus, +and the educated is he who has. The chorus is partly dance and partly +song, and therefore the well-educated must sing and dance well. But when +we say, 'He sings and dances well,' we mean that he sings and dances +what is good. And if he thinks that to be good which is really good, he +will have a much higher music and harmony in him, and be a far greater +master of imitation in sound and gesture than he who is not of this +opinion. 'True.' Then, if we know what is good and bad in song and +dance, we shall know what education is? 'Very true.' Let us now consider +the beauty of figure, melody, song, and dance. Will the same figures or +sounds be equally well adapted to the manly and the cowardly when they +are in trouble? 'How can they be, when the very colours of their faces +are different?' Figures and melodies have a rhythm and harmony which are +adapted to the expression of different feelings (I may remark, by the +way, that the term 'colour,' which is a favourite word of music-masters, +is not really applicable to music). And one class of harmonies is akin +to courage and all virtue, the other to cowardice and all vice. 'We +agree.' And do all men equally like all dances? 'Far otherwise.' Do some +figures, then, appear to be beautiful which are not? For no one will +admit that the forms of vice are more beautiful than the forms of +virtue, or that he prefers the first kind to the second. And yet most +persons say that the merit of music is to give pleasure. But this is +impiety. There is, however, a more plausible account of the matter given +by others, who make their likes or dislikes the criterion of excellence. +Sometimes nature crosses habit, or conversely, and then they say that +such and such fashions or gestures are pleasant, but they do not like to +exhibit them before men of sense, although they enjoy them in private. +'Very true.' And do vicious measures and strains do any harm, or +good measures any good to the lovers of them? 'Probably.' Say, rather +'Certainly': for the gentle indulgence which we often show to vicious +men inevitably makes us become like them. And what can be worse than +this? 'Nothing.' Then in a well-administered city, the poet will not be +allowed to make the songs of the people just as he pleases, or to train +his choruses without regard to virtue and vice. 'Certainly not.' And +yet he may do this anywhere except in Egypt; for there ages ago they +discovered the great truth which I am now asserting, that the young +should be educated in forms and strains of virtue. These they fixed and +consecrated in their temples; and no artist or musician is allowed +to deviate from them. They are literally the same which they were ten +thousand years ago. And this practice of theirs suggests the reflection +that legislation about music is not an impossible thing. But the +particular enactments must be the work of God or of some God-inspired +man, as in Egypt their ancient chants are said to be the composition +of the goddess Isis. The melodies which have a natural truth and +correctness should be embodied in a law, and then the desire of novelty +is not strong enough to change the old fashions. Is not the origin of +music as follows? We rejoice when we think that we prosper, and we think +that we prosper when we rejoice, and at such times we cannot rest, but +our young men dance dances and sing songs, and our old men, who have +lost the elasticity of youth, regale themselves with the memory of the +past, while they contemplate the life and activity of the young. 'Most +true.' People say that he who gives us most pleasure at such festivals +is to win the palm: are they right? 'Possibly.' Let us not be hasty +in deciding, but first imagine a festival at which the lord of the +festival, having assembled the citizens, makes a proclamation that +he shall be crowned victor who gives the most pleasure, from whatever +source derived. We will further suppose that there are exhibitions +of rhapsodists and musicians, tragic and comic poets, and even +marionette-players--which of the pleasure-makers will win? Shall I +answer for you?--the marionette-players will please the children; youths +will decide for comedy; young men, educated women, and people in general +will prefer tragedy; we old men are lovers of Homer and Hesiod. Now +which of them is right? If you and I are asked, we shall certainly say +that the old men's way of thinking ought to prevail. 'Very true.' So far +I agree with the many that the excellence of music is to be measured by +pleasure; but then the pleasure must be that of the good and educated, +or better still, of one supremely virtuous and educated man. The true +judge must have both wisdom and courage. For he must lead the multitude +and not be led by them, and must not weakly yield to the uproar of +the theatre, nor give false judgment out of that mouth which has just +appealed to the Gods. The ancient custom of Hellas, which still prevails +in Italy and Sicily, left the judgment to the spectators, but this +custom has been the ruin of the poets, who seek only to please their +patrons, and has degraded the audience by the representation of inferior +characters. What is the inference? The same which we have often drawn, +that education is the training of the young idea in what the law affirms +and the elders approve. And as the soul of a child is too young to be +trained in earnest, a kind of education has been invented which tempts +him with plays and songs, as the sick are tempted by pleasant meats and +drinks. And the wise legislator will compel the poet to express in his +poems noble thoughts in fitting words and rhythms. 'But is this the +practice elsewhere than in Crete and Lacedaemon? In other states, as far +as I know, dances and music are constantly changed at the pleasure of +the hearers.' I am afraid that I misled you; not liking to be always +finding fault with mankind as they are, I described them as they ought +to be. But let me understand: you say that such customs exist among +the Cretans and Lacedaemonians, and that the rest of the world would be +improved by adopting them? 'Much improved.' And you compel your poets to +declare that the righteous are happy, and that the wicked man, even if +he be as rich as Midas, is unhappy? Or, in the words of Tyrtaeus, +'I sing not, I care not about him' who is a great warrior not having +justice; if he be unjust, 'I would not have him look calmly upon death +or be swifter than the wind'; and may he be deprived of every good--that +is, of every true good. For even if he have the goods which men regard, +these are not really goods: first health; beauty next; thirdly wealth; +and there are others. A man may have every sense purged and improved; he +may be a tyrant, and do what he likes, and live for ever: but you and +I will maintain that all these things are goods to the just, but to the +unjust the greatest of evils, if life be immortal; not so great if he +live for a short time only. If a man had health and wealth, and power, +and was insolent and unjust, his life would still be miserable; he might +be fair and rich, and do what he liked, but he would live basely, and if +basely evilly, and if evilly painfully. 'There I cannot agree with you.' +Then may heaven give us the spirit of agreement, for I am as convinced +of the truth of what I say as that Crete is an island; and, if I were +a lawgiver, I would exercise a censorship over the poets, and I would +punish them if they said that the wicked are happy, or that injustice is +profitable. And these are not the only matters in which I should make +my citizens talk in a different way to the world in general. If I asked +Zeus and Apollo, the divine legislators of Crete and Sparta,--'Are +the just and pleasant life the same or not the same'?--and they +replied,--'Not the same'; and I asked again--'Which is the happier'? And +they said'--'The pleasant life,' this is an answer not fit for a God +to utter, and therefore I ought rather to put the same question to some +legislator. And if he replies 'The pleasant,' then I should say to +him, 'O my father, did you not tell me that I should live as justly as +possible'? and if to be just is to be happy, what is that principle of +happiness or good which is superior to pleasure? Is the approval of +gods and men to be deemed good and honourable, but unpleasant, and their +disapproval the reverse? Or is the neither doing nor suffering evil good +and honourable, although not pleasant? But you cannot make men like what +is not pleasant, and therefore you must make them believe that the +just is pleasant. The business of the legislator is to clear up this +confusion. He will show that the just and the unjust are identical with +the pleasurable and the painful, from the point of view of the just man, +of the unjust the reverse. And which is the truer judgment? Surely that +of the better soul. For if not the truth, it is the best and most moral +of fictions; and the legislator who desires to propagate this useful +lie, may be encouraged by remarking that mankind have believed the story +of Cadmus and the dragon's teeth, and therefore he may be assured that +he can make them believe anything, and need only consider what fiction +will do the greatest good. That the happiest is also the holiest, this +shall be our strain, which shall be sung by all three choruses alike. +First will enter the choir of children, who will lift up their voices +on high; and after them the young men, who will pray the God Paean to be +gracious to the youth, and to testify to the truth of their words; +then will come the chorus of elder men, between thirty and sixty; and, +lastly, there will be the old men, and they will tell stories enforcing +the same virtues, as with the voice of an oracle. 'Whom do you mean by +the third chorus?' You remember how I spoke at first of the restless +nature of young creatures, who jumped about and called out in a +disorderly manner, and I said that no other animal attained any +perception of rhythm; but that to us the Gods gave Apollo and the Muses +and Dionysus to be our playfellows. Of the two first choruses I have +already spoken, and I have now to speak of the third, or Dionysian +chorus, which is composed of those who are between thirty and sixty +years old. 'Let us hear.' We are agreed (are we not?) that men, women, +and children should be always charming themselves with strains of +virtue, and that there should be a variety in the strains, that they may +not weary of them? Now the fairest and most useful of strains will be +uttered by the elder men, and therefore we cannot let them off. But how +can we make them sing? For a discreet elderly man is ashamed to hear the +sound of his own voice in private, and still more in public. The only +way is to give them drink; this will mellow the sourness of age. No one +should be allowed to taste wine until they are eighteen; from eighteen +to thirty they may take a little; but when they have reached forty +years, they may be initiated into the mystery of drinking. Thus they +will become softer and more impressible; and when a man's heart is warm +within him, he will be more ready to charm himself and others with song. +And what songs shall he sing? 'At Crete and Lacedaemon we only know +choral songs.' Yes; that is because your way of life is military. Your +young men are like wild colts feeding in a herd together; no one takes +the individual colt and trains him apart, and tries to give him the +qualities of a statesman as well as of a soldier. He who was thus +trained would be a greater warrior than those of whom Tyrtaeus speaks, +for he would be courageous, and yet he would know that courage was only +fourth in the scale of virtue. 'Once more, I must say, Stranger, that +you run down our lawgivers.' Not intentionally, my good friend, but +whither the argument leads I follow; and I am trying to find some style +of poetry suitable for those who dislike the common sort. 'Very good.' +In all things which have a charm, either this charm is their good, or +they have some accompanying truth or advantage. For example, in eating +and drinking there is pleasure and also profit, that is to say, health; +and in learning there is a pleasure and also truth. There is a pleasure +or charm, too, in the imitative arts, as well as a law of proportion or +equality; but the pleasure which they afford, however innocent, is not +the criterion of their truth. The test of pleasure cannot be applied +except to that which has no other good or evil, no truth or falsehood. +But that which has truth must be judged of by the standard of truth, and +therefore imitation and proportion are to be judged of by their truth +alone. 'Certainly.' And as music is imitative, it is not to be judged by +the criterion of pleasure, and the Muse whom we seek is the muse not of +pleasure but of truth, for imitation has a truth. 'Doubtless.' And if +so, the judge must know what is being imitated before he decides on the +quality of the imitation, and he who does not know what is true will not +know what is good. 'He will not.' Will any one be able to imitate the +human body, if he does not know the number, proportion, colour, or +figure of the limbs? 'How can he?' But suppose we know some picture or +figure to be an exact resemblance of a man, should we not also require +to know whether the picture is beautiful or not? 'Quite right.' The +judge of the imitation is required to know, therefore, first the +original, secondly the truth, and thirdly the merit of the execution? +'True.' Then let us not weary in the attempt to bring music to the +standard of the Muses and of truth. The Muses are not like human poets; +they never spoil or mix rhythms or scales, or mingle instruments and +human voices, or confuse the manners and strains of men and women, or of +freemen and slaves, or of rational beings and brute animals. They do +not practise the baser sorts of musical arts, such as the 'matured +judgments,' of whom Orpheus speaks, would ridicule. But modern poets +separate metre from music, and melody and rhythm from words, and use the +instrument alone without the voice. The consequence is, that the meaning +of the rhythm and of the time are not understood. I am endeavouring to +show how our fifty-year-old choristers are to be trained, and what +they are to avoid. The opinion of the multitude about these matters is +worthless; they who are only made to step in time by sheer force cannot +be critics of music. 'Impossible.' Then our newly-appointed minstrels +must be trained in music sufficiently to understand the nature of +rhythms and systems; and they should select such as are suitable to +men of their age, and will enable them to give and receive innocent +pleasure. This is a knowledge which goes beyond that either of the poets +or of their auditors in general. For although the poet must understand +rhythm and music, he need not necessarily know whether the imitation +is good or not, which was the third point required in a judge; but our +chorus of elders must know all three, if they are to be the instructors +of youth. + +And now we will resume the original argument, which may be summed up as +follows: A convivial meeting is apt to grow tumultuous as the drinking +proceeds; every man becomes light-headed, and fancies that he can rule +the whole world. 'Doubtless.' And did we not say that the souls of the +drinkers, when subdued by wine, are made softer and more malleable at +the hand of the legislator? the docility of childhood returns to them. +At times however they become too valiant and disorderly, drinking out +of their turn, and interrupting one another. And the business of the +legislator is to infuse into them that divine fear, which we call shame, +in opposition to this disorderly boldness. But in order to discipline +them there must be guardians of the law of drinking, and sober generals +who shall take charge of the private soldiers; they are as necessary in +drinking as in fighting, and he who disobeys these Dionysiac commanders +will be equally disgraced. 'Very good.' If a drinking festival were well +regulated, men would go away, not as they now do, greater enemies, but +better friends. Of the greatest gift of Dionysus I hardly like to speak, +lest I should be misunderstood. 'What is that?' According to tradition +Dionysus was driven mad by his stepmother Here, and in order to revenge +himself he inspired mankind with Bacchic madness. But these are stories +which I would rather not repeat. However I do acknowledge that all men +are born in an imperfect state, and are at first restless, irrational +creatures: this, as you will remember, has been already said by us. 'I +remember.' And that Apollo and the Muses and Dionysus gave us harmony +and rhythm? 'Very true.' The other story implies that wine was given +to punish us and make us mad; but we contend that wine is a balm and a +cure; a spring of modesty in the soul, and of health and strength in +the body. Again, the work of the chorus is co-extensive with the work of +education; rhythm and melody answer to the voice, and the motions of the +body correspond to all three, and the sound enters in and educates +the soul in virtue. 'Yes.' And the movement which, when pursued as +an amusement, is termed dancing, when studied with a view to the +improvement of the body, becomes gymnastic. Shall we now proceed to +speak of this? 'What Cretan or Lacedaemonian would approve of your +omitting gymnastic?' Your question implies assent; and you will easily +understand a subject which is familiar to you. Gymnastic is based on the +natural tendency of every animal to rapid motion; and man adds a sense +of rhythm, which is awakened by music; music and dancing together form +the choral art. But before proceeding I must add a crowning word about +drinking. Like other pleasures, it has a lawful use; but if a state or +an individual is inclined to drink at will, I cannot allow them. I +would go further than Crete or Lacedaemon and have the law of the +Carthaginians, that no slave of either sex should drink wine at all, and +no soldier while he is on a campaign, and no magistrate or officer while +he is on duty, and that no one should drink by daylight or on a bridal +night. And there are so many other occasions on which wine ought to +be prohibited, that there will not be many vines grown or vineyards +required in the state. + +BOOK III. If a man wants to know the origin of states and societies, he +should behold them from the point of view of time. Thousands of cities +have come into being and have passed away again in infinite ages, +every one of them having had endless forms of government; and if we +can ascertain the cause of these changes in states, that will probably +explain their origin. What do you think of ancient traditions about +deluges and destructions of mankind, and the preservation of a remnant? +'Every one believes in them.' Then let us suppose the world to have +been destroyed by a deluge. The survivors would be hill-shepherds, small +sparks of the human race, dwelling in isolation, and unacquainted with +the arts and vices of civilization. We may further suppose that the +cities on the plain and on the coast have been swept away, and that all +inventions, and every sort of knowledge, have perished. 'Why, if all +things were as they now are, nothing would have ever been invented. All +our famous discoveries have been made within the last thousand years, +and many of them are but of yesterday.' Yes, Cleinias, and you must not +forget Epimenides, who was really of yesterday; he practised the lesson +of moderation and abstinence which Hesiod only preached. 'True.' After +the great destruction we may imagine that the earth was a desert, in +which there were a herd or two of oxen and a few goats, hardly enough +to support those who tended them; while of politics and governments +the survivors would know nothing. And out of this state of things have +arisen arts and laws, and a great deal of virtue and a great deal of +vice; little by little the world has come to be what it is. At first, +the few inhabitants would have had a natural fear of descending into the +plains; although they would want to have intercourse with one another, +they would have a difficulty in getting about, having lost the arts, +and having no means of extracting metals from the earth, or of felling +timber; for even if they had saved any tools, these would soon have been +worn out, and they could get no more until the art of metallurgy had +been again revived. Faction and war would be extinguished among them, +for being solitary they would incline to be friendly; and having +abundance of pasture and plenty of milk and flesh, they would have +nothing to quarrel about. We may assume that they had also dwellings, +clothes, pottery, for the weaving and plastic arts do not require the +use of metals. In those days they were neither poor nor rich, and +there was no insolence or injustice among them; for they were of noble +natures, and lived up to their principles, and believed what they were +told; knowing nothing of land or naval warfare, or of legal practices +or party conflicts, they were simpler and more temperate, and also more +just than the men of our day. 'Very true.' I am showing whence the need +of lawgivers arises, for in primitive ages they neither had nor wanted +them. Men lived according to the customs of their fathers, in a simple +manner, under a patriarchal government, such as still exists both among +Hellenes and barbarians, and is described in Homer as prevailing among +the Cyclopes:-- + +'They have no laws, and they dwell in rocks or on the tops of mountains, +and every one is the judge of his wife and children, and they do not +trouble themselves about one another.' + +'That is a charming poet of yours, though I know little of him, for in +Crete foreign poets are not much read.' 'But he is well known in Sparta, +though he describes Ionian rather than Dorian manners, and he seems to +take your view of primitive society.' May we not suppose that government +arose out of the union of single families who survived the destruction, +and were under the rule of patriarchs, because they had originally +descended from a single father and mother? 'That is very probable.' As +time went on, men increased in number, and tilled the ground, living in +a common habitation, which they protected by walls against wild beasts; +but the several families retained the laws and customs which they +separately received from their first parents. They would naturally like +their own laws better than any others, and would be already formed by +them when they met in a common society: thus legislation imperceptibly +began among them. For in the next stage the associated families would +appoint plenipotentiaries, who would select and present to the chiefs +those of all their laws which they thought best. The chiefs in turn +would make a further selection, and would thus become the lawgivers +of the state, which they would form into an aristocracy or a monarchy. +'Probably.' In the third stage various other forms of government would +arise. This state of society is described by Homer in speaking of the +foundation of Dardania, which, he says, + + 'was built at the foot of many-fountained Ida, for Ilium, + the city of the plain, as yet was not.' + +Here, as also in the account of the Cyclopes, the poet by some divine +inspiration has attained truth. But to proceed with our tale. Ilium was +built in a wide plain, on a low hill, which was surrounded by streams +descending from Ida. This shows that many ages must have passed; for the +men who remembered the deluge would never have placed their city at the +mercy of the waters. When mankind began to multiply, many other cities +were built in similar situations. These cities carried on a ten years' +war against Troy, by sea as well as land, for men were ceasing to be +afraid of the sea, and, in the meantime, while the chiefs of the army +were at Troy, their homes fell into confusion. The youth revolted and +refused to receive their own fathers; deaths, murders, exiles ensued. +Under the new name of Dorians, which they received from their chief +Dorieus, the exiles returned: the rest of the story is part of the +history of Sparta. + +Thus, after digressing from the subject of laws into music and drinking, +we return to the settlement of Sparta, which in laws and institutions is +the sister of Crete. We have seen the rise of a first, second, and third +state, during the lapse of ages; and now we arrive at a fourth state, +and out of the comparison of all four we propose to gather the nature +of laws and governments, and the changes which may be desirable in them. +'If,' replies the Spartan, 'our new discussion is likely to be as +good as the last, I would think the longest day too short for such an +employment.' + +Let us imagine the time when Lacedaemon, and Argos, and Messene were all +subject, Megillus, to your ancestors. Afterwards, they distributed +the army into three portions, and made three cities--Argos, Messene, +Lacedaemon. 'Yes.' Temenus was the king of Argos, Cresphontes of +Messene, Procles and Eurysthenes ruled at Lacedaemon. 'Just so.' And +they all swore to assist any one of their number whose kingdom was +subverted. 'Yes.' But did we not say that kingdoms or governments can +only be subverted by themselves? 'That is true.' Yes, and the truth is +now proved by facts: there were certain conditions upon which the three +kingdoms were to assist one another; the government was to be mild and +the people obedient, and the kings and people were to unite in assisting +either of the two others when they were wronged. This latter condition +was a great security. 'Clearly.' Such a provision is in opposition to +the common notion that the lawgiver should make only such laws as the +people like; but we say that he should rather be like a physician, +prepared to effect a cure even at the cost of considerable suffering. +'Very true.' The early lawgivers had another great advantage--they +were saved from the reproach which attends a division of land and the +abolition of debts. No one could quarrel with the Dorians for dividing +the territory, and they had no debts of long standing. 'They had not.' +Then what was the reason why their legislation signally failed? For +there were three kingdoms, two of them quickly lost their original +constitution. That is a question which we cannot refuse to answer, if +we mean to proceed with our old man's game of enquiring into laws +and institutions. And the Dorian institutions are more worthy of +consideration than any other, having been evidently intended to be a +protection not only to the Peloponnese, but to all the Hellenes against +the Barbarians. For the capture of Troy by the Achaeans had given great +offence to the Assyrians, of whose empire it then formed part, and +they were likely to retaliate. Accordingly the royal Heraclid brothers +devised their military constitution, which was organised on a far better +plan than the old Trojan expedition; and the Dorians themselves were far +superior to the Achaeans, who had taken part in that expedition, and had +been conquered by them. Such a scheme, undertaken by men who had shared +with one another toils and dangers, sanctioned by the Delphian oracle, +under the guidance of the Heraclidae, seemed to have a promise of +permanence. 'Naturally.' Yet this has not proved to be the case. Instead +of the three being one, they have always been at war; had they been +united, in accordance with the original intention, they would have been +invincible. + +And what caused their ruin? Did you ever observe that there are +beautiful things of which men often say, 'What wonders they would have +effected if rightly used?' and yet, after all, this may be a mistake. +And so I say of the Heraclidae and their expedition, which I may perhaps +have been justified in admiring, but which nevertheless suggests to me +the general reflection,--'What wonders might not strength and military +resources have accomplished, if the possessor had only known how to use +them!' For consider: if the generals of the army had only known how +to arrange their forces, might they not have given their subjects +everlasting freedom, and the power of doing what they would in all the +world? 'Very true.' Suppose a person to express his admiration of wealth +or rank, does he not do so under the idea that by the help of these +he can attain his desires? All men wish to obtain the control of all +things, and they are always praying for what they desire. 'Certainly.' +And we ask for our friends what they ask for themselves. 'Yes.' Dear is +the son to the father, and yet the son, if he is young and foolish, will +often pray to obtain what the father will pray that he may not obtain. +'True.' And when the father, in the heat of youth or the dotage of age, +makes some rash prayer, the son, like Hippolytus, may have reason to +pray that the word of his father may be ineffectual. 'You mean that a +man should pray to have right desires, before he prays that his desires +may be fulfilled; and that wisdom should be the first object of our +prayers?' Yes; and you will remember my saying that wisdom should be the +principal aim of the legislator; but you said that defence in war +came first. And I replied, that there were four virtues, whereas you +acknowledged one only--courage, and not wisdom which is the guide of all +the rest. And I repeat--in jest if you like, but I am willing that you +should receive my words in earnest--that 'the prayer of a fool is full +of danger.' I will prove to you, if you will allow me, that the ruin +of those states was not caused by cowardice or ignorance in war, but +by ignorance of human affairs. 'Pray proceed: our attention will show +better than compliments that we prize your words.' I maintain that +ignorance is, and always has been, the ruin of states; wherefore the +legislator should seek to banish it from the state; and the greatest +ignorance is the love of what is known to be evil, and the hatred of +what is known to be good; this is the last and greatest conflict of +pleasure and reason in the soul. I say the greatest, because affecting +the greater part of the soul; for the passions are in the individual +what the people are in a state. And when they become opposed to reason +or law, and instruction no longer avails--that is the last and greatest +ignorance of states and men. 'I agree.' Let this, then, be our first +principle:--That the citizen who does not know how to choose between +good and evil must not have authority, although he possess great mental +gifts, and many accomplishments; for he is really a fool. On the other +hand, he who has this knowledge may be unable either to read or swim; +nevertheless, he shall be counted wise and permitted to rule. For how +can there be wisdom where there is no harmony?--the wise man is the +saviour, and he who is devoid of wisdom is the destroyer of states and +households. There are rulers and there are subjects in states. And the +first claim to rule is that of parents to rule over their children; the +second, that of the noble to rule over the ignoble; thirdly, the elder +must govern the younger; in the fourth place, the slave must obey his +master; fifthly, there is the power of the stronger, which the poet +Pindar declares to be according to nature; sixthly, there is the rule of +the wiser, which is also according to nature, as I must inform Pindar, +if he does not know, and is the rule of law over obedient subjects. +'Most true.' And there is a seventh kind of rule which the Gods +love,--in this the ruler is elected by lot. + +Then, now, we playfully say to him who fancies that it is easy to +make laws:--You see, legislator, the many and inconsistent claims to +authority; here is a spring of troubles which you must stay. And first +of all you must help us to consider how the kings of Argos and Messene +in olden days destroyed their famous empire--did they forget the saying +of Hesiod, that 'the half is better than the whole'? And do we suppose +that the ignorance of this truth is less fatal to kings than to peoples? +'Probably the evil is increased by their way of life.' The kings of +those days transgressed the laws and violated their oaths. Their deeds +were not in harmony with their words, and their folly, which seemed to +them wisdom, was the ruin of the state. And how could the legislator +have prevented this evil?--the remedy is easy to see now, but was not +easy to foresee at the time. 'What is the remedy?' The institutions of +Sparta may teach you, Megillus. Wherever there is excess, whether the +vessel has too large a sail, or the body too much food, or the mind +too much power, there destruction is certain. And similarly, a man who +possesses arbitrary power is soon corrupted, and grows hateful to +his dearest friends. In order to guard against this evil, the God who +watched over Sparta gave you two kings instead of one, that they +might balance one another; and further to lower the pulse of your body +politic, some human wisdom, mingled with divine power, tempered the +strength and self-sufficiency of youth with the moderation of age in +the institution of your senate. A third saviour bridled your rising and +swelling power by ephors, whom he assimilated to officers elected by +lot: and thus the kingly power was preserved, and became the preserver +of all the rest. Had the constitution been arranged by the original +legislators, not even the portion of Aristodemus would have been saved; +for they had no political experience, and imagined that a youthful +spirit invested with power could be restrained by oaths. Now that God +has instructed us in the arts of legislation, there is no merit in +seeing all this, or in learning wisdom after the event. But if the +coming danger could have been foreseen, and the union preserved, then +no Persian or other enemy would have dared to attack Hellas; and indeed +there was not so much credit to us in defeating the enemy, as discredit +in our disloyalty to one another. For of the three cities one only +fought on behalf of Hellas; and of the two others, Argos refused +her aid; and Messenia was actually at war with Sparta: and if the +Lacedaemonians and Athenians had not united, the Hellenes would have +been absorbed in the Persian empire, and dispersed among the barbarians. +We make these reflections upon past and present legislators because we +desire to find out what other course could have been followed. We were +saying just now, that a state can only be free and wise and harmonious +when there is a balance of powers. There are many words by which we +express the aims of the legislator,--temperance, wisdom, friendship; but +we need not be disturbed by the variety of expression,--these words have +all the same meaning. 'I should like to know at what in your opinion +the legislator should aim.' Hear me, then. There are two mother forms +of states--one monarchy, and the other democracy: the Persians have +the first in the highest form, and the Athenians the second; and no +government can be well administered which does not include both. There +was a time when both the Persians and Athenians had more the character +of a constitutional state than they now have. In the days of Cyrus the +Persians were freemen as well as lords of others, and their soldiers +were free and equal, and the kings used and honoured all the talent +which they could find, and so the nation waxed great, because there was +freedom and friendship and communion of soul. But Cyrus, though a wise +general, never troubled himself about the education of his family. He +was a soldier from his youth upward, and left his children who were born +in the purple to be educated by women, who humoured and spoilt them. +'A rare education, truly!' Yes, such an education as princesses who had +recently grown rich might be expected to give them in a country where +the men were solely occupied with warlike pursuits. 'Likely enough.' +Their father had possessions of men and animals, and never considered +that the race to whom he was about to make them over had been educated +in a very different school, not like the Persian shepherd, who was +well able to take care of himself and his own. He did not see that +his children had been brought up in the Median fashion, by women and +eunuchs. The end was that one of the sons of Cyrus slew the other, and +lost the kingdom by his own folly. Observe, again, that Darius, who +restored the kingdom, had not received a royal education. He was one of +the seven chiefs, and when he came to the throne he divided the empire +into seven provinces; and he made equal laws, and implanted friendship +among the people. Hence his subjects were greatly attached to him, and +cheerfully helped him to extend his empire. Next followed Xerxes, +who had received the same royal education as Cambyses, and met with a +similar fate. The reflection naturally occurs to us--How could Darius, +with all his experience, have made such a mistake! The ruin of Xerxes +was not a mere accident, but the evil life which is generally led by the +sons of very rich and royal persons; and this is what the legislator has +seriously to consider. Justly may the Lacedaemonians be praised for not +giving special honour to birth or wealth; for such advantages are not to +be highly esteemed without virtue, and not even virtue is to be esteemed +unless it be accompanied by temperance. 'Explain.' No one would like +to live in the same house with a courageous man who had no control over +himself, nor with a clever artist who was a rogue. Nor can justice +and wisdom ever be separated from temperance. But considering these +qualities with reference to the honour and dishonour which is to be +assigned to them in states, would you say, on the other hand, that +temperance, if existing without the other virtues in the soul, is worth +anything or nothing? 'I cannot tell.' You have answered well. It would +be absurd to speak of temperance as belonging to the class of honourable +or of dishonourable qualities, because all other virtues in their +various classes require temperance to be added to them; having the +addition, they are honoured not in proportion to that, but to their own +excellence. And ought not the legislator to determine these classes? +'Certainly.' Suppose then that, without going into details, we make +three great classes of them. Most honourable are the goods of the soul, +always assuming temperance as a condition of them; secondly, those of +the body; thirdly, external possessions. The legislator who puts them in +another order is doing an unholy and unpatriotic thing. + +These remarks were suggested by the history of the Persian kings; and to +them I will now return. The ruin of their empire was caused by the +loss of freedom and the growth of despotism; all community of feeling +disappeared. Hatred and spoliation took the place of friendship; the +people no longer fought heartily for their masters; the rulers, finding +their myriads useless on the field of battle, resorted to mercenaries as +their only salvation, and were thus compelled by their circumstances +to proclaim the stupidest of falsehoods--that virtue is a trifle in +comparison of money. + +But enough of the Persians: a different lesson is taught by the +Athenians, whose example shows that a limited freedom is far better than +an unlimited. Ancient Athens, at the time of the Persian invasion, +had such a limited freedom. The people were divided into four classes, +according to the amount of their property, and the universal love of +order, as well as the fear of the approaching host, made them obedient +and willing citizens. For Darius had sent Datis and Artaphernes, +commanding them under pain of death to subjugate the Eretrians and +Athenians. A report, whether true or not, came to Athens that all the +Eretrians had been 'netted'; and the Athenians in terror sent all +over Hellas for assistance. None came to their relief except the +Lacedaemonians, and they arrived a day too late, when the battle of +Marathon had been already fought. In process of time Xerxes came to +the throne, and the Athenians heard of nothing but the bridge over the +Hellespont, and the canal of Athos, and the innumerable host and fleet. +They knew that these were intended to avenge the defeat of Marathon. +Their case seemed desperate, for there was no Hellene likely to assist +them by land, and at sea they were attacked by more than a thousand +vessels;--their only hope, however slender, was in victory; so they +relied upon themselves and upon the Gods. Their common danger, and +the influence of their ancient constitution, greatly tended to promote +harmony among them. Reverence and fear--that fear which the coward never +knows--made them fight for their altars and their homes, and saved them +from being dispersed all over the world. 'Your words, Athenian, are +worthy of your country.' And you Megillus, who have inherited the +virtues of your ancestors, are worthy to hear them. Let me ask you +to take the moral of my tale. The Persians have lost their liberty +in absolute slavery, and we in absolute freedom. In ancient times the +Athenian people were not the masters, but the servants of the laws. 'Of +what laws?' In the first place, there were laws about music, and the +music was of various kinds: there was one kind which consisted of hymns, +another of lamentations; there was also the paean and the dithyramb, +and the so-called 'laws' (nomoi) or strains, which were played upon the +harp. The regulation of such matters was not left to the whistling and +clapping of the crowd; there was silence while the judges decided, and +the boys, and the audience in general, were kept in order by raps of a +stick. But after a while there arose a new race of poets, men of genius +certainly, however careless of musical truth and propriety, who made +pleasure the only criterion of excellence. That was a test which the +spectators could apply for themselves; the whole audience, instead of +being mute, became vociferous, and a theatrocracy took the place of an +aristocracy. Could the judges have been free, there would have been no +great harm done; a musical democracy would have been well enough--but +conceit has been our ruin. Everybody knows everything, and is ready to +say anything; the age of reverence is gone, and the age of irreverence +and licentiousness has succeeded. 'Most true.' And with this freedom +comes disobedience to rulers, parents, elders,--in the latter days to +the law also; the end returns to the beginning, and the old Titanic +nature reappears--men have no regard for the Gods or for oaths; and the +evils of the human race seem as if they would never cease. Whither are +we running away? Once more we must pull up the argument with bit and +curb, lest, as the proverb says, we should fall off our ass. 'Good.' +Our purpose in what we have been saying is to prove that the legislator +ought to aim at securing for a state three things--freedom, friendship, +wisdom. And we chose two states;--one was the type of freedom, and the +other of despotism; and we showed that when in a mean they attained +their highest perfection. In a similar spirit we spoke of the Dorian +expedition, and of the settlement on the hills and in the plains of +Troy; and of music, and the use of wine, and of all that preceded. + +And now, has our discussion been of any use? 'Yes, stranger; for by +a singular coincidence the Cretans are about to send out a colony, +of which the settlement has been confided to the Cnosians. Ten +commissioners, of whom I am one, are to give laws to the colonists, and +we may give any which we please--Cretan or foreign. And therefore let +us make a selection from what has been said, and then proceed with the +construction of the state.' Very good: I am quite at your service. 'And +I too,' says Megillus. + +BOOK IV. And now, what is this city? I do not want to know what is to +be the name of the place (for some accident,--a river or a local deity, +will determine that), but what the situation is, whether maritime or +inland. 'The city will be about eleven miles from the sea.' Are there +harbours? 'Excellent.' And is the surrounding country self-supporting? +'Almost.' Any neighbouring states? 'No; and that is the reason for +choosing the place, which has been deserted from time immemorial.' And +is there a fair proportion of hill and plain and wood? 'Like Crete +in general, more hill than plain.' Then there is some hope for your +citizens; had the city been on the sea, and dependent for support +on other countries, no human power could have preserved you from +corruption. Even the distance of eleven miles is hardly enough. For the +sea, although an agreeable, is a dangerous companion, and a highway of +strange morals and manners as well as of commerce. But as the country is +only moderately fertile there will be no great export trade and no +great returns of gold and silver, which are the ruin of states. Is there +timber for ship-building? 'There is no pine, nor much cypress; and very +little stone-pine or plane wood for the interior of ships.' That is +good. 'Why?' Because the city will not be able to imitate the bad ways +of her enemies. 'What is the bearing of that remark?' To explain my +meaning, I would ask you to remember what we said about the Cretan laws, +that they had an eye to war only; whereas I maintained that they ought +to have included all virtue. And I hope that you in your turn will +retaliate upon me if I am false to my own principle. For I consider that +the lawgiver should go straight to the mark of virtue and justice, and +disregard wealth and every other good when separated from virtue. +What further I mean, when I speak of the imitation of enemies, I will +illustrate by the story of Minos, if our Cretan friend will allow me to +mention it. Minos, who was a great sea-king, imposed upon the Athenians +a cruel tribute, for in those days they were not a maritime power; they +had no timber for ship-building, and therefore they could not 'imitate +their enemies'; and better far, as I maintain, would it have been for +them to have lost many times over the lives which they devoted to the +tribute than to have turned soldiers into sailors. Naval warfare is not +a very praiseworthy art; men should not be taught to leap on shore, and +then again to hurry back to their ships, or to find specious excuses for +throwing away their arms; bad customs ought not to be gilded with fine +words. And retreat is always bad, as we are taught in Homer, when he +introduces Odysseus, setting forth to Agamemnon the danger of ships +being at hand when soldiers are disposed to fly. An army of lions +trained in such ways would fly before a herd of deer. Further, a city +which owes its preservation to a crowd of pilots and oarsmen and other +undeserving persons, cannot bestow rewards of honour properly; and +this is the ruin of states. 'Still, in Crete we say that the battle of +Salamis was the salvation of Hellas.' Such is the prevailing +opinion. But I and Megillus say that the battle of Marathon began the +deliverance, and that the battle of Plataea completed it; for these +battles made men better, whereas the battles of Salamis and Artemisium +made them no better. And we further affirm that mere existence is not +the great political good of individuals or states, but the continuance +of the best existence. 'Certainly.' Let us then endeavour to follow this +principle in colonization and legislation. + +And first, let me ask you who are to be the colonists? May any one +come from any city of Crete? For you would surely not send a general +invitation to all Hellas. Yet I observe that in Crete there are people +who have come from Argos and Aegina and other places. 'Our recruits +will be drawn from all Crete, and of other Hellenes we should prefer +Peloponnesians. As you observe, there are Argives among the Cretans; +moreover the Gortynians, who are the best of all Cretans, have come from +Gortys in Peloponnesus.' + +Colonization is in some ways easier when the colony goes out in a swarm +from one country, owing to the pressure of population, or revolution, or +war. In this case there is the advantage that the new colonists have +a community of race, language, and laws. But then again, they are less +obedient to the legislator; and often they are anxious to keep the very +laws and customs which caused their ruin at home. A mixed multitude, +on the other hand, is more tractable, although there is a difficulty +in making them pull together. There is nothing, however, which perfects +men's virtue more than legislation and colonization. And yet I have a +word to say which may seem to be depreciatory of legislators. 'What is +that?' + +I was going to make the saddening reflection, that accidents of all +sorts are the true legislators,--wars and pestilences and famines and +the frequent recurrence of bad seasons. The observer will be inclined to +say that almost all human things are chance; and this is certainly true +about navigation and medicine, and the art of the general. But there is +another thing which may equally be said. 'What is it?' That God governs +all things, and that chance and opportunity co-operate with Him. And +according to yet a third view, art has part with them, for surely in a +storm it is well to have a pilot? And the same is true of legislation: +even if circumstances are favourable, a skilful lawgiver is still +necessary. 'Most true.' All artists would pray for certain conditions +under which to exercise their art: and would not the legislator do the +same? 'Certainly?' Come, legislator, let us say to him, and what are the +conditions which you would have? He will answer, Grant me a city which +is ruled by a tyrant; and let the tyrant be young, mindful, teachable, +courageous, magnanimous; and let him have the inseparable condition +of all virtue, which is temperance--not prudence, but that natural +temperance which is the gift of children and animals, and is hardly +reckoned among goods--with this he must be endowed, if the state is to +acquire the form most conducive to happiness in the speediest manner. +And I must add one other condition: the tyrant must be fortunate, and +his good fortune must consist in his having the co-operation of a great +legislator. When God has done all this, He has done the best which +He can for a state; not so well if He has given them two legislators +instead of one, and less and less well if He has given them a great +many. An orderly tyranny most easily passes into the perfect state; +in the second degree, a monarchy; in the third degree, a democracy; an +oligarchy is worst of all. 'I do not understand.' I suppose that you +have never seen a city which is subject to a tyranny? 'I have no desire +to see one.' You would have seen what I am describing, if you ever had. +The tyrant can speedily change the manners of a state, and affix +the stamp of praise or blame on any action which he pleases; for the +citizens readily follow the example which he sets. There is no quicker +way of making changes; but there is a counterbalancing difficulty. It is +hard to find the divine love of temperance and justice existing in any +powerful form of government, whether in a monarchy or an oligarchy. In +olden days there were chiefs like Nestor, who was the most eloquent and +temperate of mankind, but there is no one his equal now. If such an one +ever arises among us, blessed will he be, and blessed they who listen to +his words. For where power and wisdom and temperance meet in one, there +are the best laws and constitutions. I am endeavouring to show you how +easy under the conditions supposed, and how difficult under any other, +is the task of giving a city good laws. 'How do you mean?' Let us old +men attempt to mould in words a constitution for your new state, as +children make figures out of wax. 'Proceed. What constitution shall we +give--democracy, oligarchy, or aristocracy?' To which of these classes, +Megillus, do you refer your own state? 'The Spartan constitution seems +to me to contain all these elements. Our state is a democracy and also +an aristocracy; the power of the Ephors is tyrannical, and we have +an ancient monarchy.' 'Much the same,' adds Cleinias, 'may be said of +Cnosus.' The reason is that you have polities, but other states are +mere aggregations of men dwelling together, which are named after their +several ruling powers; whereas a state, if an 'ocracy' at all, should +be called a theocracy. A tale of old will explain my meaning. There is +a tradition of a golden age, in which all things were spontaneous and +abundant. Cronos, then lord of the world, knew that no mortal nature +could endure the temptations of power, and therefore he appointed demons +or demi-gods, who are of a superior race, to have dominion over man, as +man has dominion over the animals. They took care of us with great ease +and pleasure to themselves, and no less to us; and the tradition says +that only when God, and not man, is the ruler, can the human race cease +from ill. This was the manner of life which prevailed under Cronos, and +which we must strive to follow so far as the principle of immortality +still abides in us and we live according to law and the dictates of +right reason. But in an oligarchy or democracy, when the governing +principle is athirst for pleasure, the laws are trampled under foot, and +there is no possibility of salvation. Is it not often said that there +are as many forms of laws as there are governments, and that they +have no concern either with any one virtue or with all virtue, but are +relative to the will of the government? Which is as much as to say that +'might makes right.' 'What do you mean?' I mean that governments enact +their own laws, and that every government makes self-preservation its +principal aim. He who transgresses the laws is regarded as an evil-doer, +and punished accordingly. This was one of the unjust principles of +government which we mentioned when speaking of the different claims to +rule. We were agreed that parents should rule their children, the elder +the younger, the noble the ignoble. But there were also several other +principles, and among them Pindar's 'law of violence.' To whom then is +our state to be entrusted? For many a government is only a victorious +faction which has a monopoly of power, and refuses any share to the +conquered, lest when they get into office they should remember their +wrongs. Such governments are not polities, but parties; nor are any laws +good which are made in the interest of particular classes only, and not +of the whole. And in our state I mean to protest against making any +man a ruler because he is rich, or strong, or noble. But those who are +obedient to the laws, and who win the victory of obedience, shall be +promoted to the service of the Gods according to the degree of their +obedience. When I call the ruler the servant or minister of the law, +this is not a mere paradox, but I mean to say that upon a willingness to +obey the law the existence of the state depends. 'Truly, Stranger, +you have a keen vision.' Why, yes; every man when he is old has his +intellectual vision most keen. And now shall we call in our colonists +and make a speech to them? Friends, we say to them, God holds in His +hand the beginning, middle, and end of all things, and He moves in a +straight line towards the accomplishment of His will. Justice always +bears Him company, and punishes those who fall short of His laws. He who +would be happy follows humbly in her train; but he who is lifted up with +pride, or wealth, or honour, or beauty, is soon deserted by God, and, +being deserted, he lives in confusion and disorder. To many he seems a +great man; but in a short time he comes to utter destruction. Wherefore, +seeing these things, what ought we to do or think? 'Every man ought to +follow God.' What life, then, is pleasing to God? There is an old saying +that 'like agrees with like, measure with measure,' and God ought to +be our measure in all things. The temperate man is the friend of God +because he is like Him, and the intemperate man is not His friend, +because he is not like Him. And the conclusion is, that the best of all +things for a good man is to pray and sacrifice to the Gods; but the bad +man has a polluted soul; and therefore his service is wasted upon the +Gods, while the good are accepted of them. I have told you the mark at +which we ought to aim. You will say, How, and with what weapons? In the +first place we affirm, that after the Olympian Gods and the Gods of the +state, honour should be given to the Gods below, and to them should +be offered everything in even numbers and of the second choice; the +auspicious odd numbers and everything of the first choice are reserved +for the Gods above. Next demi-gods or spirits must be honoured, and +then heroes, and after them family gods, who will be worshipped at their +local seats according to law. Further, the honour due to parents should +not be forgotten; children owe all that they have to them, and the debt +must be repaid by kindness and attention in old age. No unbecoming word +must be uttered before them; for there is an avenging angel who hears +them when they are angry, and the child should consider that the parent +when he has been wronged has a right to be angry. After their death +let them have a moderate funeral, such as their fathers have had before +them; and there shall be an annual commemoration of them. Living on this +wise, we shall be accepted of the Gods, and shall pass our days in good +hope. The law will determine all our various duties towards relatives +and friends and other citizens, and the whole state will be happy and +prosperous. But if the legislator would persuade as well as command, +he will add prefaces to his laws which will predispose the citizens to +virtue. Even a little accomplished in the way of gaining the hearts of +men is of great value. For most men are in no particular haste to become +good. As Hesiod says: + +'Long and steep is the first half of the way to virtue, But when you +have reached the top the rest is easy.' + +'Those are excellent words.' Yes; but may I tell you the effect which +the preceding discourse has had upon me? I will express my meaning in +an address to the lawgiver:--O lawgiver, if you know what we ought to do +and say, you can surely tell us;--you are not like the poet, who, as you +were just now saying, does not know the effect of his own words. And the +poet may reply, that when he sits down on the tripod of the Muses he is +not in his right mind, and that being a mere imitator he may be allowed +to say all sorts of opposite things, and cannot tell which of them is +true. But this licence cannot be allowed to the lawgiver. For example, +there are three kinds of funerals; one of them is excessive, another +mean, a third moderate, and you say that the last is right. Now if I +had a rich wife, and she told me to bury her, and I were to sing of her +burial, I should praise the extravagant kind; a poor man would commend +a funeral of the meaner sort, and a man of moderate means would prefer a +moderate funeral. But you, as legislator, would have to say exactly what +you meant by 'moderate.' 'Very true.' And is our lawgiver to have no +preamble or interpretation of his laws, never offering a word of advice +to his subjects, after the manner of some doctors? For of doctors are +there not two kinds? The one gentle and the other rough, doctors who are +freemen and learn themselves and teach their pupils scientifically, and +doctor's assistants who get their knowledge empirically by attending on +their masters? 'Of course there are.' And did you ever observe that the +gentlemen doctors practise upon freemen, and that slave doctors confine +themselves to slaves? The latter go about the country or wait for the +slaves at the dispensaries. They hold no parley with their patients +about their diseases or the remedies of them; they practise by the rule +of thumb, and give their decrees in the most arbitrary manner. When they +have doctored one patient they run off to another, whom they treat with +equal assurance, their duty being to relieve the master of the care +of his sick slaves. But the other doctor, who practises on freemen, +proceeds in quite a different way. He takes counsel with his patient and +learns from him, and never does anything until he has persuaded him of +what he is doing. He trusts to influence rather than force. Now is not +the use of both methods far better than the use of either alone? And +both together may be advantageously employed by us in legislation. + +We may illustrate our proposal by an example. The laws relating to +marriage naturally come first, and therefore we may begin with them. The +simple law would be as follows:--A man shall marry between the ages of +thirty and thirty-five; if he do not, he shall be fined or deprived of +certain privileges. The double law would add the reason why: Forasmuch +as man desires immortality, which he attains by the procreation of +children, no one should deprive himself of his share in this good. He +who obeys the law is blameless, but he who disobeys must not be a gainer +by his celibacy; and therefore he shall pay a yearly fine, and shall not +be allowed to receive honour from the young. That is an example of what +I call the double law, which may enable us to judge how far the addition +of persuasion to threats is desirable. 'Lacedaemonians in general, +Stranger, are in favour of brevity; in this case, however, I prefer +length. But Cleinias is the real lawgiver, and he ought to be first +consulted.' 'Thank you, Megillus.' Whether words are to be many or few, +is a foolish question:--the best and not the shortest forms are always +to be approved. And legislators have never thought of the advantages +which they might gain by using persuasion as well as force, but trust to +force only. And I have something else to say about the matter. Here have +we been from early dawn until noon, discoursing about laws, and all that +we have been saying is only the preamble of the laws which we are about +to give. I tell you this, because I want you to observe that songs and +strains have all of them preludes, but that laws, though called by the +same name (nomoi), have never any prelude. Now I am disposed to give +preludes to laws, dividing them into two parts--one containing the +despotic command, which I described under the image of the slave +doctor--the other the persuasive part, which I term the preamble. The +legislator should give preludes or preambles to his laws. 'That shall +be the way in my colony.' I am glad that you agree with me; this is +a matter which it is important to remember. A preamble is not always +necessary to a law: the lawgiver must determine when it is needed, as +the musician determines when there is to be a prelude to a song. 'Most +true: and now, having a preamble, let us recommence our discourse.' +Enough has been said of Gods and parents, and we may proceed to consider +what relates to the citizens--their souls, bodies, properties,--their +occupations and amusements; and so arrive at the nature of education. + +The first word of the Laws somewhat abruptly introduces the thought +which is present to the mind of Plato throughout the work, namely, that +Law is of divine origin. In the words of a great English writer--'Her +seat is the bosom of God, her voice the harmony of the world.' Though +the particular laws of Sparta and Crete had a narrow and imperfect aim, +this is not true of divine laws, which are based upon the principles of +human nature, and not framed to meet the exigencies of the moment. They +have their natural divisions, too, answering to the kinds of virtue; +very unlike the discordant enactments of an Athenian assembly or of an +English Parliament. Yet we may observe two inconsistencies in Plato's +treatment of the subject: first, a lesser, inasmuch as he does not +clearly distinguish the Cretan and Spartan laws, of which the exclusive +aim is war, from those other laws of Zeus and Apollo which are said to +be divine, and to comprehend all virtue. Secondly, we may retort on him +his own complaint against Sparta and Crete, that he has himself given us +a code of laws, which for the most part have a military character; and +that we cannot point to 'obvious examples of similar institutions which +are concerned with pleasure;' at least there is only one such, that +which relates to the regulation of convivial intercourse. The military +spirit which is condemned by him in the beginning of the Laws, reappears +in the seventh and eighth books. + +The mention of Minos the great lawgiver, and of Rhadamanthus the +righteous administrator of the law, suggests the two divisions of the +laws into enactments and appointments of officers. The legislator and +the judge stand side by side, and their functions cannot be wholly +distinguished. For the judge is in some sort a legislator, at any +rate in small matters; and his decisions growing into precedents, must +determine the innumerable details which arise out of the conflict of +circumstances. These Plato proposes to leave to a younger generation +of legislators. The action of courts of law in making law seems to +have escaped him, probably because the Athenian law-courts were popular +assemblies; and, except in a mythical form, he can hardly be said to +have had before his eyes the ideal of a judge. In reading the Laws of +Plato, or any other ancient writing about Laws, we should consider +how gradual the process is by which not only a legal system, but the +administration of a court of law, becomes perfected. + +There are other subjects on which Plato breaks ground, as his manner is, +early in the work. First, he gives a sketch of the subject of laws; they +are to comprehend the whole of human life, from infancy to age, and from +birth to death, although the proposed plan is far from being regularly +executed in the books which follow, partly owing to the necessity of +describing the constitution as well as the laws of his new colony. +Secondly, he touches on the power of music, which may exercise so +great an influence on the character of men for good or evil; he refers +especially to the great offence--which he mentions again, and which he +had condemned in the Republic--of varying the modes and rhythms, as +well as to that of separating the words from the music. Thirdly, he +reprobates the prevalence of unnatural loves in Sparta and Crete, which +he attributes to the practice of syssitia and gymnastic exercises, and +considers to be almost inseparable from them. To this subject he again +returns in the eighth book. Fourthly, the virtues are affirmed to be +inseparable from one another, even if not absolutely one; this, too, is +a principle which he reasserts at the conclusion of the work. As in +the beginnings of Plato's other writings, we have here several 'notes' +struck, which form the preludes of longer discussions, although the hint +is less ingeniously given, and the promise more imperfectly fulfilled +than in the earlier dialogues. + +The distinction between ethics and politics has not yet dawned upon +Plato's mind. To him, law is still floating in a region between the two. +He would have desired that all the acts and laws of a state should +have regard to all virtue. But he did not see that politics and law are +subject to their own conditions, and are distinguished from ethics by +natural differences. The actions of which politics take cognisance are +necessarily collective or representative; and law is limited to external +acts which affect others as well as the agents. Ethics, on the other +hand, include the whole duty of man in relation both to himself and +others. But Plato has never reflected on these differences. He fancies +that the life of the state can be as easily fashioned as that of the +individual. He is favourable to a balance of power, but never seems +to have considered that power might be so balanced as to produce an +absolute immobility in the state. Nor is he alive to the evils +of confounding vice and crime; or to the necessity of governments +abstaining from excessive interference with their subjects. + +Yet this confusion of ethics and politics has also a better and a truer +side. If unable to grasp some important distinctions, Plato is at any +rate seeking to elevate the lower to the higher; he does not pull down +the principles of men to their practice, or narrow the conception of +the state to the immediate necessities of politics. Political ideals of +freedom and equality, of a divine government which has been or will be +in some other age or country, have greatly tended to educate and ennoble +the human race. And if not the first author of such ideals (for they are +as old as Hesiod), Plato has done more than any other writer to impress +them on the world. To those who censure his idealism we may reply in his +own words--'He is not the worse painter who draws a perfectly beautiful +figure, because no such figure of a man could ever have existed' +(Republic). + +A new thought about education suddenly occurs to him, and for a time +exercises a sort of fascination over his mind, though in the later books +of the Laws it is forgotten or overlooked. As true courage is allied to +temperance, so there must be an education which shall train mankind to +resist pleasure as well as to endure pain. No one can be on his guard +against that of which he has no experience. The perfectly trained +citizen should have been accustomed to look his enemy in the face, and +to measure his strength against her. This education in pleasure is to be +given, partly by festive intercourse, but chiefly by the song and dance. +Youth are to learn music and gymnastics; their elders are to be trained +and tested at drinking parties. According to the old proverb, in vino +veritas, they will then be open and visible to the world in their true +characters; and also they will be more amenable to the laws, and more +easily moulded by the hand of the legislator. The first reason is +curious enough, though not important; the second can hardly be thought +deserving of much attention. Yet if Plato means to say that society +is one of the principal instruments of education in after-life, he has +expressed in an obscure fashion a principle which is true, and to +his contemporaries was also new. That at a banquet a degree of moral +discipline might be exercised is an original thought, but Plato has not +yet learnt to express his meaning in an abstract form. He is sensible +that moderation is better than total abstinence, and that asceticism is +but a one-sided training. He makes the sagacious remark, that 'those who +are able to resist pleasure may often be among the worst of mankind.' He +is as much aware as any modern utilitarian that the love of pleasure is +the great motive of human action. This cannot be eradicated, and must +therefore be regulated,--the pleasure must be of the right sort. +Such reflections seem to be the real, though imperfectly expressed, +groundwork of the discussion. As in the juxtaposition of the Bacchic +madness and the great gift of Dionysus, or where he speaks of the +different senses in which pleasure is and is not the object of imitative +art, or in the illustration of the failure of the Dorian institutions +from the prayer of Theseus, we have to gather his meaning as well as we +can from the connexion. + +The feeling of old age is discernible in this as well as in several +other passages of the Laws. Plato has arrived at the time when men sit +still and look on at life; and he is willing to allow himself and others +the few pleasures which remain to them. Wine is to cheer them now that +their limbs are old and their blood runs cold. They are the best critics +of dancing and music, but cannot be induced to join in song unless they +have been enlivened by drinking. Youth has no need of the stimulus +of wine, but age can only be made young again by its invigorating +influence. Total abstinence for the young, moderate and increasing +potations for the old, is Plato's principle. The fire, of which there is +too much in the one, has to be brought to the other. Drunkenness, like +madness, had a sacredness and mystery to the Greek; if, on the one hand, +as in the case of the Tarentines, it degraded a whole population, it was +also a mode of worshipping the god Dionysus, which was to be practised +on certain occasions. Moreover, the intoxication produced by the fruit +of the vine was very different from the grosser forms of drunkenness +which prevail among some modern nations. + +The physician in modern times would restrict the old man's use of wine +within narrow limits. He would tell us that you cannot restore strength +by a stimulus. Wine may call back the vital powers in disease, but +cannot reinvigorate old age. In his maxims of health and longevity, +though aware of the importance of a simple diet, Plato has omitted to +dwell on the perfect rule of moderation. His commendation of wine is +probably a passing fancy, and may have arisen out of his own habits +or tastes. If so, he is not the only philosopher whose theory has been +based upon his practice. + +Plato's denial of wine to the young and his approval of it for +their elders has some points of view which may be illustrated by the +temperance controversy of our own times. Wine may be allowed to have a +religious as well as a festive use; it is commended both in the Old and +New Testament; it has been sung of by nearly all poets; and it may be +truly said to have a healing influence both on body and mind. Yet it is +also very liable to excess and abuse, and for this reason is prohibited +by Mahometans, as well as of late years by many Christians, no less than +by the ancient Spartans; and to sound its praises seriously seems to +partake of the nature of a paradox. But we may rejoin with Plato that +the abuse of a good thing does not take away the use of it. Total +abstinence, as we often say, is not the best rule, but moderate +indulgence; and it is probably true that a temperate use of wine may +contribute some elements of character to social life which we can ill +afford to lose. It draws men out of their reserve; it helps them to +forget themselves and to appear as they by nature are when not on their +guard, and therefore to make them more human and greater friends to +their fellow-men. It gives them a new experience; it teaches them to +combine self-control with a measure of indulgence; it may sometimes +restore to them the simplicity of childhood. We entirely agree with +Plato in forbidding the use of wine to the young; but when we are +of mature age there are occasions on which we derive refreshment and +strength from moderate potations. It is well to make abstinence the +rule, but the rule may sometimes admit of an exception. We are in a +higher, as well as in a lower sense, the better for the use of wine. +The question runs up into wider ones--What is the general effect of +asceticism on human nature? and, Must there not be a certain proportion +between the aspirations of man and his powers?--questions which have +been often discussed both by ancient and modern philosophers. So +by comparing things old and new we may sometimes help to realize to +ourselves the meaning of Plato in the altered circumstances of our own +life. + +Like the importance which he attaches to festive entertainments, his +depreciation of courage to the fourth place in the scale of virtue +appears to be somewhat rhetorical and exaggerated. But he is speaking +of courage in the lower sense of the term, not as including loyalty or +temperance. He does not insist in this passage, as in the Protagoras, +on the unity of the virtues; or, as in the Laches, on the identity of +wisdom and courage. But he says that they all depend upon their leader +mind, and that, out of the union of wisdom and temperance with courage, +springs justice. Elsewhere he is disposed to regard temperance rather +as a condition of all virtue than as a particular virtue. He generalizes +temperance, as in the Republic he generalizes justice. The nature of the +virtues is to run up into one another, and in many passages Plato makes +but a faint effort to distinguish them. He still quotes the poets, +somewhat enlarging, as his manner is, or playing with their meaning. The +martial poet Tyrtaeus, and the oligarch Theognis, furnish him with +happy illustrations of the two sorts of courage. The fear of fear, the +division of goods into human and divine, the acknowledgment that peace +and reconciliation are better than the appeal to the sword, the analysis +of temperance into resistance of pleasure as well as endurance of pain, +the distinction between the education which is suitable for a trade or +profession, and for the whole of life, are important and probably new +ethical conceptions. Nor has Plato forgotten his old paradox (Gorgias) +that to be punished is better than to be unpunished, when he says, that +to the bad man death is the only mitigation of his evil. He is not less +ideal in many passages of the Laws than in the Gorgias or Republic. But +his wings are heavy, and he is unequal to any sustained flight. + +There is more attempt at dramatic effect in the first book than in +the later parts of the work. The outburst of martial spirit in the +Lacedaemonian, 'O best of men'; the protest which the Cretan makes +against the supposed insult to his lawgiver; the cordial acknowledgment +on the part of both of them that laws should not be discussed publicly +by those who live under their rule; the difficulty which they alike +experience in following the speculations of the Athenian, are highly +characteristic. + +In the second book, Plato pursues further his notion of educating by +a right use of pleasure. He begins by conceiving an endless power of +youthful life, which is to be reduced to rule and measure by harmony and +rhythm. Men differ from the lower animals in that they are capable of +musical discipline. But music, like all art, must be truly imitative, +and imitative of what is true and good. Art and morality agree in +rejecting pleasure as the criterion of good. True art is inseparable +from the highest and most ennobling ideas. Plato only recognizes the +identity of pleasure and good when the pleasure is of the higher kind. +He is the enemy of 'songs without words,' which he supposes to have some +confusing or enervating effect on the mind of the hearer; and he is also +opposed to the modern degeneracy of the drama, which he would probably +have illustrated, like Aristophanes, from Euripides and Agathon. From +this passage may be gathered a more perfect conception of art than +from any other of Plato's writings. He understands that art is at +once imitative and ideal, an exact representation of truth, and also a +representation of the highest truth. The same double view of art may be +gathered from a comparison of the third and tenth books of the Republic, +but is here more clearly and pointedly expressed. + +We are inclined to suspect that both here and in the Republic Plato +exaggerates the influence really exercised by the song and the dance. +But we must remember also the susceptible nature of the Greek, and the +perfection to which these arts were carried by him. Further, the music +had a sacred and Pythagorean character; the dance too was part of a +religious festival. And only at such festivals the sexes mingled in +public, and the youths passed under the eyes of their elders. + +At the beginning of the third book, Plato abruptly asks the question, +What is the origin of states? The answer is, Infinite time. We have +already seen--in the Theaetetus, where he supposes that in the course of +ages every man has had numberless progenitors, kings and slaves, Greeks +and barbarians; and in the Critias, where he says that nine thousand +years have elapsed since the island of Atlantis fought with Athens--that +Plato is no stranger to the conception of long periods of time. He +imagines human society to have been interrupted by natural convulsions; +and beginning from the last of these, he traces the steps by which the +family has grown into the state, and the original scattered society, +becoming more and more civilised, has finally passed into military +organizations like those of Crete and Sparta. His conception of the +origin of states is far truer in the Laws than in the Republic; but it +must be remembered that here he is giving an historical, there an ideal +picture of the growth of society. + +Modern enquirers, like Plato, have found in infinite ages the +explanation not only of states, but of languages, men, animals, the +world itself; like him, also, they have detected in later institutions +the vestiges of a patriarchal state still surviving. Thus far Plato +speaks as 'the spectator of all time and all existence,' who may be +thought by some divine instinct to have guessed at truths which were +hereafter to be revealed. He is far above the vulgar notion that Hellas +is the civilized world (Statesman), or that civilization only began when +the Hellenes appeared on the scene. But he has no special knowledge +of 'the days before the flood'; and when he approaches more historical +times, in preparing the way for his own theory of mixed government, +he argues partially and erroneously. He is desirous of showing that +unlimited power is ruinous to any state, and hence he is led to +attribute a tyrannical spirit to the first Dorian kings. The decay of +Argos and the destruction of Messene are adduced by him as a manifest +proof of their failure; and Sparta, he thinks, was only preserved by the +limitations which the wisdom of successive legislators introduced into +the government. But there is no more reason to suppose that the Dorian +rule of life which was followed at Sparta ever prevailed in Argos and +Messene, than to assume that Dorian institutions were framed to protect +the Greeks against the power of Assyria; or that the empire of Assyria +was in any way affected by the Trojan war; or that the return of the +Heraclidae was only the return of Achaean exiles, who received a new +name from their leader Dorieus. Such fancies were chiefly based, as far +as they had any foundation, on the use of analogy, which played a great +part in the dawn of historical and geographical research. Because there +was a Persian empire which was the natural enemy of the Greek, there +must also have been an Assyrian empire, which had a similar hostility; +and not only the fable of the island of Atlantis, but the Trojan war, +in Plato's mind derived some features from the Persian struggle. So +Herodotus makes the Nile answer to the Ister, and the valley of the Nile +to the Red Sea. In the Republic, Plato is flying in the air regardless +of fact and possibility--in the Laws, he is making history by analogy. +In the former, he appears to be like some modern philosophers, +absolutely devoid of historical sense; in the latter, he is on a level, +not with Thucydides, or the critical historians of Greece, but with +Herodotus, or even with Ctesias. + +The chief object of Plato in tracing the origin of society is to show +the point at which regular government superseded the patriarchical +authority, and the separate customs of different families were +systematized by legislators, and took the form of laws consented to +by them all. According to Plato, the only sound principle on which any +government could be based was a mixture or balance of power. The balance +of power saved Sparta, when the two other Heraclid states fell into +disorder. Here is probably the first trace of a political idea, which +has exercised a vast influence both in ancient and modern times. And +yet we might fairly ask, a little parodying the language of Plato--O +legislator, is unanimity only 'the struggle for existence'; or is the +balance of powers in a state better than the harmony of them? + +In the fourth book we approach the realities of politics, and Plato +begins to ascend to the height of his great argument. The reign of +Cronos has passed away, and various forms of government have succeeded, +which are all based on self-interest and self-preservation. Right and +wrong, instead of being measured by the will of God, are created by +the law of the state. The strongest assertions are made of the purely +spiritual nature of religion--'Without holiness no man is accepted of +God'; and of the duty of filial obedience,--'Honour thy parents.' The +legislator must teach these precepts as well as command them. He is to +be the educator as well as the lawgiver of future ages, and his laws +are themselves to form a part of the education of the state. Unlike the +poet, he must be definite and rational; he cannot be allowed to say one +thing at one time, and another thing at another--he must know what he +is about. And yet legislation has a poetical or rhetorical element, and +must find words which will wing their way to the hearts of men. Laws +must be promulgated before they are put in execution, and mankind must +be reasoned with before they are punished. The legislator, when he +promulgates a particular law, will courteously entreat those who are +willing to hear his voice. Upon the rebellious only does the heavy blow +descend. A sermon and a law in one, blending the secular punishment with +the religious sanction, appeared to Plato a new idea which might have a +great result in reforming the world. The experiment had never been +tried of reasoning with mankind; the laws of others had never had any +preambles, and Plato seems to have great pleasure in contemplating his +discovery. + +In these quaint forms of thought and language, great principles of +morals and legislation are enunciated by him for the first time. They +all go back to mind and God, who holds the beginning, middle, and end of +all things in His hand. The adjustment of the divine and human elements +in the world is conceived in the spirit of modern popular philosophy, +differing not much in the mode of expression. At first sight the +legislator appears to be impotent, for all things are the sport of +chance. But we admit also that God governs all things, and that chance +and opportunity co-operate with Him (compare the saying, that chance is +the name of the unknown cause). Lastly, while we acknowledge that God +and chance govern mankind and provide the conditions of human action, +experience will not allow us to deny a place to art. We know that there +is a use in having a pilot, though the storm may overwhelm him; and a +legislator is required to provide for the happiness of a state, although +he will pray for favourable conditions under which he may exercise his +art. + +BOOK V. Hear now, all ye who heard the laws about Gods and ancestors: +Of all human possessions the soul is most divine, and most truly a man's +own. For in every man there are two parts--a better which rules, and an +inferior which serves; and the ruler is to be preferred to the servant. +Wherefore I bid every one next after the Gods to honour his own soul, +and he can only honour her by making her better. A man does not honour +his soul by flattery, or gifts, or self-indulgence, or conceit of +knowledge, nor when he blames others for his own errors; nor when he +indulges in pleasure or refuses to bear pain; nor when he thinks that +life at any price is a good, because he fears the world below, which, +far from being an evil, may be the greatest good; nor when he prefers +beauty to virtue--not reflecting that the soul, which came from heaven, +is more honourable than the body, which is earth-born; nor when +he covets dishonest gains, of which no amount is equal in value to +virtue;--in a word, when he counts that which the legislator pronounces +evil to be good, he degrades his soul, which is the divinest part of +him. He does not consider that the real punishment of evil-doing is to +grow like evil men, and to shun the conversation of the good: and that +he who is joined to such men must do and suffer what they by nature do +and say to one another, which suffering is not justice but retribution. +For justice is noble, but retribution is only the companion of +injustice. And whether a man escapes punishment or not, he is equally +miserable; for in the one case he is not cured, and in the other case he +perishes that the rest may be saved. + +The glory of man is to follow the better and improve the inferior. And +the soul is that part of man which is most inclined to avoid the evil +and dwell with the good. Wherefore also the soul is second only to the +Gods in honour, and in the third place the body is to be esteemed, which +often has a false honour. For honour is not to be given to the fair or +the strong, or the swift or the tall, or to the healthy, any more than +to their opposites, but to the mean states of all these habits; and so +of property and external goods. No man should heap up riches that he may +leave them to his children. The best condition for them as for the state +is a middle one, in which there is a freedom without luxury. And the +best inheritance of children is modesty. But modesty cannot be implanted +by admonition only--the elders must set the example. He who would train +the young must first train himself. + +He who honours his kindred and family may fairly expect that the Gods +will give him children. He who would have friends must think much of +their favours to him, and little of his to them. He who prefers to an +Olympic, or any other victory, to win the palm of obedience to the laws, +serves best both the state and his fellow-citizens. Engagements with +strangers are to be deemed most sacred, because the stranger, having +neither kindred nor friends, is immediately under the protection of +Zeus, the God of strangers. A prudent man will not sin against the +stranger; and still more carefully will he avoid sinning against the +suppliant, which is an offence never passed over by the Gods. + +I will now speak of those particulars which are matters of praise and +blame only, and which, although not enforced by the law, greatly affect +the disposition to obey the law. Truth has the first place among the +gifts of Gods and men, for truth begets trust; but he is not to be +trusted who loves voluntary falsehood, and he who loves involuntary +falsehood is a fool. Neither the ignorant nor the untrustworthy man +is happy; for they have no friends in life, and die unlamented and +untended. Good is he who does no injustice--better who prevents others +from doing any--best of all who joins the rulers in punishing injustice. +And this is true of goods and virtues in general; he who has and +communicates them to others is the man of men; he who would, if he +could, is second-best; he who has them and is jealous of imparting them +to others is to be blamed, but the good or virtue which he has is to be +valued still. Let every man contend in the race without envy; for the +unenvious man increases the strength of the city; himself foremost in +the race, he harms no one with calumny. Whereas the envious man is +weak himself, and drives his rivals to despair with his slanders, thus +depriving the whole city of incentives to the exercise of virtue, and +tarnishing her glory. Every man should be gentle, but also passionate; +for he must have the spirit to fight against incurable and malignant +evil. But the evil which is remediable should be dealt with more in +sorrow than anger. He who is unjust is to be pitied in any case; for +no man voluntarily does evil or allows evil to exist in his soul. And +therefore he who deals with the curable sort must be long-suffering and +forbearing; but the incurable shall have the vials of our wrath poured +out upon him. The greatest of all evils is self-love, which is thought +to be natural and excusable, and is enforced as a duty, and yet is +the cause of many errors. The lover is blinded about the beloved, and +prefers his own interests to truth and right; but the truly great +man seeks justice before all things. Self-love is the source of +that ignorant conceit of knowledge which is always doing and never +succeeding. Wherefore let every man avoid self-love, and follow the +guidance of those who are better than himself. There are lesser matters +which a man should recall to mind; for wisdom is like a stream, ever +flowing in and out, and recollection flows in when knowledge is failing. +Let no man either laugh or grieve overmuch; but let him control his +feelings in the day of good- or ill-fortune, believing that the Gods +will diminish the evils and increase the blessings of the righteous. +These are thoughts which should ever occupy a good man's mind; he should +remember them both in lighter and in more serious hours, and remind +others of them. + +So much of divine matters and the relation of man to God. But man is +man, and dependent on pleasure and pain; and therefore to acquire a true +taste respecting either is a great matter. And what is a true taste? +This can only be explained by a comparison of one life with another. +Pleasure is an object of desire, pain of avoidance; and the absence of +pain is to be preferred to pain, but not to pleasure. There are infinite +kinds and degrees of both of them, and we choose the life which has more +pleasure and avoid that which has less; but we do not choose that life +in which the elements of pleasure are either feeble or equally balanced +with pain. All the lives which we desire are pleasant; the choice of any +others is due to inexperience. + +Now there are four lives--the temperate, the rational, the courageous, +the healthful; and to these let us oppose four others--the intemperate, +the foolish, the cowardly, the diseased. The temperate life has gentle +pains and pleasures and placid desires, the intemperate life has violent +delights, and still more violent desires. And the pleasures of the +temperate exceed the pains, while the pains of the intemperate exceed +the pleasures. But if this is true, none are voluntarily intemperate, +but all who lack temperance are either ignorant or wanting in +self-control: for men always choose the life which (as they think) +exceeds in pleasure. The wise, the healthful, the courageous life have +a similar advantage--they also exceed their opposites in pleasure. +And, generally speaking, the life of virtue is far more pleasurable and +honourable, fairer and happier far, than the life of vice. Let this be +the preamble of our laws; the strain will follow. + +As in a web the warp is stronger than the woof, so should the rulers be +stronger than their half-educated subjects. Let us suppose, then, that +in the constitution of a state there are two parts, the appointment +of the rulers, and the laws which they have to administer. But, before +going further, there are some preliminary matters which have to be +considered. + +As of animals, so also of men, a selection must be made; the bad breed +must be got rid of, and the good retained. The legislator must purify +them, and if he be not a despot he will find this task to be a difficult +one. The severer kinds of purification are practised when great +offenders are punished by death or exile, but there is a milder process +which is necessary when the poor show a disposition to attack the +property of the rich, for then the legislator will send them off to +another land, under the name of a colony. In our case, however, we +shall only need to purify the streams before they meet. This is often +a troublesome business, but in theory we may suppose the operation +performed, and the desired purity attained. Evil men we will hinder from +coming, and receive the good as friends. + +Like the old Heraclid colony, we are fortunate in escaping the abolition +of debts and the distribution of land, which are difficult and dangerous +questions. But, perhaps, now that we are speaking of the subject, we +ought to say how, if the danger existed, the legislator should try to +avert it. He would have recourse to prayers, and trust to the healing +influence of time. He would create a kindly spirit between creditors and +debtors: those who have should give to those who have not, and poverty +should be held to be rather the increase of a man's desires than the +diminution of his property. Good-will is the only safe and enduring +foundation of the political society; and upon this our city shall +be built. The lawgiver, if he is wise, will not proceed with the +arrangement of the state until all disputes about property are settled. +And for him to introduce fresh grounds of quarrel would be madness. + +Let us now proceed to the distribution of our state, and determine the +size of the territory and the number of the allotments. The territory +should be sufficient to maintain the citizens in moderation, and the +population should be numerous enough to defend themselves, and sometimes +to aid their neighbours. We will fix the number of citizens at 5040, to +which the number of houses and portions of land shall correspond. Let +the number be divided into two parts and then into three; for it is +very convenient for the purposes of distribution, and is capable of +fifty-nine divisions, ten of which proceed without interval from one to +ten. Here are numbers enough for war and peace, and for all contracts +and dealings. These properties of numbers are true, and should be +ascertained with a view to use. + +In carrying out the distribution of the land, a prudent legislator will +be careful to respect any provision for religious worship which has been +sanctioned by ancient tradition or by the oracles of Delphi, Dodona, or +Ammon. All sacrifices, and altars, and temples, whatever may be their +origin, should remain as they are. Every division should have a patron +God or hero; to these a portion of the domain should be appropriated, +and at their temples the inhabitants of the districts should meet +together from time to time, for the sake of mutual help and friendship. +All the citizens of a state should be known to one another; for where +men are in the dark about each other's characters, there can be +no justice or right administration. Every man should be true and +single-minded, and should not allow himself to be deceived by others. + +And now the game opens, and we begin to move the pieces. At first sight, +our constitution may appear singular and ill-adapted to a legislator who +has not despotic power; but on second thoughts will be deemed to be, +if not the very best, the second best. For there are three forms of +government, a first, a second, and a third best, out of which Cleinias +has now to choose. The first and highest form is that in which friends +have all things in common, including wives and property,--in which they +have common fears, hopes, desires, and do not even call their eyes or +their hands their own. This is the ideal state; than which there never +can be a truer or better--a state, whether inhabited by Gods or sons of +Gods, which will make the dwellers therein blessed. Here is the pattern +on which we must ever fix our eyes; but we are now concerned with +another, which comes next to it, and we will afterwards proceed to a +third. + +Inasmuch as our citizens are not fitted either by nature or education to +receive the saying, Friends have all things in common, let them retain +their houses and private property, but use them in the service of their +country, who is their God and parent, and of the Gods and demigods of +the land. Their first care should be to preserve the number of their +lots. This may be secured in the following manner: when the possessor of +a lot dies, he shall leave his lot to his best-beloved child, who will +become the heir of all duties and interests, and will minister to the +Gods and to the family, to the living and to the dead. Of the remaining +children, the females must be given in marriage according to the law to +be hereafter enacted; the males may be assigned to citizens who have no +children of their own. How to equalize families and allotments will be +one of the chief cares of the guardians of the laws. When parents have +too many children they may give to those who have none, or couples +may abstain from having children, or, if there is a want of offspring, +special care may be taken to obtain them; or if the number of citizens +becomes excessive, we may send away the surplus to found a colony. If, +on the other hand, a war or plague diminishes the number of inhabitants, +new citizens must be introduced; and these ought not, if possible, to be +men of low birth or inferior training; but even God, it is said, cannot +always fight against necessity. + +Wherefore we will thus address our citizens:--Good friends, honour +order and equality, and above all the number 5040. Secondly, respect the +original division of the lots, which must not be infringed by buying and +selling, for the law says that the land which a man has is sacred and +is given to him by God. And priests and priestesses will offer frequent +sacrifices and pray that he who alienates either house or lot may +receive the punishment which he deserves, and their prayers shall be +inscribed on tablets of cypress-wood for the instruction of posterity. +The guardians will keep a vigilant watch over the citizens, and they +will punish those who disobey God and the law. + +To appreciate the benefit of such an institution a man requires to be +well educated; for he certainly will not make a fortune in our state, in +which all illiberal occupations are forbidden to freemen. The law also +provides that no private person shall have gold or silver, except +a little coin for daily use, which will not pass current in other +countries. The state must also possess a common Hellenic currency, but +this is only to be used in defraying the expenses of expeditions, or of +embassies, or while a man is on foreign travels; but in the latter case +he must deliver up what is over, when he comes back, to the treasury in +return for an equal amount of local currency, on pain of losing the sum +in question; and he who does not inform against an offender is to be +mulcted in a like sum. No money is to be given or taken as a dowry, or +to be lent on interest. The law will not protect a man in recovering +either interest or principal. All these regulations imply that the +aim of the legislator is not to make the city as rich or as mighty as +possible, but the best and happiest. Now men can hardly be at the same +time very virtuous and very rich. And why? Because he who makes twice as +much and saves twice as much as he ought, receiving where he ought not +and not spending where he ought, will be at least twice as rich as he +who makes money where he ought, and spends where he ought. On the other +hand, an utterly bad man is generally profligate and poor, while he who +acquires honestly, and spends what he acquires on noble objects, can +hardly be very rich. A very rich man is therefore not a good man, and +therefore not a happy one. But the object of our laws is to make the +citizens as friendly and happy as possible, which they cannot be if they +are always at law and injuring each other in the pursuit of gain. And +therefore we say that there is to be no silver or gold in the state, +nor usury, nor the rearing of the meaner kinds of live-stock, but only +agriculture, and only so much of this as will not lead men to neglect +that for the sake of which money is made, first the soul and afterwards +the body; neither of which are good for much without music and +gymnastic. Money is to be held in honour last or third; the highest +interests being those of the soul, and in the second class are to be +ranked those of the body. This is the true order of legislation, which +would be inverted by placing health before temperance, and wealth before +health. + +It might be well if every man could come to the colony having equal +property; but equality is impossible, and therefore we must avoid causes +of offence by having property valued and by equalizing taxation. To +this end, let us make four classes in which the citizens may be placed +according to the measure of their original property, and the changes of +their fortune. The greatest of evils is revolution; and this, as the +law will say, is caused by extremes of poverty or wealth. The limit +of poverty shall be the lot, which must not be diminished, and may be +increased fivefold, but not more. He who exceeds the limit must give up +the excess to the state; but if he does not, and is informed against, +the surplus shall be divided between the informer and the Gods, and +he shall pay a sum equal to the surplus out Of his own property. All +property other than the lot must be inscribed in a register, so that any +disputes which arise may be easily determined. + +The city shall be placed in a suitable situation, as nearly as possible +in the centre of the country, and shall be divided into twelve wards. +First, we will erect an acropolis, encircled by a wall, within which +shall be placed the temples of Hestia, and Zeus, and Athene. From this +shall be drawn lines dividing the city, and also the country, into +twelve sections, and the country shall be subdivided into 5040 lots. +Each lot shall contain two parts, one at a distance, the other near the +city; and the distance of one part shall be compensated by the nearness +of the other, the badness and goodness by the greater or less size. +Twelve lots will be assigned to twelve Gods, and they will give their +names to the tribes. The divisions of the city shall correspond to those +of the country; and every man shall have two habitations, one near the +centre of the country, the other at the extremity. + +The objection will naturally arise, that all the advantages of which we +have been speaking will never concur. The citizens will not tolerate a +settlement in which they are deprived of gold and silver, and have the +number of their families regulated, and the sites of their houses fixed +by law. It will be said that our city is a mere image of wax. And the +legislator will answer: 'I know it, but I maintain that we ought to set +forth an ideal which is as perfect as possible. If difficulties arise +in the execution of the plan, we must avoid them and carry out the +remainder. But the legislator must first be allowed to complete his idea +without interruption.' + +The number twelve, which we have chosen for the number of division, +must run through all parts of the state,--phratries, villages, ranks +of soldiers, coins, and measures wet and dry, which are all to be made +commensurable with one another. There is no meanness in requiring that +the smallest vessels should have a common measure; for the divisions of +number are useful in measuring height and depth, as well as sounds and +motions, upwards or downwards, or round and round. The legislator +should impress on his citizens the value of arithmetic. No instrument of +education has so much power; nothing more tends to sharpen and inspire +the dull intellect. But the legislator must be careful to instil a +noble and generous spirit into the students, or they will tend to become +cunning rather than wise. This may be proved by the example of the +Egyptians and Phoenicians, who, notwithstanding their knowledge of +arithmetic, are degraded in their general character; whether this defect +in them is due to some natural cause or to a bad legislator. For it +is clear that there are great differences in the power of regions to +produce good men: heat and cold, and water and food, have great effects +both on body and soul; and those spots are peculiarly fortunate in which +the air is holy, and the Gods are pleased to dwell. To all this the +legislator must attend, so far as in him lies. + +BOOK VI. And now we are about to consider (1) the appointment of +magistrates; (2) the laws which they will have to administer must +be determined. I may observe by the way that laws, however good, +are useless and even injurious unless the magistrates are capable of +executing them. And therefore (1) the intended rulers of our imaginary +state should be tested from their youth upwards until the time of their +election; and (2) those who are to elect them ought to be trained in +habits of law, that they may form a right judgment of good and bad men. +But uneducated colonists, who are unacquainted with each other, will not +be likely to choose well. What, then, shall we do? I will tell you: The +colony will have to be intrusted to the ten commissioners, of whom you +are one, and I will help you and them, which is my reason for inventing +this romance. And I cannot bear that the tale should go wandering about +the world without a head,--it will be such an ugly monster. 'Very good.' +Yes; and I will be as good as my word, if God be gracious and old age +permit. But let us not forget what a courageously mad creation this our +city is. 'What makes you say so?' Why, surely our courage is shown in +imagining that the new colonists will quietly receive our laws? For no +man likes to receive laws when they are first imposed: could we only +wait until those who had been educated under them were grown up, and +of an age to vote in the public elections, there would be far greater +reason to expect permanence in our institutions. 'Very true.' The +Cnosian founders should take the utmost pains in the matter of the +colony, and in the election of the higher officers, particularly of the +guardians of the law. The latter should be appointed in this way: The +Cnosians, who take the lead in the colony, together with the colonists, +will choose thirty-seven persons, of whom nineteen will be colonists, +and the remaining eighteen Cnosians--you must be one of the eighteen +yourself, and become a citizen of the new state. 'Why do not you and +Megillus join us?' Athens is proud, and Sparta too; and they are both +a long way off. But let me proceed with my scheme. When the state is +permanently established, the mode of election will be as follows: All +who are serving, or have served, in the army will be electors; and the +election will be held in the most sacred of the temples. The voter +will place on the altar a tablet, inscribing thereupon the name of the +candidate whom he prefers, and of his father, tribe, and ward, writing +at the side of them his own name in like manner; and he may take away +any tablet which does not appear written to his mind, and place it in +the Agora for thirty days. The 300 who obtain the greatest number of +votes will be publicly announced, and out of them there will be a +second election of 100; and out of the 100 a third and final election +of thirty-seven, accompanied by the solemnity of the electors passing +through victims. But then who is to arrange all this? There is a common +saying, that the beginning is half the whole; and I should say a good +deal more than half. 'Most true.' The only way of making a beginning is +from the parent city; and though in after ages the tie may be broken, +and quarrels may arise between them, yet in early days the child +naturally looks to the mother for care and education. And, as I said +before, the Cnosians ought to take an interest in the colony, and select +100 elders of their own citizens, to whom shall be added 100 of the +colonists, to arrange and supervise the first elections and scrutinies; +and when the colony has been started, the Cnosians may return home and +leave the colonists to themselves. + +The thirty-seven magistrates who have been elected in the manner +described, shall have the following duties: first, they shall be +guardians of the law; secondly, of the registers of property in the +four classes--not including the one, two, three, four minae, which are +allowed as a surplus. He who is found to possess what is not entered in +the registers, in addition to the confiscation of such property shall be +proceeded against by law, and if he be cast he shall lose his share +in the public property and in distributions of money; and his sentence +shall be inscribed in some public place. The guardians are to continue +in office twenty years only, and to commence holding office at fifty +years, or if elected at sixty they are not to remain after seventy. + +Generals have now to be elected, and commanders of horse and brigadiers +of foot. The generals shall be natives of the city, proposed by the +guardians of the law, and elected by those who are or have been of the +age for military service. Any one may challenge the person nominated +and start another candidate, whom he affirms upon oath to be better +qualified. The three who obtain the greatest number of votes shall +be elected. The generals thus elected shall propose the taxiarchs or +brigadiers, and the challenge may be made, and the voting shall take +place, in the same manner as before. The elective assembly will be +presided over in the first instance, and until the prytanes and council +come into being, by the guardians of the law in some holy place; and +they shall divide the citizens into three divisions,--hoplites, cavalry, +and the rest of the army--placing each of them by itself. All are to +vote for generals and cavalry officers. The brigadiers are to be voted +for only by the hoplites. Next, the cavalry are to choose phylarchs for +the generals; but captains of archers and other irregular troops are to +be appointed by the generals themselves. The cavalry-officers shall be +proposed and voted upon by the same persons who vote for the generals. +The two who have the greatest number of votes shall be leaders of all +the horse. Disputes about the voting may be raised once or twice, but, +if a third time, the presiding officers shall decide. + +The council shall consist of 360, who may be conveniently divided into +four sections, making ninety councillors of each class. In the first +place, all the citizens shall select candidates from the first class; +and they shall be compelled to vote under pain of a fine. This shall +be the business of the first day. On the second day a similar selection +shall be made from the second class under the same conditions. On the +third day, candidates shall be selected from the third class; but the +compulsion to vote shall only extend to the voters of the first three +classes. On the fourth day, members of the council shall be selected +from the fourth class; they shall be selected by all, but the compulsion +to vote shall only extend to the second class, who, if they do not vote, +shall pay a fine of triple the amount which was exacted at first, and to +the first class, who shall pay a quadruple fine. On the fifth day, the +names shall be exhibited, and out of them shall be chosen by all the +citizens 180 of each class: these are severally to be reduced by lot to +ninety, and 90 x 4 will form the council for the year. + +The mode of election which has been described is a mean between monarchy +and democracy, and such a mean should ever be observed in the state. +For servants and masters cannot be friends, and, although equality makes +friendship, we must remember that there are two sorts of equality. One +of them is the rule of number and measure; but there is also a higher +equality, which is the judgment of Zeus. Of this he grants but little to +mortal men; yet that little is the source of the greatest good to cities +and individuals. It is proportioned to the nature of each man; it gives +more to the better and less to the inferior, and is the true political +justice; to this we in our state desire to look, as every legislator +should, not to the interests either of tyrants or mobs. But justice +cannot always be strictly enforced, and then equity and mercy have to +be substituted: and for a similar reason, when true justice will not be +endured, we must have recourse to the rougher justice of the lot, which +God must be entreated to guide. + +These are the principal means of preserving the state, but perpetual +care will also be required. When a ship is sailing on the sea, vigilance +must not be relaxed night or day; and the vessel of state is tossing in +a political sea, and therefore watch must continually succeed watch, and +rulers must join hands with rulers. A small body will best perform +this duty, and therefore the greater part of the 360 senators may be +permitted to go and manage their own affairs, but a twelfth portion must +be set aside in each month for the administration of the state. Their +business will be to receive information and answer embassies; also they +must endeavour to prevent or heal internal disorders; and with this +object they must have the control of all assemblies of the citizens. + +Besides the council, there must be wardens of the city and of the agora, +who will superintend houses, ways, harbours, markets, and fountains, in +the city and the suburbs, and prevent any injury being done to them by +man or beast. The temples, also, will require priests and priestesses. +Those who hold the priestly office by hereditary tenure shall not be +disturbed; but as there will probably be few or none such in a new +colony, priests and priestesses shall be appointed for the Gods who have +no servants. Some of these officers shall be elected by vote, some by +lot; and all classes shall mingle in a friendly manner at the elections. +The appointment of priests should be left to God,--that is, to the lot; +but the person elected must prove that he is himself sound in body and +of legitimate birth, and that his family has been free from homicide or +any other stain of impurity. Priests and priestesses are to be not less +than sixty years of age, and shall hold office for a year only. The laws +which are to regulate matters of religion shall be brought from Delphi, +and interpreters appointed to superintend their execution. These shall +be elected in the following manner:--The twelve tribes shall be formed +into three bodies of four, each of which shall select four candidates, +and this shall be done three times: of each twelve thus selected the +three who receive the largest number of votes, nine in all, after +undergoing a scrutiny shall go to Delphi, in order that the God may +elect one out of each triad. They shall be appointed for life; and when +any of them dies, another shall be elected by the four tribes who made +the original appointment. There shall also be treasurers of the temples; +three for the greater temples, two for the lesser, and one for those of +least importance. + +The defence of the city should be committed to the generals and other +officers of the army, and to the wardens of the city and agora. The +defence of the country shall be on this wise:--The twelve tribes shall +allot among themselves annually the twelve divisions of the country, and +each tribe shall appoint five wardens and commanders of the watch. The +five wardens in each division shall choose out of their own tribe twelve +guards, who are to be between twenty-five and thirty years of age. Both +the wardens and the guards are to serve two years; and they shall make a +round of the divisions, staying a month in each. They shall go from West +to East during the first year, and back from East to West during the +second. Thus they will gain a perfect knowledge of the country at every +season of the year. + +While on service, their first duty will be to see that the country is +well protected by means of fortifications and entrenchments; they will +use the beasts of burden and the labourers whom they find on the +spot, taking care however not to interfere with the regular course of +agriculture. But while they thus render the country as inaccessible as +possible to enemies, they will also make it as accessible as possible to +friends by constructing and maintaining good roads. They will restrain +and preserve the rain which comes down from heaven, making the barren +places fertile, and the wet places dry. They will ornament the fountains +with plantations and buildings, and provide water for irrigation at +all seasons of the year. They will lead the streams to the temples and +groves of the Gods; and in such spots the youth shall make gymnasia for +themselves, and warm baths for the aged; there the rustic worn with toil +will receive a kindly welcome, and be far better treated than at the +hands of an unskilful doctor. + +These works will be both useful and ornamental; but the sixty wardens +must not fail to give serious attention to other duties. For they must +watch over the districts assigned to them, and also act as judges. In +small matters the five commanders shall decide: in greater matters up to +three minae, the five commanders and the twelve guards. Like all other +judges, except those who have the final decision, they shall be liable +to give an account. If the wardens impose unjust tasks on the villagers, +or take by force their crops or implements, or yield to flattery or +bribes in deciding suits, let them be publicly dishonoured. In regard to +any other wrong-doing, if the question be of a mina, let the neighbours +decide; but if the accused person will not submit, trusting that his +monthly removals will enable him to escape payment, and also in suits +about a larger amount, the injured party may have recourse to the common +court; in the former case, if successful, he may exact a double penalty. + +The wardens and guards, while on their two years' service, shall live +and eat together, and the guard who is absent from the daily meals +without permission or sleeps out at night, shall be regarded as a +deserter, and may be punished by any one who meets him. If any of the +commanders is guilty of such an irregularity, the whole sixty shall +have him punished; and he of them who screens him shall suffer a still +heavier penalty than the offender himself. Now by service a man learns +to rule; and he should pride himself upon serving well the laws and the +Gods all his life, and upon having served ancient and honourable men in +his youth. The twelve and the five should be their own servants, and use +the labour of the villagers only for the good of the public. Let them +search the country through, and acquire a perfect knowledge of every +locality; with this view, hunting and field sports should be encouraged. + +Next we have to speak of the elections of the wardens of the agora and +of the city. The wardens of the city shall be three in number, and they +shall have the care of the streets, roads, buildings, and also of the +water-supply. They shall be chosen out of the highest class, and when +the number of candidates has been reduced to six who have the greatest +number of votes, three out of the six shall be taken by lot, and, after +a scrutiny, shall be admitted to their office. The wardens of the agora +shall be five in number--ten are to be first elected, and every one +shall vote for all the vacant places; the ten shall be afterwards +reduced to five by lot, as in the former election. The first and second +class shall be compelled to go to the assembly, but not the third and +fourth, unless they are specially summoned. The wardens of the agora +shall have the care of the temples and fountains which are in the agora, +and shall punish those who injure them by stripes and bonds, if they be +slaves or strangers; and by fines, if they be citizens. And the wardens +of the city shall have a similar power of inflicting punishment and +fines in their own department. + +In the next place, there must be directors of music and gymnastic; one +class of them superintending gymnasia and schools, and the attendance +and lodging of the boys and girls--the other having to do with contests +of music and gymnastic. In musical contests there shall be one kind +of judges of solo singing or playing, who will judge of rhapsodists, +flute-players, harp-players and the like, and another of choruses. There +shall be choruses of men and boys and maidens--one director will be +enough to introduce them all, and he should not be less than forty years +of age; secondly, of solos also there shall be one director, aged not +less than thirty years; he will introduce the competitors and give +judgment upon them. The director of the choruses is to be elected in +an assembly at which all who take an interest in music are compelled +to attend, and no one else. Candidates must only be proposed for their +fitness, and opposed on the ground of unfitness. Ten are to be elected +by vote, and the one of these on whom the lot falls shall be director +for a year. Next shall be elected out of the second and third classes +the judges of gymnastic contests, who are to be three in number, and +are to be tested, after being chosen by lot out of twenty who have been +elected by the three highest classes--these being compelled to attend at +the election. + +One minister remains, who will have the general superintendence of +education. He must be not less than fifty years old, and be himself the +father of children born in wedlock. His office must be regarded by all +as the highest in the state. For the right growth of the first shoot +in plants and animals is the chief cause of matured perfection. Man is +supposed to be a tame animal, but he becomes either the gentlest or +the fiercest of creatures, accordingly as he is well or ill educated. +Wherefore he who is elected to preside over education should be the best +man possible. He shall hold office for five years, and shall be elected +out of the guardians of the law, by the votes of the other magistrates +with the exception of the senate and prytanes; and the election shall be +held by ballot in the temple of Apollo. + +When a magistrate dies before his term of office has expired, another +shall be elected in his place; and, if the guardian of an orphan dies, +the relations shall appoint another within ten days, or be fined a +drachma a day for neglect. + +The city which has no courts of law will soon cease to be a city; and a +judge who sits in silence and leaves the enquiry to the litigants, as +in arbitrations, is not a good judge. A few judges are better than +many, but the few must be good. The matter in dispute should be clearly +elicited; time and examination will find out the truth. Causes should +first be tried before a court of neighbours: if the decision is +unsatisfactory, let them be referred to a higher court; or, if +necessary, to a higher still, of which the decision shall be final. + +Every magistrate is a judge, and every judge is a magistrate, on the day +on which he is deciding the suit. This will therefore be an appropriate +place to speak of judges and their functions. The supreme tribunal +will be that on which the litigants agree; and let there be two other +tribunals, one for public and the other for private causes. The high +court of appeal shall be composed as follows:--All the officers of +state shall meet on the last day but one of the year in some temple, and +choose for a judge the best man out of every magistracy: and those who +are elected, after they have undergone a scrutiny, shall be judges of +appeal. They shall give their decisions openly, in the presence of the +magistrates who have elected them; and the public may attend. If anybody +charges one of them with having intentionally decided wrong, he shall +lay his accusation before the guardians of the law, and if the judge +be found guilty he shall pay damages to the extent of half the injury, +unless the guardians of the law deem that he deserves a severer +punishment, in which case the judges shall assess the penalty. + +As the whole people are injured by offences against the state, they +should share in the trial of them. Such causes should originate with the +people and be decided by them: the enquiry shall take place before any +three of the highest magistrates upon whom the defendant and plaintiff +can agree. Also in private suits all should judge as far as possible, +and therefore there should be a court of law in every ward; for he who +has no share in the administration of justice, believes that he has no +share in the state. The judges in these courts shall be elected by lot +and give their decision at once. The final judgment in all cases shall +rest with the court of appeal. And so, having done with the appointment +of courts and the election of officers, we will now make our laws. + +'Your way of proceeding, Stranger, is admirable.' + +Then so far our old man's game of play has gone off well. + +'Say, rather, our serious and noble pursuit.' + +Perhaps; but let me ask you whether you have ever observed the manner in +which painters put in and rub out colour: yet their endless labour will +last but a short time, unless they leave behind them some successor who +will restore the picture and remove its defects. 'Certainly.' And have +we not a similar object at the present moment? We are old ourselves, +and therefore we must leave our work of legislation to be improved +and perfected by the next generation; not only making laws for our +guardians, but making them lawgivers. 'We must at least do our best.' +Let us address them as follows. Beloved saviours of the laws, we give +you an outline of legislation which you must fill up, according to a +rule which we will prescribe for you. Megillus and Cleinias and I are +agreed, and we hope that you will agree with us in thinking, that the +whole energies of a man should be devoted to the attainment of manly +virtue, whether this is to be gained by study, or habit, or desire, or +opinion. And rather than accept institutions which tend to degrade and +enslave him, he should fly his country and endure any hardship. These +are our principles, and we would ask you to judge of our laws, and +praise or blame them, accordingly as they are or are not capable of +improving our citizens. + +And first of laws concerning religion. We have already said that the +number 5040 has many convenient divisions: and we took a twelfth part of +this (420), which is itself divisible by twelve, for the number of the +tribe. Every divisor is a gift of God, and corresponds to the months +of the year and to the revolution of the universe. All cities have a +number, but none is more fortunate than our own, which can be divided by +all numbers up to 12, with the exception of 11, and even by 11, if two +families are deducted. And now let us divide the state, assigning to +each division some God or demigod, who shall have altars raised to them, +and sacrifices offered twice a month; and assemblies shall be held +in their honour, twelve for the tribes, and twelve for the city, +corresponding to their divisions. The object of them will be first +to promote religion, secondly to encourage friendship and intercourse +between families; for families must be acquainted before they marry +into one another, or great mistakes will occur. At these festivals there +shall be innocent dances of young men and maidens, who may have the +opportunity of seeing one another in modest undress. To the details +of all this the masters of choruses and the guardians will attend, +embodying in laws the results of their experience; and, after ten years, +making the laws permanent, with the consent of the legislator, if he be +alive, or, if he be not alive, of the guardians of the law, who shall +perfect them and settle them once for all. At least, if any further +changes are required, the magistrates must take the whole people into +counsel, and obtain the sanction of all the oracles. + +Whenever any one who is between the ages of twenty-five and thirty-five +wants to marry, let him do so; but first let him hear the strain which +we will address to him:-- + +My son, you ought to marry, but not in order to gain wealth or to avoid +poverty; neither should you, as men are wont to do, choose a wife who +is like yourself in property and character. You ought to consult the +interests of the state rather than your own pleasure; for by equal +marriages a society becomes unequal. And yet to enact a law that the +rich and mighty shall not marry the rich and mighty, that the quick +shall be united to the slow, and the slow to the quick, will arouse +anger in some persons and laughter in others; for they do not understand +that opposite elements ought to be mingled in the state, as wine should +be mingled with water. The object at which we aim must therefore be +left to the influence of public opinion. And do not forget our former +precept, that every one should seek to attain immortality and raise up +a fair posterity to serve God.--Let this be the prelude of the law about +the duty of marriage. But if a man will not listen, and at thirty-five +years of age is still unmarried, he shall pay an annual fine: if he be +of the first class, 100 drachmas; if of the second, 70; if of the third, +60; and if of the fourth, 30. This fine shall be sacred to Here; and if +he refuse to pay, a tenfold penalty shall be exacted by the treasurer of +Here, who shall be responsible for the payment. Further, the unmarried +man shall receive no honour or obedience from the young, and he shall +not retain the right of punishing others. A man is neither to give +nor receive a dowry beyond a certain fixed sum; in our state, for his +consolation, if he be poor, let him know that he need neither receive +nor give one, for every citizen is provided with the necessaries of +life. Again, if the woman is not rich, her husband will not be her +humble servant. He who disobeys this law shall pay a fine according to +his class, which shall be exacted by the treasurers of Here and Zeus. + +The betrothal of the parties shall be made by the next of kin, or +if there are none, by the guardians. The offerings and ceremonies of +marriage shall be determined by the interpreters of sacred rites. Let +the wedding party be moderate; five male and five female friends, and a +like number of kinsmen, will be enough. The expense should not exceed, +for the first class, a mina; and for the second, half a mina; and should +be in like proportion for the other classes. Extravagance is to be +regarded as vulgarity and ignorance of nuptial proprieties. Much wine is +only to be drunk at the festivals of Dionysus, and certainly not on the +occasion of a marriage. The bride and bridegroom, who are taking a great +step in life, ought to have all their wits about them; they should be +especially careful of the night on which God may give them increase, and +which this will be none can say. Their bodies and souls should be in the +most temperate condition; they should abstain from all that partakes of +the nature of disease or vice, which will otherwise become hereditary. +There is an original divinity in man which preserves all things, if used +with proper respect. He who marries should make one of the two houses +on the lot the nest and nursery of his young; he should leave his father +and mother, and then his affection for them will be only increased by +absence. He will go forth as to a colony, and will there rear up his +offspring, handing on the torch of life to another generation. + +About property in general there is little difficulty, with the exception +of property in slaves, which is an institution of a very doubtful +character. The slavery of the Helots is approved by some and condemned +by others; and there is some doubt even about the slavery of the +Mariandynians at Heraclea and of the Thessalian Penestae. This makes us +ask, What shall we do about slaves? To which every one would agree in +replying,--Let us have the best and most attached whom we can get. All +of us have heard stories of slaves who have been better to their masters +than sons or brethren. Yet there is an opposite doctrine, that slaves +are never to be trusted; as Homer says, 'Slavery takes away half a man's +understanding.' And different persons treat them in different ways: +there are some who never trust them, and beat them like dogs, until +they make them many times more slavish than they were before; and others +pursue the opposite plan. Man is a troublesome animal, as has been often +shown, Megillus, notably in the revolts of the Messenians; and great +mischiefs have arisen in countries where there are large bodies of +slaves of one nationality. Two rules may be given for their management: +first that they should not, if possible, be of the same country or have +a common language; and secondly, that they should be treated by their +master with more justice even than equals, out of regard to himself +quite as much as to them. For he who is righteous in the treatment of +his slaves, or of any inferiors, will sow in them the seed of virtue. +Masters should never jest with their slaves: this, which is a common but +foolish practice, increases the difficulty and painfulness of managing +them. + +Next as to habitations. These ought to have been spoken of before; for +no man can marry a wife, and have slaves, who has not a house for them +to live in. Let us supply the omission. The temples should be placed +round the Agora, and the city built in a circle on the heights. Near the +temples, which are holy places and the habitations of the Gods, should +be buildings for the magistrates, and the courts of law, including those +in which capital offences are to be tried. As to walls, Megillus, I +agree with Sparta that they should sleep in the earth; 'cold steel +is the best wall,' as the poet finely says. Besides, how absurd to be +sending out our youth to fortify and guard the borders of our country, +and then to build a city wall, which is very unhealthy, and is apt to +make people fancy that they may run there and rest in idleness, not +knowing that true repose comes from labour, and that idleness is only +a renewal of trouble. If, however, there must be a wall, the private +houses had better be so arranged as to form one wall; this will have an +agreeable aspect, and the building will be safer and more defensible. +These objects should be attended to at the foundation of the city. The +wardens of the city must see that they are carried out; and they +must also enforce cleanliness, and preserve the public buildings from +encroachments. Moreover, they must take care to let the rain flow +off easily, and must regulate other matters concerning the general +administration of the city. If any further enactments prove to be +necessary, the guardians of the law must supply them. + +And now, having provided buildings, and having married our citizens, +we will proceed to speak of their mode of life. In a well-constituted +state, individuals cannot be allowed to live as they please. Why do +I say this? Because I am going to enact that the bridegroom shall not +absent himself from the common meals. They were instituted originally +on the occasion of some war, and, though deemed singular when first +founded, they have tended greatly to the security of states. There was a +difficulty in introducing them, but there is no difficulty in them now. +There is, however, another institution about which I would speak, if I +dared. I may preface my proposal by remarking that disorder in a state +is the source of all evil, and order of all good. Now in Sparta and +Crete there are common meals for men, and this, as I was saying, is a +divine and natural institution. But the women are left to themselves; +they live in dark places, and, being weaker, and therefore wickeder, +than men, they are at the bottom of a good deal more than half the evil +of states. This must be corrected, and the institution of common +meals extended to both sexes. But, in the present unfortunate state +of opinion, who would dare to establish them? And still more, who can +compel women to eat and drink in public? They will defy the legislator +to drag them out of their holes. And in any other state such a proposal +would be drowned in clamour, but in our own I think that I can show the +attempt to be just and reasonable. 'There is nothing which we should +like to hear better.' Listen, then; having plenty of time, we will +go back to the beginning of things, which is an old subject with us. +'Right.' Either the race of mankind never had a beginning and will never +have an end, or the time which has elapsed since man first came into +being is all but infinite. 'No doubt.' And in this infinity of time +there have been changes of every kind, both in the order of the seasons +and in the government of states and in the customs of eating and +drinking. Vines and olives were at length discovered, and the blessings +of Demeter and Persephone, of which one Triptolemus is said to have been +the minister; before his time the animals had been eating one another. +And there are nations in which mankind still sacrifice their fellow-men, +and other nations in which they lead a kind of Orphic existence, and +will not sacrifice animals, or so much as taste of a cow--they offer +fruits or cakes moistened with honey. Perhaps you will ask me what is +the bearing of these remarks? 'We would gladly hear.' I will endeavour +to explain their drift. I see that the virtue of human life depends on +the due regulation of three wants or desires. The first is the desire +of meat, the second of drink; these begin with birth, and make us +disobedient to any voice other than that of pleasure. The third and +fiercest and greatest need is felt latest; this is love, which is a +madness setting men's whole nature on fire. These three disorders of +mankind we must endeavour to restrain by three mighty influences--fear, +and law, and reason, which, with the aid of the Muses and the Gods of +contests, may extinguish our lusts. + +But to return. After marriage let us proceed to the generation of +children, and then to their nurture and education--thus gradually +approaching the subject of syssitia. There are, however, some other +points which are suggested by the three words--meat, drink, love. +'Proceed,' the bride and bridegroom ought to set their mind on having a +brave offspring. Now a man only succeeds when he takes pains; wherefore +the bridegroom ought to take special care of the bride, and the bride +of the bridegroom, at the time when their children are about to be born. +And let there be a committee of matrons who shall meet every day at +the temple of Eilithyia at a time fixed by the magistrates, and inform +against any man or woman who does not observe the laws of married life. +The time of begetting children and the supervision of the parents shall +last for ten years only; if at the expiration of this period they have +no children, they may part, with the consent of their relatives and the +official matrons, and with a due regard to the interests of either; if +a dispute arise, ten of the guardians of the law shall be chosen as +arbiters. The matrons shall also have power to enter the houses of the +young people, if necessary, and to advise and threaten them. If their +efforts fail, let them go to the guardians of the law; and if they +too fail, the offender, whether man or woman, shall be forbidden to +be present at all family ceremonies. If when the time for begetting +children has ceased, either husband or wife have connexion with others +who are of an age to beget children, they shall be liable to the same +penalties as those who are still having a family. But when both parties +have ceased to beget children there shall be no penalties. If men +and women live soberly, the enactments of law may be left to slumber; +punishment is necessary only when there is great disorder of manners. + +The first year of children's lives is to be registered in their +ancestral temples; the name of the archon of the year is to be inscribed +on a whited wall in every phratry, and the names of the living members +of the phratry close to them, to be erased at their decease. The proper +time of marriage for a woman shall be from sixteen years to twenty; for +a man, from thirty to thirty-five (compare Republic). The age of holding +office for a woman is to be forty, for a man thirty years. The time for +military service for a man is to be from twenty years to sixty; for a +woman, from the time that she has ceased to bear children until fifty. + +BOOK VII. Now that we have married our citizens and brought their +children into the world, we have to find nurture and education for them. +This is a matter of precept rather than of law, and cannot be precisely +regulated by the legislator. For minute regulations are apt to be +transgressed, and frequent transgressions impair the habit of obedience +to the laws. I speak darkly, but I will also try to exhibit my wares in +the light of day. Am I not right in saying that a good education tends +to the improvement of body and mind? 'Certainly.' And the body is +fairest which grows up straight and well-formed from the time of birth. +'Very true.' And we observe that the first shoot of every living thing +is the greatest; many even contend that man is not at twenty-five twice +the height that he was at five. 'True.' And growth without exercise of +the limbs is the source of endless evils in the body. 'Yes.' The body +should have the most exercise when growing most. 'What, the bodies of +young infants?' Nay, the bodies of unborn infants. I should like to +explain to you this singular kind of gymnastics. The Athenians are fond +of cock-fighting, and the people who keep cocks carry them about in +their hands or under their arms, and take long walks, to improve, not +their own health, but the health of the birds. Here is a proof of the +usefulness of motion, whether of rocking, swinging, riding, or tossing +upon the wave; for all these kinds of motion greatly increase strength +and the powers of digestion. Hence we infer that our women, when they +are with child, should walk about and fashion the embryo; and the +children, when born, should be carried by strong nurses,--there must be +more than one of them,--and should not be suffered to walk until they +are three years old. Shall we impose penalties for the neglect of these +rules? The greatest penalty, that is, ridicule, and the difficulty of +making the nurses do as we bid them, will be incurred by ourselves. +'Then why speak of such matters?' In the hope that heads of families may +learn that the due regulation of them is the foundation of law and order +in the state. + +And now, leaving the body, let us proceed to the soul; but we must first +repeat that perpetual motion by night and by day is good for the young +creature. This is proved by the Corybantian cure of motion, and by the +practice of nurses who rock children in their arms, lapping them at +the same time in sweet strains. And the reason of this is obvious. The +affections, both of the Bacchantes and of the children, arise from fear, +and this fear is occasioned by something wrong which is going on +within them. Now a violent external commotion tends to calm the violent +internal one; it quiets the palpitation of the heart, giving to the +children sleep, and bringing back the Bacchantes to their right minds +by the help of dances and acceptable sacrifices. But if fear has such +power, will not a child who is always in a state of terror grow up timid +and cowardly, whereas if he learns from the first to resist fear he will +develop a habit of courage? 'Very true.' And we may say that the use +of motion will inspire the souls of children with cheerfulness and +therefore with courage. 'Of course.' Softness enervates and +irritates the temper of the young, and violence renders them mean and +misanthropical. 'But how is the state to educate them when they are as +yet unable to understand the meaning of words?' Why, surely they roar +and cry, like the young of any other animal, and the nurse knows the +meaning of these intimations of the child's likes or dislikes, and the +occasions which call them forth. About three years is passed by children +in a state of imperfect articulation, which is quite long enough time +to make them either good- or ill-tempered. And, therefore, during these +first three years, the infant should be as free as possible from fear +and pain. 'Yes, and he should have as much pleasure as possible.' There, +I think, you are wrong; for the influence of pleasure in the beginning +of education is fatal. A man should neither pursue pleasure nor wholly +avoid pain. He should embrace the mean, and cultivate that state of calm +which mankind, taught by some inspiration, attribute to God; and he who +would be like God should neither be too fond of pleasure himself, nor +should he permit any other to be thus given; above all, not the infant, +whose character is just in the making. It may sound ridiculous, but I +affirm that a woman in her pregnancy should be carefully tended, and +kept from excessive pleasures and pains. + +'I quite agree with you about the duty of avoiding extremes and +following the mean.' + +Let us consider a further point. The matters which are now in question +are generally called customs rather than laws; and we have already made +the reflection that, though they are not, properly speaking, laws, yet +neither can they be neglected. For they fill up the interstices of +law, and are the props and ligatures on which the strength of the whole +building depends. Laws without customs never last; and we must not +wonder if habit and custom sometimes lengthen out our laws. 'Very true.' +Up to their third year, then, the life of children may be regulated by +customs such as we have described. From three to six their minds have +to be amused; but they must not be allowed to become self-willed and +spoilt. If punishment is necessary, the same rule will hold as in the +case of slaves; they must neither be punished in hot blood nor ruined +by indulgence. The children of that age will have their own modes of +amusing themselves; they should be brought for their play to the village +temples, and placed under the care of nurses, who will be responsible +to twelve matrons annually chosen by the women who have authority over +marriage. These shall be appointed, one out of each tribe, and their +duty shall be to keep order at the meetings: slaves who break the rules +laid down by them, they shall punish by the help of some of the public +slaves; but citizens who dispute their authority shall be brought before +the magistrates. After six years of age there shall be a separation of +the sexes; the boys will go to learn riding and the use of arms, and the +girls may, if they please, also learn. Here I note a practical error in +early training. Mothers and nurses foolishly believe that the left hand +is by nature different from the right, whereas the left leg and foot are +acknowledged to be the same as the right. But the truth is that nature +made all things to balance, and the power of using the left hand, which +is of little importance in the case of the plectrum of the lyre, may +make a great difference in the art of the warrior, who should be a +skilled gymnast and able to fight and balance himself in any position. +If a man were a Briareus, he should use all his hundred hands at once; +at any rate, let everybody employ the two which they have. To these +matters the magistrates, male and female, should attend; the women +superintending the nursing and amusement of the children, and the men +superintending their education, that all of them, boys and girls alike, +may be sound, wind and limb, and not spoil the gifts of nature by bad +habits. + +Education has two branches--gymnastic, which is concerned with the body; +and music, which improves the soul. And gymnastic has two parts, dancing +and wrestling. Of dancing one kind imitates musical recitation and aims +at stateliness and freedom; another kind is concerned with the training +of the body, and produces health, agility, and beauty. There is no +military use in the complex systems of wrestling which pass under the +names of Antaeus and Cercyon, or in the tricks of boxing, which are +attributed to Amycus and Epeius; but good wrestling and the habit of +extricating the neck, hands, and sides, should be diligently learnt and +taught. In our dances imitations of war should be practised, as in the +dances of the Curetes in Crete and of the Dioscuri at Sparta, or as +in the dances in complete armour which were taught us Athenians by the +goddess Athene. Youths who are not yet of an age to go to war should +make religious processions armed and on horseback; and they should also +engage in military games and contests. These exercises will be equally +useful in peace and war, and will benefit both states and families. + +Next follows music, to which we will once more return; and here I shall +venture to repeat my old paradox, that amusements have great influence +on laws. He who has been taught to play at the same games and with the +same playthings will be content with the same laws. There is no greater +evil in a state than the spirit of innovation. In the case of the +seasons and winds, in the management of our bodies and in the habits of +our minds, change is a dangerous thing. And in everything but what is +bad the same rule holds. We all venerate and acquiesce in the laws to +which we are accustomed; and if they have continued during long +periods of time, and there is no remembrance of their ever having been +otherwise, people are absolutely afraid to change them. Now how can we +create this quality of immobility in the laws? I say, by not allowing +innovations in the games and plays of children. The children who are +always having new plays, when grown up will be always having new laws. +Changes in mere fashions are not serious evils, but changes in our +estimate of men's characters are most serious; and rhythms and music are +representations of characters, and therefore we must avoid novelties in +dance and song. For securing permanence no better method can be imagined +than that of the Egyptians. 'What is their method?' They make a calendar +for the year, arranging on what days the festivals of the various +Gods shall be celebrated, and for each festival they consecrate an +appropriate hymn and dance. In our state a similar arrangement shall +in the first instance be framed by certain individuals, and afterwards +solemnly ratified by all the citizens. He who introduces other hymns +or dances shall be excluded by the priests and priestesses and the +guardians of the law; and if he refuses to submit, he may be prosecuted +for impiety. But we must not be too ready to speak about such great +matters. Even a young man, when he hears something unaccustomed, stands +and looks this way and that, like a traveller at a place where three +ways meet; and at our age a man ought to be very sure of his ground +in so singular an argument. 'Very true.' Then, leaving the subject for +further examination at some future time, let us proceed with our laws +about education, for in this manner we may probably throw light upon our +present difficulty. 'Let us do as you say.' The ancients used the term +nomoi to signify harmonious strains, and perhaps they fancied that +there was a connexion between the songs and laws of a country. And we +say--Whosoever shall transgress the strains by law established is a +transgressor of the laws, and shall be punished by the guardians of +the law and by the priests and priestesses. 'Very good.' How can we +legislate about these consecrated strains without incurring ridicule? +Moulds or types must be first framed, and one of the types shall +be--Abstinence from evil words at sacrifices. When a son or brother +blasphemes at a sacrifice there is a sound of ill-omen heard in the +family; and many a chorus stands by the altar uttering inauspicious +words, and he is crowned victor who excites the hearers most with +lamentations. Such lamentations should be reserved for evil days, and +should be uttered only by hired mourners; and let the singers not wear +circlets or ornaments of gold. To avoid every evil word, then, shall be +our first type. 'Agreed.' Our second law or type shall be, that prayers +ever accompany sacrifices; and our third, that, inasmuch as all prayers +are requests, they shall be only for good; this the poets must be made +to understand. 'Certainly.' Have we not already decided that no gold or +silver Plutus shall be allowed in our city? And did not this show that +we were dissatisfied with the poets? And may we not fear that, if they +are allowed to utter injudicious prayers, they will bring the greatest +misfortunes on the state? And we must therefore make a law that the poet +is not to contradict the laws or ideas of the state; nor is he to show +his poems to any private persons until they have first received the +imprimatur of the director of education. A fourth musical law will be +to the effect that hymns and praises shall be offered to Gods, and to +heroes and demigods. Still another law will permit eulogies of eminent +citizens, whether men or women, but only after their death. As to songs +and dances, we will enact as follows:--There shall be a selection made +of the best ancient musical compositions and dances; these shall be +chosen by judges, who ought not to be less than fifty years of age. They +will accept some, and reject or amend others, for which purpose they +will call, if necessary, the poets themselves into council. The severe +and orderly music is the style in which to educate children, who, +if they are accustomed to this, will deem the opposite kind to be +illiberal, but if they are accustomed to the other, will count this to +be cold and unpleasing. 'True.' Further, a distinction should be made +between the melodies of men and women. Nature herself teaches that +the grand or manly style should be assigned to men, and to women the +moderate and temperate. So much for the subjects of education. But to +whom are they to be taught, and when? I must try, like the shipwright, +who lays down the keel of a vessel, to build a secure foundation for the +vessel of the soul in her voyage through life. Human affairs are hardly +serious, and yet a sad necessity compels us to be serious about them. +Let us, therefore, do our best to bring the matter to a conclusion. +'Very good.' I say then, that God is the object of a man's most serious +endeavours. But man is created to be the plaything of the Gods; and +therefore the aim of every one should be to pass through life, not in +grim earnest, but playing at the noblest of pastimes, in another spirit +from that which now prevails. For the common opinion is, that work is +for the sake of play, war of peace; whereas in war there is neither +amusement nor instruction worth speaking of. The life of peace is that +which men should chiefly desire to lengthen out and improve. They should +live sacrificing, singing, and dancing, with the view of propitiating +Gods and heroes. I have already told you the types of song and dance +which they should follow: and 'Some things,' as the poet well says, 'you +will devise for yourself--others, God will suggest to you.' + +These words of his may be applied to our pupils. They will partly teach +themselves, and partly will be taught by God, the art of propitiating +Him; for they are His puppets, and have only a small portion in truth. +'You have a poor opinion of man.' No wonder, when I compare him with +God; but, if you are offended, I will place him a little higher. + +Next follow the building for gymnasia and schools; these will be in +the midst of the city, and outside will be riding-schools and +archery-grounds. In all of them there ought to be instructors of the +young, drawn from foreign parts by pay, and they will teach them music +and war. Education shall be compulsory; the children must attend school, +whether their parents like it or not; for they belong to the state more +than to their parents. And I say further, without hesitation, that the +same education in riding and gymnastic shall be given both to men and +women. The ancient tradition about the Amazons confirms my view, and +at the present day there are myriads of women, called Sauromatides, +dwelling near the Pontus, who practise the art of riding as well as +archery and the use of arms. But if I am right, nothing can be more +foolish than our modern fashion of training men and women differently, +whereby the power the city is reduced to a half. For reflect--if women +are not to have the education of men, some other must be found for them, +and what other can we propose? Shall they, like the women of Thrace, +tend cattle and till the ground; or, like our own, spin and weave, and +take care of the house? or shall they follow the Spartan custom, which +is between the two?--there the maidens share in gymnastic exercises and +in music; and the grown women, no longer engaged in spinning, weave the +web of life, although they are not skilled in archery, like the Amazons, +nor can they imitate our warrior goddess and carry shield or spear, even +in the extremity of their country's need. Compared with our women, +the Sauromatides are like men. But your legislators, Megillus, as I +maintain, only half did their work; they took care of the men, and left +the women to take care of themselves. + +'Shall we suffer the Stranger, Cleinias, to run down Sparta in this +way?' + +'Why, yes; for we cannot withdraw the liberty which we have already +conceded to him.' + +What will be the manner of life of men in moderate circumstances, freed +from the toils of agriculture and business, and having common tables +for themselves and their families which are under the inspection of +magistrates, male and female? Are men who have these institutions only +to eat and fatten like beasts? If they do, how can they escape the fate +of a fatted beast, which is to be torn in pieces by some other beast +more valiant than himself? True, theirs is not the perfect way of life, +for they have not all things in common; but the second best way of life +also confers great blessings. Even those who live in the second state +have a work to do twice as great as the work of any Pythian or Olympic +victor; for their labour is for the body only, but ours both for body +and soul. And this higher work ought to be pursued night and day to the +exclusion of every other. The magistrates who keep the city should be +wakeful, and the master of the household should be up early and before +all his servants; and the mistress, too, should awaken her handmaidens, +and not be awakened by them. Much sleep is not required either for our +souls or bodies. When a man is asleep, he is no better than if he were +dead; and he who loves life and wisdom will take no more sleep than +is necessary for health. Magistrates who are wide awake at night are +terrible to the bad; but they are honoured by the good, and are useful +to themselves and the state. + +When the morning dawns, let the boy go to school. As the sheep need the +shepherd, so the boy needs a master; for he is at once the most cunning +and the most insubordinate of creatures. Let him be taken away from +mothers and nurses, and tamed with bit and bridle, being treated as a +freeman in that he learns and is taught, but as a slave in that he +may be chastised by all other freemen; and the freeman who neglects to +chastise him shall be disgraced. All these matters will be under the +supervision of the Director of Education. + +Him we will address as follows: We have spoken to you, O illustrious +teacher of youth, of the song, the time, and the dance, and of martial +strains; but of the learning of letters and of prose writings, and of +music, and of the use of calculation for military and domestic purposes +we have not spoken, nor yet of the higher use of numbers in reckoning +divine things--such as the revolutions of the stars, or the arrangements +of days, months, and years, of which the true calculation is necessary +in order that seasons and festivals may proceed in regular course, and +arouse and enliven the city, rendering to the Gods their due, and making +men know them better. There are, we say, many things about which we have +not as yet instructed you--and first, as to reading and music: Shall +the pupil be a perfect scholar and musician, or not even enter on these +studies? He should certainly enter on both:--to letters he will apply +himself from the age of ten to thirteen, and at thirteen he will begin +to handle the lyre, and continue to learn music until he is sixteen; +no shorter and no longer time will be allowed, however fond he or his +parents may be of the pursuit. The study of letters he should carry +to the extent of simple reading and writing, but he need not care for +calligraphy and tachygraphy, if his natural gifts do not enable him to +acquire them in the three years. And here arises a question as to the +learning of compositions when unaccompanied with music, I mean, prose +compositions. They are a dangerous species of literature. Speak then, O +guardians of the law, and tell us what we shall do about them. 'You seem +to be in a difficulty.' Yes; it is difficult to go against the opinion +of all the world. 'But have we not often already done so?' Very true. +And you imply that the road which we are taking, though disagreeable +to many, is approved by those whose judgment is most worth having. +'Certainly.' Then I would first observe that we have many poets, comic +as well as tragic, with whose compositions, as people say, youth are +to be imbued and saturated. Some would have them learn by heart entire +poets; others prefer extracts. Now I believe, and the general opinion +is, that some of the things which they learn are good, and some bad. +'Then how shall we reject some and select others?' A happy thought +occurs to me; this long discourse of ours is a sample of what we want, +and is moreover an inspired work and a kind of poem. I am naturally +pleased in reflecting upon all our words, which appear to me to be just +the thing for a young man to hear and learn. I would venture, then, to +offer to the Director of Education this treatise of laws as a pattern +for his guidance; and in case he should find any similar compositions, +written or oral, I would have him carefully preserve them, and commit +them in the first place to the teachers who are willing to learn them +(he should turn off the teacher who refuses), and let them communicate +the lesson to the young. + +I have said enough to the teacher of letters; and now we will proceed to +the teacher of the lyre. He must be reminded of the advice which we gave +to the sexagenarian minstrels; like them he should be quick to perceive +the rhythms suited to the expression of virtue, and to reject the +opposite. With a view to the attainment of this object, the pupil and +his instructor are to use the lyre because its notes are pure; the voice +and string should coincide note for note: nor should there be complex +harmonies and contrasts of intervals, or variations of times or rhythms. +Three years' study is not long enough to give a knowledge of these +intricacies; and our pupils will have many things of more importance to +learn. The tunes and hymns which are to be consecrated for each festival +have been already determined by us. + +Having given these instructions to the Director of Music, let us now +proceed to dancing and gymnastic, which must also be taught to boys and +girls by masters and mistresses. Our minister of education will have a +great deal to do; and being an old man, how will he get through so much +work? There is no difficulty;--the law will provide him with assistants, +male and female; and he will consider how important his office is, +and how great the responsibility of choosing them. For if education +prospers, the vessel of state sails merrily along; or if education +fails, the consequences are not even to be mentioned. Of dancing and +gymnastics something has been said already. We include under the latter +military exercises, the various uses of arms, all that relates to +horsemanship, and military evolutions and tactics. There should be +public teachers of both arts, paid by the state, and women as well as +men should be trained in them. The maidens should learn the armed dance, +and the grown-up women be practised in drill and the use of arms, if +only in case of extremity, when the men are gone out to battle, and they +are left to guard their families. Birds and beasts defend their young, +but women instead of fighting run to the altars, thus degrading man +below the level of the animals. 'Such a lack of education, Stranger, is +both unseemly and dangerous.' + +Wrestling is to be pursued as a military exercise, but the meaning of +this, and the nature of the art, can only be explained when action +is combined with words. Next follows dancing, which is of two kinds; +imitative, first, of the serious and beautiful; and, secondly, of the +ludicrous and grotesque. The first kind may be further divided into the +dance of war and the dance of peace. The former is called the Pyrrhic; +in this the movements of attack and defence are imitated in a direct and +manly style, which indicates strength and sufficiency of body and mind. +The latter of the two, the dance of peace, is suitable to orderly and +law-abiding men. These must be distinguished from the Bacchic dances +which imitate drunken revelry, and also from the dances by which +purifications are effected and mysteries celebrated. Such dances cannot +be characterized either as warlike or peaceful, and are unsuited to a +civilized state. Now the dances of peace are of two classes:--the first +of them is the more violent, being an expression of joy and triumph +after toil and danger; the other is more tranquil, symbolizing the +continuance and preservation of good. In speaking or singing we +naturally move our bodies, and as we have more or less courage or +self-control we become less or more violent and excited. Thus from the +imitation of words in gestures the art of dancing arises. Now one man +imitates in an orderly, another in a disorderly manner: and so the +peaceful kinds of dance have been appropriately called Emmeleiai, or +dances of order, as the warlike have been called Pyrrhic. In the latter +a man imitates all sorts of blows and the hurling of weapons and the +avoiding of them; in the former he learns to bear himself gracefully +and like a gentleman. The types of these dances are to be fixed by the +legislator, and when the guardians of the law have assigned them to the +several festivals, and consecrated them in due order, no further change +shall be allowed. + +Thus much of the dances which are appropriate to fair forms and noble +souls. Comedy, which is the opposite of them, remains to be considered. +For the serious implies the ludicrous, and opposites cannot be +understood without opposites. But a man of repute will desire to +avoid doing what is ludicrous. He should leave such performances to +slaves,--they are not fit for freemen; and there should be some element +of novelty in them. Concerning tragedy, let our law be as follows: When +the inspired poet comes to us with a request to be admitted into our +state, we will reply in courteous words--We also are tragedians and your +rivals; and the drama which we enact is the best and noblest, being the +imitation of the truest and noblest life, with a view to which our state +is ordered. And we cannot allow you to pitch your stage in the agora, +and make your voices to be heard above ours, or suffer you to address +our women and children and the common people on opposite principles +to our own. Come then, ye children of the Lydian Muse, and present +yourselves first to the magistrates, and if they decide that your hymns +are as good or better than ours, you shall have your chorus; but if not, +not. + +There remain three kinds of knowledge which should be learnt by +freemen--arithmetic, geometry of surfaces and of solids, and thirdly, +astronomy. Few need make an accurate study of such sciences; and of +special students we will speak at another time. But most persons must be +content with the study of them which is absolutely necessary, and may +be said to be a necessity of that nature against which God himself is +unable to contend. 'What are these divine necessities of knowledge?' +Necessities of a knowledge without which neither gods, nor demigods, +can govern mankind. And far is he from being a divine man who cannot +distinguish one, two, odd and even; who cannot number day and night, and +is ignorant of the revolutions of the sun and stars; for to every higher +knowledge a knowledge of number is necessary--a fool may see this; how +much, is a matter requiring more careful consideration. 'Very true.' +But the legislator cannot enter into such details, and therefore we +must defer the more careful consideration of these matters to another +occasion. 'You seem to fear our habitual want of training in these +subjects.' Still more do I fear the danger of bad training, which is +often worse than none at all. 'Very true.' I think that a gentleman +and a freeman may be expected to know as much as an Egyptian child. +In Egypt, arithmetic is taught to children in their sports by a +distribution of apples or garlands among a greater or less number of +people; or a calculation is made of the various combinations which are +possible among a set of boxers or wrestlers; or they distribute cups +among the children, sometimes of gold, brass, and silver intermingled, +sometimes of one metal only. The knowledge of arithmetic which is thus +acquired is a great help, either to the general or to the manager of +a household; wherever measure is employed, men are more wide-awake in +their dealings, and they get rid of their ridiculous ignorance. 'What do +you mean?' I have observed this ignorance among my countrymen--they are +like pigs--and I am heartily ashamed both on my own behalf and on that +of all the Hellenes. 'In what respect?' Let me ask you a question. You +know that there are such things as length, breadth, and depth? +'Yes.' And the Hellenes imagine that they are commensurable (1) with +themselves, and (2) with each other; whereas they are only commensurable +with themselves. But if this is true, then we are in an unfortunate +case, and may well say to our compatriots that not to possess necessary +knowledge is a disgrace, though to possess such knowledge is nothing +very grand. 'Certainly.' The discussion of arithmetical problems is a +much better amusement for old men than their favourite game of draughts. +'True.' Mathematics, then, will be one of the subjects in which youth +should be trained. They may be regarded as an amusement, as well as a +useful and innocent branch of knowledge;--I think that we may include +them provisionally. 'Yes; that will be the way.' The next question is, +whether astronomy shall be made a part of education. About the stars +there is a strange notion prevalent. Men often suppose that it is +impious to enquire into the nature of God and the world, whereas the +very reverse is the truth. 'How do you mean?' What I am going to say may +seem absurd and at variance with the usual language of age, and yet if +true and advantageous to the state, and pleasing to God, ought not to be +withheld. 'Let us hear.' My dear friend, how falsely do we and all the +Hellenes speak about the sun and moon! 'In what respect?' We are always +saying that they and certain of the other stars do not keep the same +path, and we term them planets. 'Yes; and I have seen the morning and +evening stars go all manner of ways, and the sun and moon doing what we +know that they always do. But I wish that you would explain your meaning +further.' You will easily understand what I have had no difficulty +in understanding myself, though we are both of us past the time of +learning. 'True; but what is this marvellous knowledge which youth are +to acquire, and of which we are ignorant?' Men say that the sun, moon, +and stars are planets or wanderers; but this is the reverse of the fact. +Each of them moves in one orbit only, which is circular, and not in +many; nor is the swiftest of them the slowest, as appears to human eyes. +What an insult should we offer to Olympian runners if we were to put +the first last and the last first! And if that is a ridiculous error in +speaking of men, how much more in speaking of the Gods? They cannot be +pleased at our telling falsehoods about them. 'They cannot.' Then people +should at least learn so much about them as will enable them to avoid +impiety. + +Enough of education. Hunting and similar pursuits now claim our +attention. These require for their regulation that mixture of law and +admonition of which we have often spoken; e.g., in what we were saying +about the nurture of young children. And therefore the whole duty of the +citizen will not consist in mere obedience to the laws; he must regard +not only the enactments but also the precepts of the legislator. I +will illustrate my meaning by an example. Of hunting there are many +kinds--hunting of fish and fowl, man and beast, enemies and friends; and +the legislator can neither omit to speak about these things, nor make +penal ordinances about them all. 'What is he to do then?' He will praise +and blame hunting, having in view the discipline and exercise of youth. +And the young man will listen obediently and will regard his praises and +censures; neither pleasure nor pain should hinder him. The legislator +will express himself in the form of a pious wish for the welfare of the +young:--O my friends, he will say, may you never be induced to hunt for +fish in the waters, either by day or night; or for men, whether by sea +or land. Never let the wish to steal enter into your minds; neither +be ye fowlers, which is not an occupation for gentlemen. As to land +animals, the legislator will discourage hunting by night, and also +the use of nets and snares by day; for these are indolent and unmanly +methods. The only mode of hunting which he can praise is with horses +and dogs, running, shooting, striking at close quarters. Enough of the +prelude: the law shall be as follows:-- + +Let no one hinder the holy order of huntsmen; but let the nightly +hunters who lay snares and nets be everywhere prohibited. Let the fowler +confine himself to waste places and to the mountains. The fisherman is +also permitted to exercise his calling, except in harbours and sacred +streams, marshes and lakes; in all other places he may fish, provided he +does not make use of poisonous mixtures. + +BOOK VIII. Next, with the help of the Delphian Oracle, we will appoint +festivals and sacrifices. There shall be 365 of them, one for every day +in the year; and one magistrate, at least, shall offer sacrifice +daily according to rites prescribed by a convocation of priests and +interpreters, who shall co-operate with the guardians of the law, and +supply what the legislator has omitted. Moreover there shall be twelve +festivals to the twelve Gods after whom the twelve tribes are named: +these shall be celebrated every month with appropriate musical and +gymnastic contests. There shall also be festivals for women, to be +distinguished from the men's festivals. Nor shall the Gods below be +forgotten, but they must be separated from the Gods above--Pluto shall +have his own in the twelfth month. He is not the enemy, but the friend +of man, who releases the soul from the body, which is at least as good a +work as to unite them. Further, those who have to regulate these matters +should consider that our state has leisure and abundance, and wishing to +be happy, like an individual, should lead a good life; for he who leads +such a life neither does nor suffers injury, of which the first is very +easy, and the second very difficult of attainment, and is only to be +acquired by perfect virtue. A good city has peace, but the evil city is +full of wars within and without. To guard against the danger of external +enemies the citizens should practise war at least one day in every +month; they should go out en masse, including their wives and children, +or in divisions, as the magistrates determine, and have mimic contests, +imitating in a lively manner real battles; they should also have prizes +and encomiums of valour, both for the victors in these contests, and for +the victors in the battle of life. The poet who celebrates the victors +should be fifty years old at least, and himself a man who has done great +deeds. Of such an one the poems may be sung, even though he is not the +best of poets. To the director of education and the guardians of the law +shall be committed the judgment, and no song, however sweet, which has +not been licensed by them shall be recited. These regulations about +poetry, and about military expeditions, apply equally to men and to +women. + +The legislator may be conceived to make the following address to +himself:--With what object am I training my citizens? Are they not +strivers for mastery in the greatest of combats? Certainly, will be +the reply. And if they were boxers or wrestlers, would they think of +entering the lists without many days' practice? Would they not as far as +possible imitate all the circumstances of the contest; and if they +had no one to box with, would they not practise on a lifeless image, +heedless of the laughter of the spectators? And shall our soldiers go +out to fight for life and kindred and property unprepared, because sham +fights are thought to be ridiculous? Will not the legislator require +that his citizens shall practise war daily, performing lesser exercises +without arms, while the combatants on a greater scale will carry arms, +and take up positions, and lie in ambuscade? And let their combats be +not without danger, that opportunity may be given for distinction, +and the brave man and the coward may receive their meed of honour +or disgrace. If occasionally a man is killed, there is no great harm +done--there are others as good as he is who will replace him; and the +state can better afford to lose a few of her citizens than to lose the +only means of testing them. + +'We agree, Stranger, that such warlike exercises are necessary.' But why +are they so rarely practised? Or rather, do we not all know the reasons? +One of them (1) is the inordinate love of wealth. This absorbs the soul +of a man, and leaves him no time for any other pursuit. Knowledge is +valued by him only as it tends to the attainment of wealth. All is lost +in the desire of heaping up gold and silver; anybody is ready to do +anything, right or wrong, for the sake of eating and drinking, and +the indulgence of his animal passions. 'Most true.' This is one of the +causes which prevents a man being a good soldier, or anything else +which is good; it converts the temperate and orderly into shopkeepers or +servants, and the brave into burglars or pirates. Many of these latter +are men of ability, and are greatly to be pitied, because their souls +are hungering and thirsting all their lives long. The bad forms of +government (2) are another reason--democracy, oligarchy, tyranny, which, +as I was saying, are not states, but states of discord, in which the +rulers are afraid of their subjects, and therefore do not like them to +become rich, or noble, or valiant. Now our state will escape both +these causes of evil; the society is perfectly free, and has plenty of +leisure, and is not allowed by the laws to be absorbed in the pursuit +of wealth; hence we have an excellent field for a perfect education, and +for the introduction of martial pastimes. Let us proceed to describe the +character of these pastimes. All gymnastic exercises in our state +must have a military character; no other will be allowed. Activity and +quickness are most useful in war; and yet these qualities do not attain +their greatest efficiency unless the competitors are armed. The runner +should enter the lists in armour, and in the races which our heralds +proclaim, no prize is to be given except to armed warriors. Let there be +six courses--first, the stadium; secondly, the diaulos or double course; +thirdly, the horse course; fourthly, the long course; fifthly, races (1) +between heavy-armed soldiers who shall pass over sixty stadia and +finish at a temple of Ares, and (2) between still more heavily-armed +competitors who run over smoother ground; sixthly, a race for archers, +who shall run over hill and dale a distance of a hundred stadia, and +their goal shall be a temple of Apollo and Artemis. There shall be three +contests of each kind--one for boys, another for youths, a third for +men; the course for the boys we will fix at half, and that for the +youths at two-thirds of the entire length. Women shall join in the +races: young girls who are not grown up shall run naked; but after +thirteen they shall be suitably dressed; from thirteen to eighteen they +shall be obliged to share in these contests, and from eighteen to twenty +they may if they please and if they are unmarried. As to trials of +strength, single combats in armour, or battles between two and two, or +of any number up to ten, shall take the place of wrestling and the heavy +exercises. And there must be umpires, as there are now in wrestling, +to determine what is a fair hit and who is conqueror. Instead of the +pancratium, let there be contests in which the combatants carry bows +and wear light shields and hurl javelins and throw stones. The next +provision of the law will relate to horses, which, as we are in Crete, +need be rarely used by us, and chariots never; our horse-racing prizes +will only be given to single horses, whether colts, half-grown, or +full-grown. Their riders are to wear armour, and there shall be a +competition between mounted archers. Women, if they have a mind, may +join in the exercises of men. + +But enough of gymnastics, and nearly enough of music. All musical +contests will take place at festivals, whether every third or every +fifth year, which are to be fixed by the guardians of the law, the +judges of the games, and the director of education, who for this +purpose shall become legislators and arrange times and conditions. The +principles on which such contests are to be ordered have been often +repeated by the first legislator; no more need be said of them, nor +are the details of them important. But there is another subject of the +highest importance, which, if possible, should be determined by the +laws, not of man, but of God; or, if a direct revelation is impossible, +there is need of some bold man who, alone against the world, will +speak plainly of the corruption of human nature, and go to war with the +passions of mankind. 'We do not understand you.' I will try to make my +meaning plainer. In speaking of education, I seemed to see young men and +maidens in friendly intercourse with one another; and there arose in my +mind a natural fear about a state, in which the young of either sex are +well nurtured, and have little to do, and occupy themselves chiefly with +festivals and dances. How can they be saved from those passions which +reason forbids them to indulge, and which are the ruin of so many? +The prohibition of wealth, and the influence of education, and the +all-seeing eye of the ruler, will alike help to promote temperance; but +they will not wholly extirpate the unnatural loves which have been the +destruction of states; and against this evil what remedy can be devised? +Lacedaemon and Crete give no assistance here; on the subject of love, as +I may whisper in your ear, they are against us. Suppose a person were to +urge that you ought to restore the natural use which existed before the +days of Laius; he would be quite right, but he would not be supported by +public opinion in either of your states. Or try the matter by the test +which we apply to all laws,--who will say that the permission of such +things tends to virtue? Will he who is seduced learn the habit of +courage; or will the seducer acquire temperance? And will any legislator +be found to make such actions legal? + +But to judge of this matter truly, we must understand the nature of love +and friendship, which may take very different forms. For we speak of +friendship, first, when there is some similarity or equality of virtue; +secondly, when there is some want; and either of these, when in excess, +is termed love. The first kind is gentle and sociable; the second is +fierce and unmanageable; and there is also a third kind, which is akin +to both, and is under the dominion of opposite principles. The one is of +the body, and has no regard for the character of the beloved; but he who +is under the influence of the other disregards the body, and is a looker +rather than a lover, and desires only with his soul to be knit to the +soul of his friend; while the intermediate sort is both of the body +and of the soul. Here are three kinds of love: ought the legislator to +prohibit all of them equally, or to allow the virtuous love to remain? +'The latter, clearly.' I expected to gain your approval; but I will +reserve the task of convincing our friend Cleinias for another occasion. +'Very good.' To make right laws on this subject is in one point of view +easy, and in another most difficult; for we know that in some cases most +men abstain willingly from intercourse with the fair. The unwritten +law which prohibits members of the same family from such intercourse is +strictly obeyed, and no thought of anything else ever enters into the +minds of men in general. A little word puts out the fire of their lusts. +'What is it?' The declaration that such things are hateful to the Gods, +and most abominable and unholy. The reason is that everywhere, in jest +and earnest alike, this is the doctrine which is repeated to all +from their earliest youth. They see on the stage that an Oedipus or a +Thyestes or a Macareus, when undeceived, are ready to kill themselves. +There is an undoubted power in public opinion when no breath is heard +adverse to the law; and the legislator who would enslave these enslaving +passions must consecrate such a public opinion all through the city. +'Good: but how can you create it?' A fair objection; but I promised to +try and find some means of restraining loves to their natural objects. A +law which would extirpate unnatural love as effectually as incest is +at present extirpated, would be the source of innumerable blessings, +because it would be in accordance with nature, and would get rid of +excess in eating and drinking and of adulteries and frenzies, making men +love their wives, and having other excellent effects. I can imagine that +some lusty youth overhears what we are saying, and roars out in abusive +terms that we are legislating for impossibilities. And so a person +might have said of the syssitia, or common meals; but this is refuted by +facts, although even now they are not extended to women. 'True.' There +is no impossibility or super-humanity in my proposed law, as I shall +endeavour to prove. 'Do so.' Will not a man find abstinence more easy +when his body is sound than when he is in ill-condition? 'Yes.' Have we +not heard of Iccus of Tarentum and other wrestlers who abstained wholly +for a time? Yet they were infinitely worse educated than our citizens, +and far more lusty in their bodies. And shall they have abstained for +the sake of an athletic contest, and our citizens be incapable of a +similar endurance for the sake of a much nobler victory,--the victory +over pleasure, which is true happiness? Will not the fear of impiety +enable them to conquer that which many who were inferior to them have +conquered? 'I dare say.' And therefore the law must plainly declare +that our citizens should not fall below the other animals, who live all +together in flocks, and yet remain pure and chaste until the time of +procreation comes, when they pair, and are ever after faithful to their +compact. But if the corruption of public opinion is too great to allow +our first law to be carried out, then our guardians of the law must turn +legislators, and try their hand at a second law. They must minimize the +appetites, diverting the vigour of youth into other channels, allowing +the practice of love in secret, but making detection shameful. Three +higher principles may be brought to bear on all these corrupt natures. +'What are they?' Religion, honour, and the love of the higher qualities +of the soul. Perhaps this is a dream only, yet it is the best of dreams; +and if not the whole, still, by the grace of God, a part of what we +desire may be realized. Either men may learn to abstain wholly from any +loves, natural or unnatural, except of their wedded wives; or, at +least, they may give up unnatural loves; or, if detected, they shall +be punished with loss of citizenship, as aliens from the state in their +morals. 'I entirely agree with you,' said Megillus, 'but Cleinias must +speak for himself.' 'I will give my opinion by-and-by.' + +We were speaking of the syssitia, which will be a natural institution +in a Cretan colony. Whether they shall be established after the model +of Crete or Lacedaemon, or shall be different from either, is an +unimportant question which may be determined without difficulty. We +may, therefore, proceed to speak of the mode of life among our citizens, +which will be far less complex than in other cities; a state which is +inland and not maritime requires only half the number of laws. There is +no trouble about trade and commerce, and a thousand other things. The +legislator has only to regulate the affairs of husbandmen and shepherds, +which will be easily arranged, now that the principal questions, such as +marriage, education, and government, have been settled. + +Let us begin with husbandry: First, let there be a law of Zeus against +removing a neighbour's landmark, whether he be a citizen or stranger. +For this is 'to move the immoveable'; and Zeus, the God of kindred, +witnesses to the wrongs of citizens, and Zeus, the God of strangers, +to the wrongs of strangers. The offence of removing a boundary shall +receive two punishments--the first will be inflicted by the God himself; +the second by the judges. In the next place, the differences between +neighbours about encroachments must be guarded against. He who +encroaches shall pay twofold the amount of the injury; of all such +matters the wardens of the country shall be the judges, in lesser cases +the officers, and in greater the whole number of them belonging to +any one division. Any injury done by cattle, the decoying of bees, the +careless firing of woods, the planting unduly near a neighbour's +ground, shall all be visited with proper damages. Such details have been +determined by previous legislators, and need not now be mixed up with +greater matters. Husbandmen have had of old excellent rules about +streams and waters; and we need not 'divert their course.' Anybody +may take water from a common stream, if he does not thereby cut off a +private spring; he may lead the water in any direction, except through +a house or temple, but he must do no harm beyond the channel. If land +is without water the occupier shall dig down to the clay, and if at this +depth he find no water, he shall have a right of getting water from his +neighbours for his household; and if their supply is limited, he +shall receive from them a measure of water fixed by the wardens of the +country. If there be heavy rains, the dweller on the higher ground must +not recklessly suffer the water to flow down upon a neighbour beneath +him, nor must he who lives upon lower ground or dwells in an adjoining +house refuse an outlet. If the two parties cannot agree, they shall go +before the wardens of the city or country, and if a man refuse to abide +by their decision, he shall pay double the damage which he has caused. + +In autumn God gives us two boons--one the joy of Dionysus not to be laid +up--the other to be laid up. About the fruits of autumn let the law be +as follows: He who gathers the storing fruits of autumn, whether +grapes or figs, before the time of the vintage, which is the rising of +Arcturus, shall pay fifty drachmas as a fine to Dionysus, if he gathers +on his own ground; if on his neighbour's ground, a mina, and two-thirds +of a mina if on that of any one else. The grapes or figs not used for +storing a man may gather when he pleases on his own ground, but on that +of others he must pay the penalty of removing what he has not laid down. +If he be a slave who has gathered, he shall receive a stroke for every +grape or fig. A metic must purchase the choice fruit; but a stranger may +pluck for himself and his attendant. This right of hospitality, however, +does not extend to storing grapes. A slave who eats of the storing +grapes or figs shall be beaten, and the freeman be dismissed with a +warning. Pears, apples, pomegranates, may be taken secretly, but he who +is detected in the act of taking them shall be lightly beaten off, if +he be not more than thirty years of age. The stranger and the elder may +partake of them, but not carry any away; the latter, if he does not obey +the law, shall fail in the competition of virtue, if anybody brings up +his offence against him. + +Water is also in need of protection, being the greatest element of +nutrition, and, unlike the other elements--soil, air, and sun--which +conspire in the growth of plants, easily polluted. And therefore he +who spoils another's water, whether in springs or reservoirs, either by +trenching, or theft, or by means of poisonous substances, shall pay the +damage and purify the stream. At the getting-in of the harvest everybody +shall have a right of way over his neighbour's ground, provided he is +careful to do no damage beyond the trespass, or if he himself will gain +three times as much as his neighbour loses. Of all this the magistrates +are to take cognizance, and they are to assess the damage where the +injury does not exceed three minae; cases of greater damage can be +tried only in the public courts. A charge against a magistrate is to +be referred to the public courts, and any one who is found guilty of +deciding corruptly shall pay twofold to the aggrieved person. Matters +of detail relating to punishments and modes of procedure, and summonses, +and witnesses to summonses, do not require the mature wisdom of the aged +legislator; the younger generation may determine them according to their +experience; but when once determined, they shall remain unaltered. + +The following are to be the regulations respecting handicrafts:--No +citizen, or servant of a citizen, is to practise them. For the citizen +has already an art and mystery, which is the care of the state; and no +man can practise two arts, or practise one and superintend another. No +smith should be a carpenter, and no carpenter, having many slaves who +are smiths, should look after them himself; but let each man practise +one art which shall be his means of livelihood. The wardens of the city +should see to this, punishing the citizen who offends with temporary +deprival of his rights--the foreigner shall be imprisoned, fined, +exiled. Any disputes about contracts shall be determined by the wardens +of the city up to fifty drachmae--above that sum by the public courts. +No customs are to be exacted either on imports or exports. Nothing +unnecessary is to be imported from abroad, whether for the service of +the Gods or for the use of man--neither purple, nor other dyes, nor +frankincense,--and nothing needed in the country is to be exported. +These things are to be decided on by the twelve guardians of the law who +are next in seniority to the five elders. Arms and the materials of war +are to be imported and exported only with the consent of the generals, +and then only by the state. There is to be no retail trade either in +these or any other articles. For the distribution of the produce of the +country, the Cretan laws afford a rule which may be usefully followed. +All shall be required to distribute corn, grain, animals, and other +valuable produce, into twelve portions. Each of these shall be +subdivided into three parts--one for freemen, another for servants, +and the third shall be sold for the supply of artisans, strangers, and +metics. These portions must be equal whether the produce be much or +little; and the master of a household may distribute the two portions +among his family and his slaves as he pleases--the remainder is to be +measured out to the animals. + +Next as to the houses in the country--there shall be twelve villages, +one in the centre of each of the twelve portions; and in every village +there shall be temples and an agora--also shrines for heroes or for +any old Magnesian deities who linger about the place. In every division +there shall be temples of Hestia, Zeus, and Athene, as well as of the +local deity, surrounded by buildings on eminences, which will be the +guard-houses of the rural police. The dwellings of the artisans will be +thus arranged:--The artisans shall be formed into thirteen guilds, one +of which will be divided into twelve parts and settled in the city; of +the rest there shall be one in each division of the country. And the +magistrates will fix them on the spots where they will cause the least +inconvenience and be most serviceable in supplying the wants of the +husbandmen. + +The care of the agora will fall to the wardens of the agora. Their +first duty will be the regulation of the temples which surround the +market-place; and their second to see that the markets are orderly and +that fair dealing is observed. They will also take care that the sales +which the citizens are required to make to strangers are duly executed. +The law shall be, that on the first day of each month the auctioneers to +whom the sale is entrusted shall offer grain; and at this sale a twelfth +part of the whole shall be exposed, and the foreigner shall supply his +wants for a month. On the tenth, there shall be a sale of liquids, and +on the twenty-third of animals, skins, woven or woollen stuffs, and +other things which husbandmen have to sell and foreigners want to buy. +None of these commodities, any more than barley or flour, or any other +food, may be retailed by a citizen to a citizen; but foreigners may +sell them to one another in the foreigners' market. There must also be +butchers who will sell parts of animals to foreigners and craftsmen, +and their servants; and foreigners may buy firewood wholesale of the +commissioners of woods, and may sell retail to foreigners. All other +goods must be sold in the market, at some place indicated by the +magistrates, and shall be paid for on the spot. He who gives credit, and +is cheated, will have no redress. In buying or selling, any excess or +diminution of what the law allows shall be registered. The same rule +is to be observed about the property of metics. Anybody who practises a +handicraft may come and remain twenty years from the day on which he is +enrolled; at the expiration of this time he shall take what he has and +depart. The only condition which is to be imposed upon him as the tax +of his sojourn is good conduct; and he is not to pay any tax for being +allowed to buy or sell. But if he wants to extend the time of his +sojourn, and has done any service to the state, and he can persuade the +council and assembly to grant his request, he may remain. The children +of metics may also be metics; and the period of twenty years, during +which they are permitted to sojourn, is to count, in their case, from +their fifteenth year. + +No mention occurs in the Laws of the doctrine of Ideas. The will of God, +the authority of the legislator, and the dignity of the soul, have +taken their place in the mind of Plato. If we ask what is that truth or +principle which, towards the end of his life, seems to have absorbed +him most, like the idea of good in the Republic, or of beauty in the +Symposium, or of the unity of virtue in the Protagoras, we should +answer--The priority of the soul to the body: his later system mainly +hangs upon this. In the Laws, as in the Sophist and Statesman, we pass +out of the region of metaphysical or transcendental ideas into that of +psychology. + +The opening of the fifth book, though abrupt and unconnected in style, +is one of the most elevated passages in Plato. The religious feeling +which he seeks to diffuse over the commonest actions of life, the +blessedness of living in the truth, the great mistake of a man living +for himself, the pity as well as anger which should be felt at evil, +the kindness due to the suppliant and the stranger, have the temper of +Christian philosophy. The remark that elder men, if they want to educate +others, should begin by educating themselves; the necessity of creating +a spirit of obedience in the citizens; the desirableness of limiting +property; the importance of parochial districts, each to be placed under +the protection of some God or demigod, have almost the tone of a modern +writer. In many of his views of politics, Plato seems to us, like some +politicians of our own time, to be half socialist, half conservative. + +In the Laws, we remark a change in the place assigned by him to pleasure +and pain. There are two ways in which even the ideal systems of morals +may regard them: either like the Stoics, and other ascetics, we may say +that pleasure must be eradicated; or if this seems unreal to us, we may +affirm that virtue is the true pleasure; and then, as Aristotle says, +'to be brought up to take pleasure in what we ought, exercises a great +and paramount influence on human life' (Arist. Eth. Nic.). Or as Plato +says in the Laws, 'A man will recognize the noblest life as having the +greatest pleasure and the least pain, if he have a true taste.' If we +admit that pleasures differ in kind, the opposition between these two +modes of speaking is rather verbal than real; and in the greater part of +the writings of Plato they alternate with each other. In the Republic, +the mere suggestion that pleasure may be the chief good, is received +by Socrates with a cry of abhorrence; but in the Philebus, innocent +pleasures vindicate their right to a place in the scale of goods. In the +Protagoras, speaking in the person of Socrates rather than in his own, +Plato admits the calculation of pleasure to be the true basis of ethics, +while in the Phaedo he indignantly denies that the exchange of one +pleasure for another is the exchange of virtue. So wide of the mark +are they who would attribute to Plato entire consistency in thoughts or +words. + +He acknowledges that the second state is inferior to the first--in this, +at any rate, he is consistent; and he still casts longing eyes upon the +ideal. Several features of the first are retained in the second: the +education of men and women is to be as far as possible the same; they +are to have common meals, though separate, the men by themselves, the +women with their children; and they are both to serve in the army; the +citizens, if not actually communists, are in spirit communistic; +they are to be lovers of equality; only a certain amount of wealth is +permitted to them, and their burdens and also their privileges are to +be proportioned to this. The constitution in the Laws is a timocracy +of wealth, modified by an aristocracy of merit. Yet the political +philosopher will observe that the first of these two principles is +fixed and permanent, while the latter is uncertain and dependent on the +opinion of the multitude. Wealth, after all, plays a great part in +the Second Republic of Plato. Like other politicians, he deems that a +property qualification will contribute stability to the state. The four +classes are derived from the constitution of Athens, just as the form +of the city, which is clustered around a citadel set on a hill, is +suggested by the Acropolis at Athens. Plato, writing under Pythagorean +influences, seems really to have supposed that the well-being of the +city depended almost as much on the number 5040 as on justice and +moderation. But he is not prevented by Pythagoreanism from observing the +effects which climate and soil exercise on the characters of nations. + +He was doubtful in the Republic whether the ideal or communistic state +could be realized, but was at the same time prepared to maintain that +whether it existed or not made no difference to the philosopher, who +will in any case regulate his life by it (Republic). He has now lost +faith in the practicability of his scheme--he is speaking to 'men, and +not to Gods or sons of Gods' (Laws). Yet he still maintains it to be the +true pattern of the state, which we must approach as nearly as possible: +as Aristotle says, 'After having created a more general form of state, +he gradually brings it round to the other' (Pol.). He does not observe, +either here or in the Republic, that in such a commonwealth there would +be little room for the development of individual character. In several +respects the second state is an improvement on the first, especially in +being based more distinctly on the dignity of the soul. The standard +of truth, justice, temperance, is as high as in the Republic;--in one +respect higher, for temperance is now regarded, not as a virtue, but as +the condition of all virtue. It is finally acknowledged that the virtues +are all one and connected, and that if they are separated, courage is +the lowest of them. The treatment of moral questions is less speculative +but more human. The idea of good has disappeared; the excellences of +individuals--of him who is faithful in a civil broil, of the examiner +who is incorruptible, are the patterns to which the lives of the +citizens are to conform. Plato is never weary of speaking of the honour +of the soul, which can only be honoured truly by being improved. To make +the soul as good as possible, and to prepare her for communion with the +Gods in another world by communion with divine virtue in this, is the +end of life. If the Republic is far superior to the Laws in form and +style, and perhaps in reach of thought, the Laws leave on the mind +of the modern reader much more strongly the impression of a struggle +against evil, and an enthusiasm for human improvement. When Plato says +that he must carry out that part of his ideal which is practicable, +he does not appear to have reflected that part of an ideal cannot be +detached from the whole. + +The great defect of both his constitutions is the fixedness which he +seeks to impress upon them. He had seen the Athenian empire, almost +within the limits of his own life, wax and wane, but he never seems +to have asked himself what would happen if, a century from the time at +which he was writing, the Greek character should have as much changed as +in the century which had preceded. He fails to perceive that the greater +part of the political life of a nation is not that which is given them +by their legislators, but that which they give themselves. He has never +reflected that without progress there cannot be order, and that mere +order can only be preserved by an unnatural and despotic repression. The +possibility of a great nation or of an universal empire arising never +occurred to him. He sees the enfeebled and distracted state of the +Hellenic world in his own later life, and thinks that the remedy is to +make the laws unchangeable. The same want of insight is apparent in his +judgments about art. He would like to have the forms of sculpture and of +music fixed as in Egypt. He does not consider that this would be fatal +to the true principles of art, which, as Socrates had himself taught, +was to give life (Xen. Mem.). We wonder how, familiar as he was with +the statues of Pheidias, he could have endured the lifeless and +half-monstrous works of Egyptian sculpture. The 'chants of Isis' (Laws), +we might think, would have been barbarous in an Athenian ear. But +although he is aware that there are some things which are not so well +among 'the children of the Nile,' he is deeply struck with the stability +of Egyptian institutions. Both in politics and in art Plato seems to +have seen no way of bringing order out of disorder, except by taking a +step backwards. Antiquity, compared with the world in which he lived, +had a sacredness and authority for him: the men of a former age were +supposed by him to have had a sense of reverence which was wanting among +his contemporaries. He could imagine the early stages of civilization; +he never thought of what the future might bring forth. His experience +is confined to two or three centuries, to a few Greek states, and to an +uncertain report of Egypt and the East. There are many ways in which +the limitations of their knowledge affected the genius of the Greeks. +In criticism they were like children, having an acute vision of things +which were near to them, blind to possibilities which were in the +distance. + +The colony is to receive from the mother-country her original +constitution, and some of the first guardians of the law. The guardians +of the law are to be ministers of justice, and the president of +education is to take precedence of them all. They are to keep the +registers of property, to make regulations for trade, and they are to +be superannuated at seventy years of age. Several questions of modern +politics, such as the limitation of property, the enforcement of +education, the relations of classes, are anticipated by Plato. He hopes +that in his state will be found neither poverty nor riches; every +man having the necessaries of life, he need not go fortune-hunting in +marriage. Almost in the spirit of the Gospel he would say, 'How hardly +can a rich man dwell in a perfect state.' For he cannot be a good man +who is always gaining too much and spending too little (Laws; compare +Arist. Eth. Nic.). Plato, though he admits wealth as a political +element, would deny that material prosperity can be the foundation of +a really great community. A man's soul, as he often says, is more to be +esteemed than his body; and his body than external goods. He repeats the +complaint which has been made in all ages, that the love of money is the +corruption of states. He has a sympathy with thieves and burglars, 'many +of whom are men of ability and greatly to be pitied, because their souls +are hungering and thirsting all their lives long;' but he has +little sympathy with shopkeepers or retailers, although he makes the +reflection, which sometimes occurs to ourselves, that such occupations, +if they were carried on honestly by the best men and women, would be +delightful and honourable. For traders and artisans a moderate gain was, +in his opinion, best. He has never, like modern writers, idealized +the wealth of nations, any more than he has worked out the problems of +political economy, which among the ancients had not yet grown into a +science. The isolation of Greek states, their constant wars, the want of +a free industrial population, and of the modern methods and instruments +of 'credit,' prevented any great extension of commerce among them; and +so hindered them from forming a theory of the laws which regulate the +accumulation and distribution of wealth. + +The constitution of the army is aristocratic and also democratic; +official appointment is combined with popular election. The two +principles are carried out as follows: The guardians of the law nominate +generals out of whom three are chosen by those who are or have been +of the age for military service; and the generals elected have the +nomination of certain of the inferior officers. But if either in the +case of generals or of the inferior officers any one is ready to swear +that he knows of a better man than those nominated, he may put the +claims of his candidate to the vote of the whole army, or of the +division of the service which he will, if elected, command. There is +a general assembly, but its functions, except at elections, are hardly +noticed. In the election of the Boule, Plato again attempts to mix +aristocracy and democracy. This is effected, first as in the Servian +constitution, by balancing wealth and numbers; for it cannot be supposed +that those who possessed a higher qualification were equal in number +with those who had a lower, and yet they have an equal number of +representatives. In the second place, all classes are compelled to vote +in the election of senators from the first and second class; but the +fourth class is not compelled to elect from the third, nor the third +and fourth from the fourth. Thirdly, out of the 180 persons who are thus +chosen from each of the four classes, 720 in all, 360 are to be taken by +lot; these form the council for the year. + +These political adjustments of Plato's will be criticised by the +practical statesman as being for the most part fanciful and ineffectual. +He will observe, first of all, that the only real check on democracy +is the division into classes. The second of the three proposals, though +ingenious, and receiving some light from the apathy to politics which +is often shown by the higher classes in a democracy, would have little +power in times of excitement and peril, when the precaution was most +needed. At such political crises, all the lower classes would vote +equally with the higher. The subtraction of half the persons chosen +at the first election by the chances of the lot would not raise the +character of the senators, and is open to the objection of uncertainty, +which necessarily attends this and similar schemes of double +representative government. Nor can the voters be expected to retain the +continuous political interest required for carrying out such a proposal +as Plato's. Who could select 180 persons of each class, fitted to be +senators? And whoever were chosen by the voter in the first instance, +his wishes might be neutralized by the action of the lot. Yet the scheme +of Plato is not really so extravagant as the actual constitution of +Athens, in which all the senators appear to have been elected by +lot (apo kuamou bouleutai), at least, after the revolution made by +Cleisthenes; for the constitution of the senate which was established +by Solon probably had some aristocratic features, though their precise +nature is unknown to us. The ancients knew that election by lot was +the most democratic of all modes of appointment, seeming to say in the +objectionable sense, that 'one man is as good as another.' Plato, who is +desirous of mingling different elements, makes a partial use of the lot, +which he applies to candidates already elected by vote. He attempts also +to devise a system of checks and balances such as he supposes to have +been intended by the ancient legislators. We are disposed to say to +him, as he himself says in a remarkable passage, that 'no man ever +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 yet, as he +adds, the true legislator is still required: he must co-operate with +circumstances. Many things which are ascribed to human foresight are +the result of chance. Ancient, and in a less degree modern political +constitutions, are never consistent with themselves, because they are +never framed on a single design, but are added to from time to time as +new elements arise and gain the preponderance in the state. We often +attribute to the wisdom of our ancestors great political effects which +have sprung unforeseen from the accident of the situation. Power, not +wisdom, is most commonly the source of political revolutions. And +the result, as in the Roman Republic, of the co-existence of opposite +elements in the same state is, not a balance of power or an equable +progress of liberal principles, but a conflict of forces, of which one +or other may happen to be in the ascendant. In Greek history, as well as +in Plato's conception of it, this 'progression by antagonism' involves +reaction: the aristocracy expands into democracy and returns again to +tyranny. + +The constitution of the Laws may be said to consist, besides the +magistrates, mainly of three elements,--an administrative Council, +the judiciary, and the Nocturnal Council, which is an intellectual +aristocracy, composed of priests and the ten eldest guardians of the law +and some younger co-opted members. To this latter chiefly are assigned +the functions of legislation, but to be exercised with a sparing hand. +The powers of the ordinary council are administrative rather than +legislative. The whole number of 360, as in the Athenian constitution, +is distributed among the months of the year according to the number of +the tribes. Not more than one-twelfth is to be in office at once, +so that the government would be made up of twelve administrations +succeeding one another in the course of the year. They are to exercise +a general superintendence, and, like the Athenian counsellors, are to +preside in monthly divisions over all assemblies. Of the ecclesia +over which they presided little is said, and that little relates to +comparatively trifling duties. Nothing is less present to the mind of +Plato than a House of Commons, carrying on year by year the work of +legislation. For he supposes the laws to be already provided. As little +would he approve of a body like the Roman Senate. The people and the +aristocracy alike are to be represented, not by assemblies, but by +officers elected for one or two years, except the guardians of the law, +who are elected for twenty years. + +The evils of this system are obvious. If in any state, as Plato says +in the Statesman, it is easier to find fifty good draught-players than +fifty good rulers, the greater part of the 360 who compose the council +must be unfitted to rule. The unfitness would be increased by the short +period during which they held office. There would be no traditions +of government among them, as in a Greek or Italian oligarchy, and no +individual would be responsible for any of their acts. Everything seems +to have been sacrificed to a false notion of equality, according to +which all have a turn of ruling and being ruled. In the constitution +of the Magnesian state Plato has not emancipated himself from the +limitations of ancient politics. His government may be described as +a democracy of magistrates elected by the people. He never troubles +himself about the political consistency of his scheme. He does indeed +say that the greater part of the good of this world arises, not from +equality, but from proportion, which he calls the judgment of Zeus +(compare Aristotle's Distributive Justice), but he hardly makes any +attempt to carry out the principle in practice. There is no attempt +to proportion representation to merit; nor is there any body in his +commonwealth which represents the life either of a class or of the whole +state. The manner of appointing magistrates is taken chiefly from the +old democratic constitution of Athens, of which it retains some of the +worst features, such as the use of the lot, while by doing away with +the political character of the popular assembly the mainspring of the +machine is taken out. The guardians of the law, thirty-seven in number, +of whom the ten eldest reappear as a part of the Nocturnal Council at +the end of the twelfth book, are to be elected by the whole military +class, but they are to hold office for twenty years, and would therefore +have an oligarchical rather than a democratic character. Nothing is said +of the manner in which the functions of the Nocturnal Council are to +be harmonized with those of the guardians of the law, or as to how the +ordinary council is related to it. + +Similar principles are applied to inferior offices. To some the +appointment is made by vote, to others by lot. In the elections to the +priesthood, Plato endeavours to mix or balance in a friendly manner +'demus and not demus.' The commonwealth of the Laws, like the Republic, +cannot dispense with a spiritual head, which is the same in both--the +oracle of Delphi. From this the laws about all divine things are to be +derived. The final selection of the Interpreters, the choice of an heir +for a vacant lot, the punishment for removing a deposit, are also to be +determined by it. Plato is not disposed to encourage amateur attempts +to revive religion in states. For, as he says in the Laws, 'To institute +religious rites is the work of a great intelligence.' + +Though the council is framed on the model of the Athenian Boule, the law +courts of Plato do not equally conform to the pattern of the Athenian +dicasteries. Plato thinks that the judges should speak and ask +questions:--this is not possible if they are numerous; he would, +therefore, have a few judges only, but good ones. He is nevertheless +aware that both in public and private suits there must be a +popular element. He insists that the whole people must share in the +administration of justice--in public causes they are to take the first +step, and the final decision is to remain with them. In private suits +they are also to retain a share; 'for the citizen who has no part in the +administration of justice is apt to think that he has no share in the +state. For this reason there is to be a court of law in every tribe +(i.e. for about every 2,000 citizens), and the judges are to be chosen +by lot.' Of the courts of law he gives what he calls a superficial +sketch. Nor, indeed is it easy to reconcile his various accounts +of them. It is however clear that although some officials, like the +guardians of the law, the wardens of the agora, city, and country have +power to inflict minor penalties, the administration of justice is in +the main popular. The ingenious expedient of dividing the questions of +law and fact between a judge and jury, which would have enabled Plato to +combine the popular element with the judicial, did not occur to him or +to any other ancient political philosopher. Though desirous of limiting +the number of judges, and thereby confining the office to persons +specially fitted for it, he does not seem to have understood that a body +of law must be formed by decisions as well as by legal enactments. + +He would have men in the first place seek justice from their friends and +neighbours, because, as he truly remarks, they know best the questions +at issue; these are called in another passage arbiters rather than +judges. But if they cannot settle the matter, it is to be referred to +the courts of the tribes, and a higher penalty is to be paid by the +party who is unsuccessful in the suit. There is a further appeal allowed +to the select judges, with a further increase of penalty. The select +judges are to be appointed by the magistrates, who are to choose one +from every magistracy. They are to be elected annually, and therefore +probably for a year only, and are liable to be called to account before +the guardians of the law. In cases of which death is the penalty, the +trial takes place before a special court, which is composed of the +guardians of the law and of the judges of appeal. + +In treating of the subject in Book ix, he proposes to leave for the most +part the methods of procedure to a younger generation of legislators; +the procedure in capital causes he determines himself. He insists that +the vote of the judges shall be given openly, and before they vote they +are to hear speeches from the plaintiff and defendant. They are then +to take evidence in support of what has been said, and to examine +witnesses. The eldest judge is to ask his questions first, and then +the second, and then the third. The interrogatories are to continue for +three days, and the evidence is to be written down. Apparently he does +not expect the judges to be professional lawyers, any more than he +expects the members of the council to be trained statesmen. + +In forming marriage connexions, Plato supposes that the public interest +will prevail over private inclination. There was nothing in this very +shocking to the notions of Greeks, among whom the feeling of love +towards the other sex was almost deprived of sentiment or romance. +Married life is to be regulated solely with a view to the good of the +state. The newly-married couple are not allowed to absent themselves +from their respective syssitia, even during their honeymoon; they are +to give their whole mind to the procreation of children; their duties to +one another at a later period of life are not a matter about which +the state is equally solicitous. Divorces are readily allowed for +incompatibility of temper. As in the Republic, physical considerations +seem almost to exclude moral and social ones. To modern feelings there +is a degree of coarseness in Plato's treatment of the subject. Yet he +also makes some shrewd remarks on marriage, as for example, that a man +who does not marry for money will not be the humble servant of his wife. +And he shows a true conception of the nature of the family, when he +requires that the newly-married couple 'should leave their father and +mother,' and have a separate home. He also provides against extravagance +in marriage festivals, which in some states of society, for instance in +the case of the Hindoos, has been a social evil of the first magnitude. + +In treating of property, Plato takes occasion to speak of property in +slaves. They are to be treated with perfect justice; but, for their own +sake, to be kept at a distance. The motive is not so much humanity to +the slave, of which there are hardly any traces (although Plato allows +that many in the hour of peril have found a slave more attached than +members of their own family), but the self-respect which the freeman and +citizen owes to himself (compare Republic). If they commit crimes, they +are doubly punished; if they inform against illegal practices of their +masters, they are to receive a protection, which would probably be +ineffectual, from the guardians of the law; in rare cases they are to be +set free. Plato still breathes the spirit of the old Hellenic world, in +which slavery was a necessity, because leisure must be provided for the +citizen. + +The education propounded in the Laws differs in several points from that +of the Republic. Plato seems to have reflected as deeply and earnestly +on the importance of infancy as Rousseau, or Jean Paul (compare the +saying of the latter--'Not the moment of death, but the moment of +birth, is probably the more important'). He would fix the amusements of +children in the hope of fixing their characters in after-life. In the +spirit of the statesman who said, 'Let me make the ballads of a +country, and I care not who make their laws,' Plato would say, 'Let the +amusements of children be unchanged, and they will not want to change +the laws. The 'Goddess Harmonia' plays a great part in Plato's ideas +of education. The natural restless force of life in children, 'who do +nothing but roar until they are three years old,' is gradually to be +reduced to law and order. As in the Republic, he fixes certain forms +in which songs are to be composed: (1) they are to be strains of +cheerfulness and good omen; (2) they are to be hymns or prayers +addressed to the Gods; (3) they are to sing only of the lawful and good. +The poets are again expelled or rather ironically invited to depart; and +those who remain are required to submit their poems to the censorship of +the magistrates. Youth are no longer compelled to commit to memory many +thousand lyric and tragic Greek verses; yet, perhaps, a worse fate is +in store for them. Plato has no belief in 'liberty of prophesying'; and +having guarded against the dangers of lyric poetry, he remembers that +there is an equal danger in other writings. He cannot leave his old +enemies, the Sophists, in possession of the field; and therefore he +proposes that youth shall learn by heart, instead of the compositions of +poets or prose writers, his own inspired work on laws. These, and music +and mathematics, are the chief parts of his education. + +Mathematics are to be cultivated, not as in the Republic with a view to +the science of the idea of good,--though the higher use of them is not +altogether excluded,--but rather with a religious and political aim. +They are a sacred study which teaches men how to distribute the portions +of a state, and which is to be pursued in order that they may learn not +to blaspheme about astronomy. Against three mathematical errors Plato +is in profound earnest. First, the error of supposing that the three +dimensions of length, breadth, and height, are really commensurable +with one another. The difficulty which he feels is analogous to the +difficulty which he formerly felt about the connexion of ideas, and is +equally characteristic of ancient philosophy: he fixes his mind on the +point of difference, and cannot at the same time take in the similarity. +Secondly, he is puzzled about the nature of fractions: in the Republic, +he is disposed to deny the possibility of their existence. Thirdly, his +optimism leads him to insist (unlike the Spanish king who thought that +he could have improved on the mechanism of the heavens) on the perfect +or circular movement of the heavenly bodies. He appears to mean, that +instead of regarding the stars as overtaking or being overtaken by one +another, or as planets wandering in many paths, a more comprehensive +survey of the heavens would enable us to infer that they all alike moved +in a circle around a centre (compare Timaeus; Republic). He probably +suspected, though unacquainted with the true cause, that the appearance +of the heavens did not agree with the reality: at any rate, his notions +of what was right or fitting easily overpowered the results of actual +observation. To the early astronomers, who lived at the revival of +science, as to Plato, there was nothing absurd in a priori astronomy, +and they would probably have made fewer real discoveries of they had +followed any other track. (Compare Introduction to the Republic.) + +The science of dialectic is nowhere mentioned by name in the Laws, nor +is anything said of the education of after-life. The child is to begin +to learn at ten years of age: he is to be taught reading and writing for +three years, from ten to thirteen, and no longer; and for three years +more, from thirteen to sixteen, he is to be instructed in music. The +great fault which Plato finds in the contemporary education is the +almost total ignorance of arithmetic and astronomy, in which the Greeks +would do well to take a lesson from the Egyptians (compare Republic). +Dancing and wrestling are to have a military character, and women as +well as men are to be taught the use of arms. The military spirit which +Plato has vainly endeavoured to expel in the first two books returns +again in the seventh and eighth. He has evidently a sympathy with the +soldier, as well as with the poet, and he is no mean master of the +art, or at least of the theory, of war (compare Laws; Republic), though +inclining rather to the Spartan than to the Athenian practice of +it (Laws). Of a supreme or master science which was to be the +'coping-stone' of the rest, few traces appear in the Laws. He seems to +have lost faith in it, or perhaps to have realized that the time for +such a science had not yet come, and that he was unable to fill up +the outline which he had sketched. There is no requirement that the +guardians of the law shall be philosophers, although they are to know +the unity of virtue, and the connexion of the sciences. Nor are we +told that the leisure of the citizens, when they are grown up, is to +be devoted to any intellectual employment. In this respect we note a +falling off from the Republic, but also there is 'the returning to it' +of which Aristotle speaks in the Politics. The public and family duties +of the citizens are to be their main business, and these would, no +doubt, take up a great deal more time than in the modern world we are +willing to allow to either of them. Plato no longer entertains the idea +of any regular training to be pursued under the superintendence of the +state from eighteen to thirty, or from thirty to thirty-five; he has +taken the first step downwards on 'Constitution Hill' (Republic). But +he maintains as earnestly as ever that 'to men living under this second +polity there remains the greatest of all works, the education of the +soul,' and that no bye-work should be allowed to interfere with it. +Night and day are not long enough for the consummation of it. + +Few among us are either able or willing to carry education into later +life; five or six years spent at school, three or four at a university, +or in the preparation for a profession, an occasional attendance at a +lecture to which we are invited by friends when we have an hour to spare +from house-keeping or money-making--these comprise, as a matter of fact, +the education even of the educated; and then the lamp is extinguished +'more truly than Heracleitus' sun, never to be lighted again' +(Republic). The description which Plato gives in the Republic of the +state of adult education among his contemporaries may be applied almost +word for word to our own age. He does not however acquiesce in this +widely-spread want of a higher education; he would rather seek to make +every man something of a philosopher before he enters on the duties of +active life. But in the Laws he no longer prescribes any regular course +of study which is to be pursued in mature years. Nor does he remark that +the education of after-life is of another kind, and must consist with +the majority of the world rather in the improvement of character than in +the acquirement of knowledge. It comes from the study of ourselves +and other men: from moderation and experience: from reflection on +circumstances: from the pursuit of high aims: from a right use of the +opportunities of life. It is the preservation of what we have been, +and the addition of something more. The power of abstract study or +continuous thought is very rare, but such a training as this can be +given by every one to himself. + +The singular passage in Book vii., in which Plato describes life as a +pastime, like many other passages in the Laws is imperfectly expressed. +Two thoughts seem to be struggling in his mind: first, the reflection, +to which he returns at the end of the passage, that men are playthings +or puppets, and that God only is the serious aim of human endeavours; +this suggests to him the afterthought that, although playthings, they +are the playthings of the Gods, and that this is the best of them. The +cynical, ironical fancy of the moment insensibly passes into a religious +sentiment. In another passage he says that life is a game of which God, +who is the player, shifts the pieces so as to procure the victory of +good on the whole. Or once more: Tragedies are acted on the stage; but +the best and noblest of them is the imitation of the noblest life, which +we affirm to be the life of our whole state. Again, life is a chorus, as +well as a sort of mystery, in which we have the Gods for playmates. Men +imagine that war is their serious pursuit, and they make war that they +may return to their amusements. But neither wars nor amusements are the +true satisfaction of men, which is to be found only in the society of +the Gods, in sacrificing to them and propitiating them. Like a Christian +ascetic, Plato seems to suppose that life should be passed wholly in +the enjoyment of divine things. And after meditating in amazement on the +sadness and unreality of the world, he adds, in a sort of parenthesis, +'Be cheerful, Sirs' (Shakespeare, Tempest.) + +In one of the noblest passages of Plato, he speaks of the relation of +the sexes. Natural relations between members of the same family have +been established of old; a 'little word' has put a stop to incestuous +connexions. But unnatural unions of another kind continued to prevail +at Crete and Lacedaemon, and were even justified by the example of the +Gods. They, too, might be banished, if the feeling that they were unholy +and abominable could sink into the minds of men. The legislator is +to cry aloud, and spare not, 'Let not men fall below the level of the +beasts.' Plato does not shrink, like some modern philosophers, from +'carrying on war against the mightiest lusts of mankind;' neither does +he expect to extirpate them, but only to confine them to their natural +use and purpose, by the enactments of law, and by the influence of +public opinion. He will not feed them by an over-luxurious diet, nor +allow the healthier instincts of the soul to be corrupted by music +and poetry. The prohibition of excessive wealth is, as he says, a very +considerable gain in the way of temperance, nor does he allow of those +enthusiastic friendships between older and younger persons which in +his earlier writings appear to be alluded to with a certain degree of +amusement and without reproof (compare Introduction to the Symposium). +Sappho and Anacreon are celebrated by him in the Charmides and the +Phaedrus; but they would have been expelled from the Magnesian state. + +Yet he does not suppose that the rule of absolute purity can be enforced +on all mankind. Something must be conceded to the weakness of human +nature. He therefore adopts a 'second legal standard of honourable and +dishonourable, having a second standard of right.' He would abolish +altogether 'the connexion of men with men...As to women, if any man has +to do with any but those who come into his house duly married by sacred +rites, 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.' +But feeling also that it is impossible wholly to control the mightiest +passions of mankind,' Plato, like other legislators, makes a compromise. +The offender must not be found out; decency, if not morality, must +be respected. In this he appears to agree with the practice of all +civilized ages and countries. Much may be truly said by the moralist +on the comparative harm of open and concealed vice. Nor do we deny +that some moral evils are better turned out to the light, because, +like diseases, when exposed, they are more easily cured. And secrecy +introduces mystery which enormously exaggerates their power; a mere +animal want is thus elevated into a sentimental ideal. It may very +well be that a word spoken in season about things which are commonly +concealed may have an excellent effect. But having regard to the +education of youth, to the innocence of children, to the sensibilities +of women, to the decencies of society, Plato and the world in general +are not wrong in insisting that some of the worst vices, if they must +exist, should be kept out of sight; this, though only a second-best +rule, is a support to the weakness of human nature. There are some +things which may be whispered in the closet, but should not be shouted +on the housetop. It may be said of this, as of many other things, that +it is a great part of education to know to whom they are to be spoken +of, and when, and where. + +BOOK IX. Punishments of offences and modes of procedure come next in +order. We have a sense of disgrace in making regulations for all the +details of crime in a virtuous and well-ordered state. But seeing +that we are legislating for men and not for Gods, there is no +uncharitableness in apprehending that some one of our citizens may have +a heart, like the seed which has touched the ox's horn, so hard as to be +impenetrable to the law. Let our first enactment be directed against the +robbing of temples. No well-educated citizen will be guilty of such a +crime, but one of their servants, or some stranger, may, and with a view +to him, and at the same time with a remoter eye to the general infirmity +of human nature, I will lay down the law, beginning with a prelude. To +the intending robber we will say--O sir, the complaint which troubles +you is not human; but some curse has fallen upon you, inherited from +the crimes of your ancestors, of which you must purge yourself: go and +sacrifice to the Gods, associate with the good, avoid the wicked; and if +you are cured of the fatal impulse, well; but if not, acknowledge death +to be better than life, and depart. + +These are the accents, soft and low, in which we address the would-be +criminal. And if he will not listen, then cry aloud as with the sound of +a trumpet: Whosoever robs a temple, if he be a slave or foreigner shall +be branded in the face and hands, and scourged, and cast naked beyond +the border. And perhaps this may improve him: for the law aims either +at the reformation of the criminal, or the repression of crime. No +punishment is designed to inflict useless injury. But if the offender be +a citizen, he must be incurable, and for him death is the only fitting +penalty. His iniquity, however, shall not be visited on his children, +nor shall his property be confiscated. + +As to the exaction of penalties, any person who is fined for an offence +shall not be liable to pay the fine, unless he have property in excess +of his lot. For the lots must never go uncultivated for lack of means; +the guardians of the law are to provide against this. If a fine is +inflicted upon a man which he cannot pay, and for which his friends +are unwilling to give security, he shall be imprisoned and otherwise +dishonoured. But no criminal shall go unpunished:--whether death, or +imprisonment, or stripes, or fines, or the stocks, or banishment to a +remote temple, be the penalty. Capital offences shall come under the +cognizance of the guardians of the law, and a college of the best of the +last year's magistrates. The order of suits and similar details we shall +leave to the lawgivers of the future, and only determine the mode of +voting. The judges are to sit in order of seniority, and the proceedings +shall begin with the speeches of the plaintiff and the defendant; and +then the judges, beginning with the eldest, shall ask questions and +collect evidence during three days, which, at the end of each day, shall +be deposited in writing under their seals on the altar of Hestia; and +when they have evidence enough, after a solemn declaration that they +will decide justly, they shall vote and end the case. The votes are to +be given openly in the presence of the citizens. + +Next to religion, the preservation of the constitution is the first +object of the law. The greatest enemy of the state is he who attempts to +set up a tyrant, or breeds plots and conspiracies; not far below him in +guilt is a magistrate who either knowingly, or in ignorance, fails to +bring the offender to justice. Any one who is good for anything will +give information against traitors. The mode of proceeding at such trials +will be the same as at trials for sacrilege; the penalty, death. But +neither in this case nor in any other is the son to bear the iniquity of +the father, unless father, grandfather, great-grandfather, have all of +them been capitally convicted, and then the family of the criminal +are to be sent off to the country of their ancestor, retaining their +property, with the exception of the lot and its fixtures. And ten are to +be selected from the younger sons of the other citizens--one of whom is +to be chosen by the oracle of Delphi to be heir of the lot. + +Our third law will be a general one, concerning the procedure and the +judges in cases of treason. As regards the remaining or departure of the +family of the offender, the same law shall apply equally to the traitor, +the sacrilegious, and the conspirator. + +A thief, whether he steals much or little, must refund twice the amount, +if he can do so without impairing his lot; if he cannot, he must go to +prison until he either pays the plaintiff, or in case of a public theft, +the city, or they agree to forgive him. 'But should all kinds of theft +incur the same penalty?' You remind me of what I know--that legislation +is never perfect. The men for whom laws are now made may be compared +to the slave who is being doctored, according to our old image, by the +unscientific doctor. For the empirical practitioner, if he chance to +meet the educated physician talking to his patient, and entering into +the philosophy of his disease, would burst out laughing and say, as +doctors delight in doing, 'Foolish fellow, instead of curing the patient +you are educating him!' 'And would he not be right?' Perhaps; and +he might add, that he who discourses in our fashion preaches to the +citizens instead of legislating for them. 'True.' There is, however, one +advantage which we possess--that being amateurs only, we may either take +the most ideal, or the most necessary and utilitarian view. 'But why +offer such an alternative? As if all our legislation must be done +to-day, and nothing put off until the morrow. We may surely rough-hew +our materials first, and shape and place them afterwards.' That will be +the natural way of proceeding. There is a further point. Of all writings +either in prose or verse the writings of the legislator are the most +important. For it is he who has to determine the nature of good and +evil, and how they should be studied with a view to our instruction. +And is it not as disgraceful for Solon and Lycurgus to lay down false +precepts about the institutions of life as for Homer and Tyrtaeus? +The laws of states ought to be the models of writing, and what is at +variance with them should be deemed ridiculous. And we may further +imagine them to express the affection and good sense of a father or +mother, and not to be the fiats of a tyrant. 'Very true.' + +Let us enquire more particularly about sacrilege, theft and other +crimes, for which we have already legislated in part. And this leads +us to ask, first of all, whether we are agreed or disagreed about the +nature of the honourable and just. 'To what are you referring?' I will +endeavour to explain. All are agreed that justice is honourable, whether +in men or things, and no one who maintains that a very ugly men who is +just, is in his mind fair, would be thought extravagant. 'Very true.' +But if honour is to be attributed to justice, are just sufferings +honourable, or only just actions? 'What do you mean?' Our laws supply a +case in point; for we enacted that the robber of temples and the traitor +should die; and this was just, but the reverse of honourable. In this +way does the language of the many rend asunder the just and honourable. +'That is true.' But is our own language consistent? I have already said +that the evil are involuntarily evil; and the evil are the unjust. Now +the voluntary cannot be the involuntary; and if you two come to me +and say, 'Then shall we legislate for our city?' Of course, I shall +reply.--'Then will you distinguish what crimes are voluntary and what +involuntary, and shall we impose lighter penalties on the latter, and +heavier on the former? Or shall we refuse to determine what is the +meaning of voluntary and involuntary, and maintain that our words have +come down from heaven, and that they should be at once embodied in a +law?' All states legislate under the idea that there are two classes of +actions, the voluntary and the involuntary, but there is great confusion +about them in the minds of men; and the law can never act unless they +are distinguished. Either we must abstain from affirming that unjust +actions are involuntary, or explain the meaning of this statement. +Believing, then, that acts of injustice cannot be divided into voluntary +and involuntary, I must endeavour to find some other mode of classifying +them. Hurts are voluntary and involuntary, but all hurts are not +injuries: on the other hand, a benefit when wrongly conferred may be an +injury. An act which gives or takes away anything is not simply just; +but the legislator who has to decide whether the case is one of hurt or +injury, must consider the animus of the agent; and when there is hurt, +he must as far as possible, provide a remedy and reparation: but if +there is injustice, he must, when compensation has been made, further +endeavour to reconcile the two parties. 'Excellent.' Where injustice, +like disease, is remediable, there the remedy must be applied in word +or deed, with the assistance of pleasures and pains, of bounties and +penalties, or any other influence which may inspire man with the love +of justice, or hatred of injustice; and this is the noblest work of +law. But when the legislator perceives the evil to be incurable, he will +consider that the death of the offender will be a good to himself, +and in two ways a good to society: first, as he becomes an example to +others; secondly, because the city will be quit of a rogue; and in such +a case, but in no other, the legislator will punish with death. +'There is some truth in what you say. I wish, however, that you would +distinguish more clearly the difference of injury and hurt, and the +complications of voluntary and involuntary.' You will admit that anger +is of a violent and destructive nature? 'Certainly.' And further, that +pleasure is different from anger, and has an opposite power, working by +persuasion and deceit? 'Yes.' Ignorance is the third source of crimes; +this is of two kinds--simple ignorance and ignorance doubled by conceit +of knowledge; the latter, when accompanied with power, is a source of +terrible errors, but is excusable when only weak and childish. 'True.' +We often say that one man masters, and another is mastered by pleasure +and anger. 'Just so.' But no one says that one man masters, and another +is mastered by ignorance. 'You are right.' All these motives actuate men +and sometimes drive them in different ways. 'That is so.' Now, then, I +am in a position to define the nature of just and unjust. By injustice I +mean the dominion of anger and fear, pleasure and pain, envy and desire, +in the soul, whether doing harm or not: by justice I mean the rule of +the opinion of the best, whether in states or individuals, extending to +the whole of life; although actions done in error are often thought to +be involuntary injustice. No controversy need be raised about names at +present; we are only desirous of fixing in our memories the heads of +error. And the pain which is called fear and anger is our first head of +error; the second is the class of pleasures and desires; and the third, +of hopes which aim at true opinion about the best;--this latter falls +into three divisions (i.e. (1) when accompanied by simple ignorance, (2) +when accompanied by conceit of wisdom combined with power, or (3) with +weakness), so that there are in all five. And the laws relating to them +may be summed up under two heads, laws which deal with acts of open +violence and with acts of deceit; to which may be added acts both +violent and deceitful, and these last should be visited with the utmost +rigour of the law. 'Very properly.' + +Let us now return to the enactment of laws. We have treated of +sacrilege, and of conspiracy, and of treason. Any of these crimes may be +committed by a person not in his right mind, or in the second childhood +of old age. If this is proved to be the fact before the judges, the +person in question shall only have to pay for the injury, and not be +punished further, unless he have on his hands the stain of blood. In +this case he shall be exiled for a year, and if he return before the +expiration of the year, he shall be retained in the public prison two +years. + +Homicides may be divided into voluntary and involuntary: and first of +involuntary homicide. He who unintentionally kills another man at the +games or in military exercises duly authorized by the magistrates, +whether death follow immediately or after an interval, shall be +acquitted, subject only to the purification required by the Delphian +Oracle. Any physician whose patient dies against his will shall in like +manner be acquitted. Any one who unintentionally kills the slave of +another, believing that he is his own, with or without weapons, shall +bear the master of the slave harmless, or pay a penalty amounting to +twice the value of the slave, and to this let him add a purification +greater than in the case of homicide at the games. If a man kill his +own slave, a purification only is required of him. If he kill a freeman +unintentionally, let him also make purification; and let him remember +the ancient tradition which says that the murdered man is indignant when +he sees the murderer walk about in his own accustomed haunts, and that +he terrifies him with the remembrance of his crime. And therefore the +homicide should keep away from his native land for a year, or, if he +have slain a stranger, let him avoid the land of the stranger for a like +period. If he complies with this condition, the nearest kinsman of the +deceased shall take pity upon him and be reconciled to him; but if he +refuses to remain in exile, or visits the temples unpurified, then +let the kinsman proceed against him, and demand a double penalty. The +kinsman who neglects this duty shall himself incur the curse, and any +one who likes may proceed against him, and compel him to leave his +country for five years. If a stranger involuntarily kill a stranger, any +one may proceed against him in the same manner: and the homicide, if +he be a metic, shall be banished for a year; but if he be an entire +stranger, whether he have murdered metic, citizen, or stranger, he shall +be banished for ever; and if he return, he shall be punished with death, +and his property shall go to the next of kin of the murdered man. If +he come back by sea against his will, he shall remain on the seashore, +wetting his feet in the water while he waits for a vessel to sail; or +if he be brought back by land, the magistrates shall send him unharmed +beyond the border. + +Next follows murder done from anger, which is of two kinds--either +arising out of a sudden impulse, and attended with remorse; or committed +with premeditation, and unattended with remorse. The cause of both is +anger, and both are intermediate between voluntary and involuntary. +The one which is committed from sudden impulse, though not wholly +involuntary, bears the image of the involuntary, and is therefore the +more excusable of the two, and should receive a gentler punishment. The +act of him who nurses his wrath is more voluntary, and therefore more +culpable. The degree of culpability depends on the presence or absence +of intention, to which the degree of punishment should correspond. For +the first kind of murder, that which is done on a momentary impulse, +let two years' exile be the penalty; for the second, that which is +accompanied with malice prepense, three. When the time of any one's +exile has expired, the guardians shall send twelve judges to the borders +of the land, who shall have authority to decide whether he may return +or not. He who after returning repeats the offence, shall be exiled +and return no more, and, if he return, shall be put to death, like +the stranger in a similar case. He who in a fit of anger kills his own +slave, shall purify himself; and he who kills another man's slave, shall +pay to his master double the value. Any one may proceed against the +offender if he appear in public places, not having been purified; +and may bring to trial both the next of kin to the dead man and the +homicide, and compel the one to exact, and the other to pay, a double +penalty. If a slave kill his master, or a freeman who is not his master, +in anger, the kinsmen of the murdered person may do with the murderer +whatever they please, but they must not spare his life. If a father or +mother kill their son or daughter in anger, let the slayer remain in +exile for three years; and on the return of the exile let the parents +separate, and no longer continue to cohabit, or have the same sacred +rites with those whom he or she has deprived of a brother or sister. The +same penalty is decreed against the husband who murders his wife, and +also against the wife who murders her husband. Let them be absent three +years, and on their return never again share in the same sacred rites +with their children, or sit at the same table with them. Nor is a +brother or sister who have lifted up their hands against a brother or +sister, ever to come under the same roof or share in the same rites +with those whom they have robbed of a child. If a son feels such hatred +against his father or mother as to take the life of either of them, +then, if the parent before death forgive him, he shall only suffer the +penalty due to involuntary homicide; but if he be unforgiven, there +are many laws against which he has offended; he is guilty of outrage, +impiety, sacrilege all in one, and deserves to be put to death many +times over. For if the law will not allow a man to kill the authors of +his being even in self-defence, what other penalty than death can be +inflicted upon him who in a fit of passion wilfully slays his father +or mother? If a brother kill a brother in self-defence during a civil +broil, or a citizen a citizen, or a slave a slave, or a stranger a +stranger, let them be free from blame, as he is who slays an enemy in +battle. But if a slave kill a freeman, let him be as a parricide. In all +cases, however, the forgiveness of the injured party shall acquit the +agents; and then they shall only be purified, and remain in exile for a +year. + +Enough of actions that are involuntary, or done in anger; let us proceed +to voluntary and premeditated actions. The great source of voluntary +crime is the desire of money, which is begotten by evil education; +and this arises out of the false praise of riches, common both among +Hellenes and barbarians; they think that to be the first of goods which +is really the third. For the body is not for the sake of wealth, but +wealth for the body, as the body is for the soul. If this were better +understood, the crime of murder, of which avarice is the chief cause, +would soon cease among men. Next to avarice, ambition is a source of +crime, troublesome to the ambitious man himself, as well as to the chief +men of the state. And next to ambition, base fear is a motive, which +has led many an one to commit murder in order that he may get rid of the +witnesses of his crimes. Let this be said as a prelude to all enactments +about crimes of violence; and the tradition must not be forgotten, which +tells that the murderer is punished in the world below, and that when +he returns to this world he meets the fate which he has dealt out to +others. If a man is deterred by the prelude and the fear of future +punishment, he will have no need of the law; but in case he disobey, let +the law be declared against him as follows:--He who of malice prepense +kills one of his kindred, shall in the first place be outlawed; neither +temple, harbour, nor agora shall be polluted by his presence. And if a +kinsman of the deceased refuse to proceed against his slayer, he shall +take the curse of pollution upon himself, and also be liable to be +prosecuted by any one who will avenge the dead. The prosecutor, however, +must observe the customary ceremonial before he proceeds against the +offender. The details of these observances will be best determined by a +conclave of prophets and interpreters and guardians of the law, and the +judges of the cause itself shall be the same as in cases of sacrilege. +He who is convicted shall be punished with death, and not be buried +within the country of the murdered person. He who flies from the law +shall undergo perpetual banishment; if he return, he may be put to +death with impunity by any relative of the murdered man or by any other +citizen, or bound and delivered to the magistrates. He who accuses a man +of murder shall demand satisfactory bail of the accused, and if this is +not forthcoming, the magistrate shall keep him in prison against the +day of trial. If a man commit murder by the hand of another, he shall +be tried in the same way as in the cases previously supposed, but if the +offender be a citizen, his body after execution shall be buried within +the land. + +If a slave kill a freeman, either with his own hand or by contrivance, +let him be led either to the grave or to a place whence he can see the +grave of the murdered man, and there receive as many stripes at the hand +of the public executioner as the person who took him pleases; and if he +survive he shall be put to death. If a slave be put out of the way to +prevent his informing of some crime, his death shall be punished like +that of a citizen. If there are any of those horrible murders of kindred +which sometimes occur even in well-regulated societies, and of which the +legislator, however unwilling, cannot avoid taking cognizance, he will +repeat the old myth of the divine vengeance against the perpetrators of +such atrocities. The myth will say that the murderer must suffer what he +has done: if he have slain his father, he must be slain by his children; +if his mother, he must become a woman and perish at the hands of his +offspring in another age of the world. Such a preamble may terrify him; +but if, notwithstanding, in some evil hour he murders father or +mother or brethren or children, the mode of proceeding shall be as +follows:--Him who is convicted, the officers of the judges shall lead +to a spot without the city where three ways meet, and there slay him and +expose his body naked; and each of the magistrates shall cast a stone +upon his head and justify the city, and he shall be thrown unburied +beyond the border. But what shall we say of him who takes the life +which is dearest to him, that is to say, his own; and this not from any +disgrace or calamity, but from cowardice and indolence? The manner of +his burial and the purification of his crime is a matter for God and the +interpreters to decide and for his kinsmen to execute. Let him, at any +rate, be buried alone in some uncultivated and nameless spot, and +be without name or monument. If a beast kill a man, not in a public +contest, let it be prosecuted for murder, and after condemnation slain +and cast without the border. Also inanimate things which have caused +death, except in the case of lightning and other visitations from +heaven, shall be carried without the border. If the body of a dead man +be found, and the murderer remain unknown, the trial shall take place +all the same, and the unknown murderer shall be warned not to set foot +in the temples or come within the borders of the land; if discovered, he +shall die, and his body shall be cast out. A man is justified in taking +the life of a burglar, of a footpad, of a violator of women or youth; +and he may take the life of another with impunity in defence of father, +mother, brother, wife, or other relations. + +The nurture and education which are necessary to the existence of men +have been considered, and the punishment of acts of violence which +destroy life. There remain maiming, wounding, and the like, which admit +of a similar division into voluntary and involuntary. About this class +of actions the preamble shall be: Whereas men would be like wild beasts +unless they obeyed the laws, the first duty of citizens is the care +of the public interests, which unite and preserve states, as private +interests distract them. A man may know what is for the public good, but +if he have absolute power, human nature will impel him to seek pleasure +instead of virtue, and so darkness will come over his soul and over the +state. If he had mind, he would have no need of law; for mind is the +perfection of law. But such a freeman, 'whom the truth makes free,' is +hardly to be found; and therefore law and order are necessary, which are +the second-best, and they regulate things as they exist in part +only, but cannot take in the whole. For actions have innumerable +characteristics, which must be partly determined by the law and partly +left to the judge. The judge must determine the fact; and to him also +the punishment must sometimes be left. What shall the law prescribe, +and what shall be left to the judge? A city is unfortunate in which the +tribunals are either secret and speechless, or, what is worse, noisy and +public, when the people, as if they were in a theatre, clap and hoot the +various speakers. Such courts a legislator would rather not have; but +if he is compelled to have them, he will speak distinctly, and leave as +little as possible to their discretion. But where the courts are good, +and presided over by well-trained judges, the penalties to be inflicted +may be in a great measure left to them; and as there are to be good +courts among our colonists, we need not determine beforehand the +exact proportion of the penalty and the crime. Returning, then, to +our legislator, let us indite a law about wounding, which shall run as +follows:--He who wounds with intent to kill, and fails in his object, +shall be tried as if he had succeeded. But since God has favoured both +him and his victim, instead of being put to death, he shall be allowed +to go into exile and take his property with him, the damage due to the +sufferer having been previously estimated by the court, which shall be +the same as would have tried the case if death had ensued. If a child +should intentionally wound a parent, or a servant his master, or brother +or sister wound brother or sister with malice prepense, the penalty +shall be death. If a husband or wife wound one another with intent to +kill, the penalty which is inflicted upon them shall be perpetual exile; +and if they have young children, the guardians shall take care of them +and administer their property as if they were orphans. If they have +no children, their kinsmen male and female shall meet, and after a +consultation with the priests and guardians of the law, shall appoint an +heir of the house; for the house and family belong to the state, being +a 5040th portion of the whole. And the state is bound to preserve +her families happy and holy; therefore, when the heir of a house has +committed a capital offence, or is in exile for life, the house is to be +purified, and then the kinsmen of the house and the guardians of the law +are to find out a family which has a good name and in which there are +many sons, and introduce one of them to be the heir and priest of the +house. He shall assume the fathers and ancestors of the family, while +the first son dies in dishonour and his name is blotted out. + +Some actions are intermediate between the voluntary and involuntary. +Those done from anger are of this class. If a man wound another in +anger, let him pay double the damage, if the injury is curable; or +fourfold, if curable, and at the same time dishonourable; and fourfold, +if incurable; the amount is to be assessed by the judges. If the wounded +person is rendered incapable of military service, the injurer, besides +the other penalties, shall serve in his stead, or be liable to a suit +for refusing to serve. If brother wounds brother, then their parents +and kindred, of both sexes, shall meet and judge the crime. The damages +shall be assessed by the parents; and if the amount fixed by them is +disputed, an appeal shall be made to the male kindred; or in the last +resort to the guardians of the law. Parents who wound their children are +to be tried by judges of at least sixty years of age, who have children +of their own; and they are to determine whether death, or some lesser +punishment, is to be inflicted upon them--no relatives are to take part +in the trial. If a slave in anger smite a freeman, he is to be delivered +up by his master to the injured person. If the master suspect collusion +between the slave and the injured person, he may bring the matter to +trial: and if he fail he shall pay three times the injury; or if he +obtain a conviction, the contriver of the conspiracy shall be liable to +an action for kidnapping. He who wounds another unintentionally shall +only pay for the actual harm done. + +In all outrages and acts of violence, the elder is to be more regarded +than the younger. An injury done by a younger man to an elder is +abominable and hateful; but the younger man who is struck by an elder +is to bear with him patiently, considering that he who is twenty years +older is loco parentis, and remembering the reverence which is due to +the Gods who preside over birth. Let him keep his hands, too, from the +stranger; instead of taking upon himself to chastise him when he is +insolent, he shall bring him before the wardens of the city, who shall +examine into the case, and if they find him guilty, shall scourge him +with as many blows as he has given; or if he be innocent, they shall +warn and threaten his accuser. When an equal strikes an equal, whether +an old man an old man, or a young man a young man, let them use only +their fists and have no weapons. He who being above forty years of age +commences a fight, or retaliates, shall be counted mean and base. + +To this preamble, let the law be added: If a man smite another who is +his elder by twenty years or more, let the bystander, in case he be +older than the combatants, part them; or if he be younger than the +person struck, or of the same age with him, let him defend him as he +would a father or brother; and let the striker be brought to trial, +and if convicted imprisoned for a year or more at the discretion of +the judges. If a stranger smite one who is his elder by twenty years or +more, he shall be imprisoned for two years, and a metic, in like case, +shall suffer three years' imprisonment. He who is standing by and gives +no assistance, shall be punished according to his class in one of four +penalties--a mina, fifty, thirty, twenty drachmas. The generals and +other superior officers of the army shall form the court which tries +this class of offences. + +Laws are made to instruct the good, and in the hope that there may be no +need of them; also to control the bad, whose hardness of heart will not +be hindered from crime. The uttermost penalty will fall upon those who +lay violent hands upon a parent, having no fear of the Gods above, or of +the punishments which will pursue them in the world below. They are +too wise in their own conceits to believe in such things: wherefore the +tortures which await them in another life must be anticipated in this. +Let the law be as follows:-- + +If a man, being in his right mind, dare to smite his father and mother, +or his grandfather and grandmother, let the passer-by come to the +rescue; and if he be a metic or stranger who comes to the rescue, he +shall have the first place at the games; or if he do not come to the +rescue, he shall be a perpetual exile. Let the citizen in the like +case be praised or blamed, and the slave receive freedom or a hundred +stripes. The wardens of the agora, the city, or the country, as the +case may be, shall see to the execution of the law. And he who is an +inhabitant of the same place and is present shall come to the rescue, or +he shall fall under a curse. + +If a man be convicted of assaulting his parents, let him be banished for +ever from the city into the country, and let him abstain from all sacred +rites; and if he do not abstain, let him be punished by the wardens of +the country; and if he return to the city, let him be put to death. If +any freeman consort with him, let him be purified before he returns to +the city. If a slave strike a freeman, whether citizen or stranger, let +the bystander be obliged to seize and deliver him into the hands of the +injured person, who may inflict upon him as many blows as he +pleases, and shall then return him to his master. The law will be as +follows:--The slave who strikes a freeman shall be bound by his master, +and not set at liberty without the consent of the person whom he has +injured. All these laws apply to women as well as to men. + +BOOK X. The greatest wrongs arise out of youthful insolence, and the +greatest of all are committed against public temples; they are in the +second degree great when private rites and sepulchres are insulted; in +the third degree, when committed against parents; in the fourth degree, +when they are done against the authority or property of the rulers; in +the fifth degree, when the rights of individuals are violated. Most +of these offences have been already considered; but there remains the +question of admonition and punishment of offences against the Gods. Let +the admonition be in the following terms:--No man who ever intentionally +did or said anything impious, had a true belief in the existence of the +Gods; but either he thought that there were no Gods, or that they did +not care about men, or that they were easily appeased by sacrifices and +prayers. 'What shall we say or do to such persons?' My good sir, let us +first hear the jests which they in their superiority will make upon us. +'What will they say?' Probably something of this kind:--'Strangers you +are right in thinking that some of us do not believe in the existence of +the Gods; while others assert that they do not care for us, and others +that they are propitiated by prayers and offerings. But we want you to +argue with us before you threaten; you should prove to us by reasonable +evidence that there are Gods, and that they are too good to be bribed. +Poets, priests, prophets, rhetoricians, even the best of them, speak +to us of atoning for evil, and not of avoiding it. From legislators who +profess to be gentle we ask for instruction, which may, at least, have +the persuasive power of truth, if no other.' What have you to say? +'Well, there is no difficulty in proving the being of the Gods. The sun, +and earth, and stars, moving in their courses, the recurring seasons, +furnish proofs of their existence; and there is the general opinion +of mankind.' I fear that the unbelievers--not that I care for their +opinion--will despise us. You are not aware that their impiety proceeds, +not from sensuality, but from ignorance taking the garb of wisdom. 'What +do you mean?' At Athens there are tales current both in prose and verse +of a kind which are not tolerated in a well-regulated state like yours. +The oldest of them relate the origin of the world, and the birth and +life of the Gods. These narratives have a bad influence on family +relations; but as they are old we will let them pass, and consider +another kind of tales, invented by the wisdom of a younger generation, +who, if any one argues for the existence of the Gods and claims that the +stars have a divine being, insist that these are mere earth and stones, +which can have no care of human things, and that all theology is a +cooking up of words. Now what course ought we to take? Shall we suppose +some impious man to charge us with assuming the existence of the Gods, +and make a defence? Or shall we leave the preamble and go on to the +laws? 'There is no hurry, and we have often said that the shorter and +worse method should not be preferred to the longer and better. The proof +that there are Gods who are good, and the friends of justice, is the +best preamble of all our laws.' Come, let us talk with the impious, who +have been brought up from their infancy in the belief of religion, and +have heard their own fathers and mothers praying for them and talking +with the Gods as if they were absolutely convinced of their existence; +who have seen mankind prostrate in prayer at the rising and setting of +the sun and moon and at every turn of fortune, and have dared to despise +and disbelieve all this. Can we keep our temper with them, when they +compel us to argue on such a theme? We must; or like them we shall go +mad, though with more reason. Let us select one of them and address him +as follows: + +O my son, you are young; time and experience will make you change many +of your opinions. Do not be hasty in forming a conclusion about the +divine nature; and let me mention to you a fact which I know. You and +your friends are not the first or the only persons who have had these +notions about the Gods. There are always a considerable number who are +infected by them: I have known many myself, and can assure you that no +one who was an unbeliever in his youth ever persisted till he was old in +denying the existence of the Gods. The two other opinions, first, that +the Gods exist and have no care of men, secondly, that they care for +men, but may be propitiated by sacrifices and prayers, may indeed last +through life in a few instances, but even this is not common. I would +beg of you to be patient, and learn the truth of the legislator and +others; in the mean time abstain from impiety. 'So far, our discourse +has gone well.' + +I will now speak of a strange doctrine, which is regarded by many as the +crown of philosophy. They affirm that all things come into being either +by art or nature or chance, and that the greater things are done by +nature and chance, and the lesser things by art, which receiving from +nature the greater creations, moulds and fashions all those lesser works +which are termed works of art. Their meaning is that fire, water, earth, +and air all exist by nature and chance, and not by art; and that out of +these, according to certain chance affinities of opposites, the sun, the +moon, the stars, and the earth have been framed, not by any action of +mind, but by nature and chance only. Thus, in their opinion, the heaven +and earth were created, as well as the animals and plants. Art came +later, and is of mortal birth; by her power were invented certain +images and very partial imitations of the truth, of which kind are the +creations of musicians and painters: but they say that there are +other arts which combine with nature, and have a deeper truth, such as +medicine, husbandry, gymnastic. Also the greater part of politics they +imagine to co-operate with nature, but in a less degree, having more of +art, while legislation is declared by them to be wholly a work of art. +'How do you mean?' In the first place, they say that the Gods exist +neither by nature nor by art, but by the laws of states, which are +different in different countries; and that virtue is one thing by nature +and another by convention; and that justice is altogether conventional, +made by law, and having authority for the moment only. This is repeated +to young men by sages and poets, and leads to impiety, and the pretended +life according to nature and in disobedience to law; for nobody believes +the Gods to be such as the law affirms. 'How true! and oh! how injurious +to states and to families!' But then, what should the lawgiver do? +Should he stand up in the state and threaten mankind with the severest +penalties if they persist in their unbelief, while he makes no attempt +to win them by persuasion? 'Nay, Stranger, the legislator ought never to +weary of trying to persuade the world that there are Gods; and he should +declare that law and art exist by nature.' Yes, Cleinias; but these are +difficult and tedious questions. 'And shall our patience, which was +not exhausted in the enquiry about music or drink, fail now that we are +discoursing about the Gods? There may be a difficulty in framing laws, +but when written down they remain, and time and diligence will make them +clear; if they are useful there would be neither reason nor religion in +rejecting them on account of their length.' Most true. And the general +spread of unbelief shows that the legislator should do something in +vindication of the laws, when they are being undermined by bad men. +'He should.' You agree with me, Cleinias, that the heresy consists in +supposing earth, air, fire, and water to be the first of all things. +These the heretics call nature, conceiving them to be prior to the soul. +'I agree.' You would further agree that natural philosophy is the source +of this impiety--the study appears to be pursued in a wrong way. 'In +what way do you mean?' The error consists in transposing first and +second causes. They do not see that the soul is before the body, and +before all other things, and the author and ruler of them all. And if +the soul is prior to the body, then the things of the soul are prior to +the things of the body. In other words, opinion, attention, mind, art, +law, are prior to sensible qualities; and the first and greater works of +creation are the results of art and mind, whereas the works of nature, +as they are improperly termed, are secondary and subsequent. 'Why do you +say "improperly"?' Because when they speak of nature they seem to mean +the first creative power. But if the soul is first, and not fire and +air, then the soul above all things may be said to exist by nature. And +this can only be on the supposition that the soul is prior to the body. +Shall we try to prove that it is so? 'By all means.' I fear that the +greenness of our argument will ludicrously contrast with the ripeness of +our ages. But as we must go into the water, and the stream is strong, I +will first attempt to cross by myself, and if I arrive at the bank, you +shall follow. Remembering that you are unaccustomed to such discussions, +I will ask and answer the questions myself, while you listen in safety. +But first I must pray the Gods to assist at the demonstration of their +own existence--if ever we are to call upon them, now is the time. Let +me hold fast to the rope, and enter into the depths: Shall I put the +question to myself in this form?--Are all things at rest, and is nothing +in motion? or are some things in motion, and some things at rest? 'The +latter.' And do they move and rest, some in one place, some in more? +'Yes.' There may be (1) motion in the same place, as in revolution on an +axis, which is imparted swiftly to the larger and slowly to the lesser +circle; and there may be motion in different places, having sometimes +(2) one centre of motion and sometimes (3) more. (4) When bodies in +motion come against other bodies which are at rest, they are divided +by them, and (5) when they are caught between other bodies coming from +opposite directions they unite with them; and (6) they grow by union and +(7) waste by dissolution while their constitution remains the same, but +are (8) destroyed when their constitution fails. There is a growth from +one dimension to two, and from a second to a third, which then becomes +perceptible to sense; this process is called generation, and the +opposite, destruction. We have now enumerated all possible motions +with the exception of two. 'What are they?' Just the two with which our +enquiry is concerned; for our enquiry relates to the soul. There is one +kind of motion which is only able to move other things; there is another +which can move itself as well, working in composition and decomposition, +by increase and diminution, by generation and destruction. 'Granted.' +(9) That which moves and is moved by another is the ninth kind of +motion; (10) that which is self-moved and moves others is the tenth. And +this tenth kind of motion is the mightiest, and is really the first, and +is followed by that which was improperly called the ninth. 'How do you +mean?' Must not that which is moved by others finally depend upon that +which is moved by itself? Nothing can be affected by any transition +prior to self-motion. Then the first and eldest principle of motion, +whether in things at rest or not at rest, will be the principle of +self-motion; and that which is moved by others and can move others will +be the second. 'True.' Let me ask another question: + +What is the name which is given to self-motion when manifested in any +material substance? 'Life.' And soul too is life? 'Very good.' And are +there not three kinds of knowledge--a knowledge (1) of the essence, (2) +of the definition, (3) of the name? And sometimes the name leads us +to ask the definition, sometimes the definition to ask the name. For +example, number can be divided into equal parts, and when thus divided +is termed even, and the definition of even and the word 'even' refer +to the same thing. 'Very true.' And what is the definition of the thing +which is named 'soul'? Must we not reply, 'The self-moved'? And have we +not proved that the self-moved is the source of motion in other things? +'Yes.' And the motion which is not self-moved will be inferior to this? +'True.' And if so, we shall be right in saying that the soul is prior +and superior to the body, and the body by nature subject and inferior to +the soul? 'Quite right.' And we agreed that if the soul was prior to +the body, the things of the soul were prior to the things of the body? +'Certainly.' And therefore desires, and manners, and thoughts, and true +opinions, and recollections, are prior to the length and breadth and +force of bodies. 'To be sure.' In the next place, we acknowledge that +the soul is the cause of good and evil, just and unjust, if we suppose +her to be the cause of all things? 'Certainly.' And the soul which +orders all things must also order the heavens? 'Of course.' One soul +or more? More; for less than two are inconceivable, one good, the other +evil. 'Most true.' The soul directs all things by her movements, which +we call will, consideration, attention, deliberation, opinion true and +false, joy, sorrow, courage, fear, hatred, love, and similar affections. +These are the primary movements, and they receive the secondary +movements of bodies, and guide all things to increase and diminution, +separation and union, and to all the qualities which accompany +them--cold, hot, heavy, light, hard, soft, white, black, sweet, bitter; +these and other such qualities the soul, herself a goddess, uses, when +truly receiving the divine mind she leads all things rightly to their +happiness; but under the impulse of folly she works out an opposite +result. For the controller of heaven and earth and the circle of the +world is either the wise and good soul, or the foolish and vicious soul, +working in them. 'What do you mean?' If we say that the whole course +and motion of heaven and earth is in accordance with the workings and +reasonings of mind, clearly the best soul must have the care of the +heaven, and guide it along that better way. 'True.' But if the heavens +move wildly and disorderly, then they must be under the guidance of the +evil soul. 'True again.' What is the nature of the movement of the soul? +We must not suppose that we can see and know the soul with our bodily +eyes, any more than we can fix them on the midday sun; it will be safer +to look at an image only. 'How do you mean?' Let us find among the ten +kinds of motion an image of the motion of the mind. You remember, as +we said, that all things are divided into two classes; and some of them +were moved and some at rest. 'Yes.' And of those which were moved, some +were moved in the same place, others in more places than one. 'Just so.' +The motion which was in one place was circular, like the motion of a +spherical body; and such a motion in the same place, and in the same +relations, is an excellent image of the motion of mind. 'Very true.' The +motion of the other sort, which has no fixed place or manner or relation +or order or proportion, is akin to folly and nonsense. 'Very true.' +After what has been said, it is clear that, since the soul carries round +all things, some soul which is either very good or the opposite carries +round the circumference of heaven. But that soul can be no other than +the best. Again, the soul carries round the sun, moon, and stars, and if +the sun has a soul, then either the soul of the sun is within and moves +the sun as the human soul moves the body; or, secondly, the sun is +contained in some external air or fire, which the soul provides and +through which she operates; or, thirdly, the course of the sun is guided +by the soul acting in a wonderful manner without a body. 'Yes, in one +of those ways the soul must guide all things.' And this soul of the +sun, which is better than the sun, whether driving him in a chariot or +employing any other agency, is by every man called a God? 'Yes, by every +man who has any sense.' And of the seasons, stars, moon, and year, in +like manner, it may be affirmed that the soul or souls from which they +derive their excellence are divine; and without insisting on the manner +of their working, no one can deny that all things are full of Gods. 'No +one.' And now let us offer an alternative to him who denies that there +are Gods. Either he must show that the soul is not the origin of all +things, or he must live for the future in the belief that there are +Gods. + +Next, as to the man who believes in the Gods, but refuses to acknowledge +that they take care of human things--let him too have a word of +admonition. 'Best of men,' we will say to him, 'some affinity to the +Gods leads you to honour them and to believe in them. But you have heard +the happiness of wicked men sung by poets and admired by the world, and +this has drawn you away from your natural piety. Or you have seen the +wicked growing old in prosperity, and leaving great offices to their +children; or you have watched the tyrant succeeding in his career of +crime; and considering all these things you have been led to believe in +an irrational way that the Gods take no care of human affairs. That your +error may not increase, I will endeavour to purify your soul.' Do you, +Megillus and Cleinias, make answer for the youth, and when we come to +a difficulty, I will carry you over the water as I did before. 'Very +good.' He will easily be convinced that the Gods care for the small as +well as the great; for he heard what was said of their goodness and of +their having all things under their care. 'He certainly heard.' Then now +let us enquire what is meant by the virtue of the Gods. To possess mind +belongs to virtue, and the contrary to vice. 'That is what we say.' And +is not courage a part of virtue, and cowardice of vice? 'Certainly.' +And to the Gods we ascribe virtues; but idleness and indolence are not +virtues. 'Of course not.' And is God to be conceived of as a careless, +indolent fellow, such as the poet would compare to a stingless drone? +'Impossible.' Can we be right in praising any one who cares for great +matters and leaves the small to take care of themselves? Whether God or +man, he who does so, must either think the neglect of such matters to be +of no consequence, or he is indolent and careless. For surely neither +of them can be charged with neglect if they fail to attend to something +which is beyond their power? 'Certainly not.' + +And now we will examine the two classes of offenders who admit that +there are Gods, but say,--the one that they may be appeased, the other +that they take no care of small matters: do they not acknowledge that +the Gods are omnipotent and omniscient, and also good and perfect? +'Certainly.' Then they cannot be indolent, for indolence is the +offspring of idleness, and idleness of cowardice, and there is no +cowardice in God. 'True.' If the Gods neglect small matters, they must +either know or not know that such things are not to be regarded. But of +course they know that they should be regarded, and knowing, they +cannot be supposed to neglect their duty, overcome by the seductions +of pleasure or pain. 'Impossible.' And do not all human things share in +soul, and is not man the most religious of animals and the possession +of the Gods? And the Gods, who are the best of owners, will surely +take care of their property, small or great. Consider further, that the +greater the power of perception, the less the power of action. For it is +harder to see and hear the small than the great, but easier to control +them. Suppose a physician who had to cure a patient--would he +ever succeed if he attended to the great and neglected the little? +'Impossible.' Is not life made up of littles?--the pilot, general, +householder, statesman, all attend to small matters; and the builder +will tell you that large stones do not lie well without small ones. +And God is not inferior to mortal craftsmen, who in proportion to their +skill are careful in the details of their work; we must not imagine the +best and wisest to be a lazy good-for-nothing, who wearies of his work +and hurries over small and easy matters. 'Never, never!' He who charges +the Gods with neglect has been forced to admit his error; but I should +like further to persuade him that the author of all has made every part +for the sake of the whole, and that the smallest part has an appointed +state of action or passion, and that the least action or passion of any +part has a presiding minister. You, we say to him, are a minute fraction +of this universe, created with a view to the whole; the world is not +made for you, but you for the world; for the good artist considers the +whole first, and afterwards the parts. And you are annoyed at not seeing +how you and the universe are all working together for the best, so +far as the laws of the common creation admit. The soul undergoes many +changes from her contact with bodies; and all that the player does is to +put the pieces into their right places. 'What do you mean?' I mean that +God acts in the way which is simplest and easiest. Had each thing been +formed without any regard to the rest, the transposition of the Cosmos +would have been endless; but now there is not much trouble in the +government of the world. For when the king saw the actions of the living +souls and bodies, and the virtue and vice which were in them, and the +indestructibility of the soul and body (although they were not eternal), +he contrived so to arrange them that virtue might conquer and vice be +overcome as far as possible; giving them a seat and room adapted to +them, but leaving the direction of their separate actions to men's own +wills, which make our characters to be what they are. 'That is very +probable.' All things which have a soul possess in themselves the +principle of change, and in changing move according to fate and law; +natures which have undergone lesser changes move on the surface; but +those which have changed utterly for the worse, sink into Hades and the +infernal world. And in all great changes for good and evil which are +produced either by the will of the soul or the influence of others, +there is a change of place. The good soul, which has intercourse with +the divine nature, passes into a holier and better place; and the evil +soul, as she grows worse, changes her place for the worse. This,--as we +declare to the youth who fancies that he is neglected of the Gods,--is +the law of divine justice--the worse to the worse, the better to the +better, like to like, in life and in death. And from this law no man +will ever boast that he has escaped. Even if you say--'I am small, +and will creep into the earth,' or 'I am high, and will mount to +heaven'--you are not so small or so high that you shall not pay the +fitting penalty, either here or in the world below. This is also the +explanation of the seeming prosperity of the wicked, in whose actions +as in a mirror you imagined that you saw the neglect of the Gods, not +considering that they make all things contribute to the whole. And +how then could you form any idea of true happiness?--If Cleinias and +Megillus and I have succeeded in persuading you that you know not what +you say about the Gods, God will help you; but if there is still any +deficiency of proof, hear our answer to the third opponent. + +Enough has been said to prove that the Gods exist and care for us; +that they can be propitiated, or that they receive gifts, is not to be +allowed or admitted for an instant. 'Let us proceed with the argument.' +Tell me, by the Gods, I say, how the Gods are to be propitiated by us? +Are they not rulers, who may be compared to charioteers, pilots, perhaps +generals, or physicians providing against the assaults of disease, +husbandmen observing the perils of the seasons, shepherds watching their +flocks? To whom shall we compare them? We acknowledged that the world is +full both of good and evil, but having more of evil than of good. There +is an immortal conflict going on, in which Gods and demigods are our +allies, and we their property; for injustice and folly and wickedness +make war in our souls upon justice and temperance and wisdom. There is +little virtue to be found on earth; and evil natures fawn upon the Gods, +like wild beasts upon their keepers, and believe that they can win them +over by flattery and prayers. And this sin, which is termed dishonesty, +is to the soul what disease is to the body, what pestilence is to the +seasons, what injustice is to states. 'Quite so.' And they who maintain +that the Gods can be appeased must say that they forgive the sins of +men, if they are allowed to share in their spoils; as you might suppose +wolves to mollify the dogs by throwing them a portion of the prey. 'That +is the argument.' But let us apply our images to the Gods--are they the +pilots who are won by gifts to wreck their own ships--or the charioteers +who are bribed to lose the race--or the generals, or doctors, or +husbandmen, who are perverted from their duty--or the dogs who +are silenced by wolves? 'God forbid.' Are they not rather our best +guardians; and shall we suppose them to fall short even of a moderate +degree of human or even canine virtue, which will not betray justice for +reward? 'Impossible.' He, then, who maintains such a doctrine, is the +most blasphemous of mankind. + +And now our three points are proven; and we are agreed (1) that there +are Gods, (2) that they care for men, (3) that they cannot be bribed +to do injustice. I have spoken warmly, from a fear lest this impiety of +theirs should lead to a perversion of life. And our warmth will not have +been in vain, if we have succeeded in persuading these men to abominate +themselves, and to change their ways. 'So let us hope.' Then now that +the preamble is completed, we will make a proclamation commanding the +impious to renounce their evil ways; and in case they refuse, the law +shall be added:--If a man is guilty of impiety in word or deed, let +the bystander inform the magistrates, and let the magistrates bring the +offender before the court; and if any of the magistrates refuses to act, +he likewise shall be tried for impiety. Any one who is found guilty of +such an offence shall be fined at the discretion of the court, and +shall also be punished by a term of imprisonment. There shall be three +prisons--one for common offences against life and property; another, +near by the spot where the Nocturnal Council will assemble, which is to +be called the 'House of Reformation'; the third, to be situated in some +desolate region in the centre of the country, shall be called by a name +indicating retribution. There are three causes of impiety, and from each +of them spring impieties of two kinds, six in all. First, there is the +impiety of those who deny the existence of the Gods; these may be honest +men, haters of evil, who are only dangerous because they talk loosely +about the Gods and make others like themselves; but there is also a more +vicious class, who are full of craft and licentiousness. To this latter +belong diviners, jugglers, despots, demagogues, generals, hierophants +of private mysteries, and sophists. The first class shall be only +imprisoned and admonished. The second class should be put to death, if +they could be, many times over. The two other sorts of impiety, first of +those who deny the care of the Gods, and secondly, of those who affirm +that they may be propitiated, have similar subdivisions, varying in +degree of guilt. Those who have learnt to blaspheme from mere ignorance +shall be imprisoned in the House of Reformation for five years at least, +and not allowed to see any one but members of the Nocturnal Council, +who shall converse with them touching their souls health. If any of the +prisoners come to their right mind, at the end of five years let them be +restored to sane company; but he who again offends shall die. As to +that class of monstrous natures who not only believe that the Gods are +negligent, or may be propitiated, but pretend to practise on the souls +of quick and dead, and promise to charm the Gods, and to effect the ruin +of houses and states--he, I say, who is guilty of these things, shall +be bound in the central prison, and shall have no intercourse with +any freeman, receiving only his daily rations of food from the public +slaves; and when he dies, let him be cast beyond the border; and if any +freeman assist to bury him, he shall be liable to a suit for impiety. +But the sins of the father shall not be visited upon his children, who, +like other orphans, shall be educated by the state. Further, let there +be a general law which will have a tendency to repress impiety. No man +shall have religious services in his house, but he shall go with his +friends to pray and sacrifice in the temples. The reason of this is, +that religious institutions can only be framed by a great intelligence. +But women and weak men are always consecrating the event of the moment; +they are under the influence of dreams and apparitions, and they build +altars and temples in every village and in any place where they have +had a vision. The law is designed to prevent this, and also to deter men +from attempting to propitiate the Gods by secret sacrifices, which +only multiply their sins. Therefore let the law run:--No one shall +have private religious rites; and if a man or woman who has not been +previously noted for any impiety offend in this way, let them be +admonished to remove their rites to a public temple; but if the offender +be one of the obstinate sort, he shall be brought to trial before the +guardians, and if he be found guilty, let him die. + +BOOK XI. As to dealings between man and man, the principle of them is +simple--Thou shalt not take what is not thine; and shalt do to others as +thou wouldst that they should do to thee. First, of treasure trove:--May +I never desire to find, or lift, if I find, or be induced by the counsel +of diviners to lift, a treasure which one who was not my ancestor has +laid down; for I shall not gain so much in money as I shall lose in +virtue. The saying, 'Move not the immovable,' may be repeated in a +new sense; and there is a common belief which asserts that such deeds +prevent a man from having a family. To him who is careless of such +consequences, and, despising the word of the wise, takes up a treasure +which is not his--what will be done by the hand of the Gods, God only +knows,--but I would have the first person who sees the offender, inform +the wardens of the city or the country; and they shall send to Delphi +for a decision, and whatever the oracle orders, they shall carry out. +If the informer be a freeman, he shall be honoured, and if a slave, +set free; but he who does not inform, if he be a freeman, shall be +dishonoured, and if a slave, shall be put to death. If a man leave +anywhere anything great or small, intentionally or unintentionally, let +him who may find the property deem the deposit sacred to the Goddess +of ways. And he who appropriates the same, if he be a slave, shall be +beaten with many stripes; if a freeman, he shall pay tenfold, and be +held to have done a dishonourable action. If a person says that another +has something of his, and the other allows that he has the property in +dispute, but maintains it to be his own, let the ownership be proved out +of the registers of property. If the property is registered as belonging +to some one who is absent, possession shall be given to him who offers +sufficient security on behalf of the absentee; or if the property is not +registered, let it remain with the three eldest magistrates, and if it +should be an animal, the defeated party must pay the cost of its keep. A +man may arrest his own slave, and he may also imprison for safe-keeping +the runaway slave of a friend. Any one interfering with him must produce +three sureties; otherwise, he will be liable to an action for violence, +and if he be cast, must pay a double amount of damages to him from whom +he has taken the slave. A freedman who does not pay due respect to his +patron, may also be seized. Due respect consists in going three times +a month to the house of his patron, and offering to perform any lawful +service for him; he must also marry as his master pleases; and if his +property be greater than his master's, he must hand over to him the +excess. A freedman may not remain in the state, except with the consent +of the magistrates and of his master, for more than twenty years; and +whenever his census exceeds that of the third class, he must in any case +leave the country within thirty days, taking his property with him. If +he break this regulation, the penalty shall be death, and his property +shall be confiscated. Suits about these matters are to be decided in the +courts of the tribes, unless the parties have settled the matter before +a court of neighbours or before arbiters. If anybody claim a beast, or +anything else, let the possessor refer to the seller or giver of the +property within thirty days, if the latter reside in the city, or, if +the goods have been received from a stranger, within five months, of +which the middle month shall include the summer solstice. All purchases +and exchanges are to be made in the agora, and paid for on the spot; the +law will not allow credit to be given. No law shall protect the money +subscribed for clubs. He who sells anything of greater value than fifty +drachmas shall abide in the city for ten days, and let his whereabouts +be known to the buyer, in case of any reclamation. When a slave is sold +who is subject to epilepsy, stone, or any other invisible disorder, the +buyer, if he be a physician or trainer, or if he be warned, shall have +no redress; but in other cases within six months, or within twelve +months in epileptic disorders, he may bring the matter before a jury of +physicians to be agreed upon by both parties; and the seller who loses +the suit, if he be an expert, shall pay twice the price; or if he be +a private person, the bargain shall be rescinded, and he shall simply +refund. If a person knowingly sells a homicide to another, who is +informed of his character, there is no redress. But if the judges--who +are to be the five youngest guardians of the law--decide that the +purchaser was not aware, then the seller is to pay threefold, and to +purify the house of the buyer. + +He who exchanges money for money, or beast for beast, must warrant +either of them to be sound and good. As in the case of other laws, let +us have a preamble, relating to all this class of crime. Adulteration +is a kind of falsehood about which the many commonly say that at proper +times the practice may often be right, but they do not define at what +times. But the legislator will tell them, that no man should invoke the +Gods when he is practising deceit or fraud, in word or deed. For he is +the enemy of heaven, first, who swears falsely, not thinking of the Gods +by whom he swears, and secondly, he who lies to his superiors. (Now +the superiors are the betters of inferiors,--the elder of the younger, +parents of children, men of women, and rulers of subjects.) The trader +who cheats in the agora is a liar and is perjured--he respects neither +the name of God nor the regulations of the magistrates. If after hearing +this he will still be dishonest, let him listen to the law:--The seller +shall not have two prices on the same day, neither must he puff his +goods, nor offer to swear about them. If he break the law, any citizen +not less than thirty years of age may smite him. If he sell adulterated +goods, the slave or metic who informs against him shall have the goods; +the citizen who brings such a charge, if he prove it, shall offer up the +goods in question to the Gods of the agora; or if he fail to prove it, +shall be dishonoured. He who is detected in selling adulterated goods +shall be deprived of them, and shall receive a stripe for every drachma +of their value. The wardens of the agora and the guardians of the law +shall take experienced persons into counsel, and draw up regulations for +the agora. These shall be inscribed on a column in front of the court +of the wardens of the agora.--As to the wardens of the city, enough +has been said already. But if any omissions in the law are afterwards +discovered, the wardens and the guardians shall supply them, and have +them inscribed after the original regulations on a column before the +court of the wardens of the city. + +Next in order follows the subject of retail trades, which in their +natural use are the reverse of mischievous; for every man is a +benefactor who reduces what is unequal to symmetry and proportion. Money +is the instrument by which this is accomplished, and the shop-keeper, +the merchant, and hotel-keeper do but supply the wants and equalize +the possessions of mankind. Why, then, does any dishonour attach to +a beneficent occupation? Let us consider the nature of the accusation +first, and then see whether it can be removed. 'What is your drift?' +Dear Cleinias, there are few men who are so gifted by nature, and +improved by education, as to be able to control the desire of making +money; or who are sober in their wishes and prefer moderation to +accumulation. The great majority think that they can never have enough, +and the consequence is that retail trade has become a reproach. Whereas, +however ludicrous the idea may seem, if noble men and noble women could +be induced to open a shop, and to trade upon incorruptible principles, +then the aspect of things would change, and retail traders would be +regarded as nursing fathers and mothers. In our own day the trader +goes and settles in distant places, and receives the weary traveller +hospitably at first, but in the end treats him as an enemy and a +captive, whom he only liberates for an enormous ransom. This is what +has brought retail trade into disrepute, and against this the legislator +ought to provide. Men have said of old, that to fight against two +opponents is hard; and the two opponents of whom I am thinking are +wealth and poverty--the one corrupting men by luxury; the other, through +misery, depriving them of the sense of shame. What remedies can a city +find for this disease? First, to have as few retail traders as possible; +secondly, to give retail trade over to a class whose corruption will not +injure the state; and thirdly, to restrain the insolence and meanness of +the retailers. + +Let us make the following laws:--(1) In the city of the Magnetes none of +the 5040 citizens shall be a retailer or merchant, or do any service to +any private persons who do not equally serve him, except to his father +and mother and their fathers and mothers, and generally to his elders +who are freemen, and whom he serves as a freeman. He who follows an +illiberal pursuit may be cited for dishonouring his family, and kept +in bonds for a year; and if he offend again, he shall be bound for two +years; and for every offence his punishment shall be doubled: (2) Every +retailer shall be a metic or a foreigner: (3) The guardians of the law +shall have a special care of this part of the community, whose calling +exposes them to peculiar temptations. They shall consult with persons of +experience, and find out what prices will yield the traders a moderate +profit, and fix them. + +When a man does not fulfil his contract, he being under no legal or +other impediment, the case shall be brought before the court of the +tribes, if not previously settled by arbitration. The class of artisans +is consecrated to Hephaestus and Athene; the makers of weapons to Ares +and Athene: all of whom, remembering that the Gods are their ancestors, +should be ashamed to deceive in the practice of their craft. If any man +is lazy in the fulfilment of his work, and fancies, foolish fellow, that +his patron God will not deal hardly with him, he will be punished by the +God; and let the law follow:--He who fails in his undertaking shall pay +the value, and do the work gratis in a specified time. The contractor, +like the seller, is enjoined by law to charge the simple value of his +work; in a free city, art should be a true thing, and the artist must +not practise on the ignorance of others. On the other hand, he who has +ordered any work and does not pay the workman according to agreement, +dishonours Zeus and Athene, and breaks the bonds of society. And if +he does not pay at the time agreed, let him pay double; and although +interest is forbidden in other cases, let the workman receive after the +expiration of a year interest at the rate of an obol a month for every +drachma (equal to 200 per cent. per ann.). And we may observe by the +way, in speaking of craftsmen, that if our military craft do their work +well, the state will praise those who honour them, and blame those who +do not honour them. Not that the first place of honour is to be assigned +to the warrior; a higher still is reserved for those who obey the laws. + +Most of the dealings between man and man are now settled, with the +exception of such as relate to orphans and guardianships. These lead +us to speak of the intentions of the dying, about which we must make +regulations. I say 'must'; for mankind cannot be allowed to dispose of +their property as they please, in ways at variance with one another and +with law and custom. But a dying person is a strange being, and is not +easily managed; he wants to be master of all he has, and is apt to use +angry words. He will say,--'May I not do what I will with my own, and +give much to my friends, and little to my enemies?' 'There is reason +in that.' O Cleinias, in my judgment the older lawgivers were too +soft-hearted, and wanting in insight into human affairs. They were +too ready to listen to the outcry of a dying man, and hence they were +induced to give him an absolute power of bequest. But I would say to +him:--O creature of a day, you know neither what is yours nor yourself: +for you and your property are not your own, but belong to your whole +family, past and to come, and property and family alike belong to the +State. And therefore I must take out of your hands the charge of what +you leave behind you, with a view to the interests of all. And I hope +that you will not quarrel with us, now that you are going the way of all +mankind; we will do our best for you and yours when you are no longer +here. Let this be our address to the living and dying, and let the law +be as follows:--The father who has sons shall appoint one of them to be +the heir of the lot; and if he has given any other son to be adopted by +another, the adoption shall also be recorded; and if he has still a son +who has no lot, and has a chance of going to a colony, he may give him +what he has more than the lot; or if he has more than one son unprovided +for, he may divide the money between them. A son who has a house of his +own, and a daughter who is betrothed, are not to share in the bequest of +money; and the son or daughter who, having inherited one lot, acquires +another, is to bequeath the new inheritance to the next of kin. If a man +have only daughters, he may adopt the husband of any one of them; or if +he have lost a son, let him make mention of the circumstance in his will +and adopt another. If he have no children, he may give away a tenth of +his acquired property to whomsoever he likes; but he must adopt an heir +to inherit the lot, and may leave the remainder to him. Also he may +appoint guardians for his children; or if he die without appointing them +or without making a will, the nearest kinsmen,--two on the father's +and two on the mother's side,--and one friend of the departed, shall be +appointed guardians. The fifteen eldest guardians of the law are to have +special charge of all orphans, the whole number of fifteen being +divided into bodies of three, who will succeed one another according +to seniority every year for five years. If a man dying intestate leave +daughters, he must pardon the law which marries them for looking, first +to kinship, and secondly to the preservation of the lot. The legislator +cannot regard the character of the heir, which to the father is the +first consideration. The law will therefore run as follows:--If the +intestate leave daughters, husbands are to be found for them among +their kindred according to the following table of affinity: first, +their father's brothers; secondly, the sons of their father's brothers; +thirdly, of their father's sisters; fourthly, their great-uncles; +fifthly, the sons of a great-uncle; sixthly, the sons of a great-aunt. +The kindred in such cases shall always be reckoned in this way; the +relationship shall proceed upwards through brothers and sisters and +brothers' and sisters' children, and first the male line must be taken +and then the female. If there is a dispute in regard to fitness of +age for marriage, this the judge shall decide, after having made an +inspection of the youth naked, and of the maiden naked down to the +waist. If the maiden has no relations within the degree of third cousin, +she may choose whom she likes, with the consent of her guardians; or she +may even select some one who has gone to a colony, and he, if he be a +kinsman, will take the lot by law; if not, he must have her guardians' +consent, as well as hers. When a man dies without children and without +a will, let a young man and a young woman go forth from the family and +take up their abode in the desolate house. The woman shall be selected +from the kindred in the following order of succession:--first, a +sister of the deceased; second, a brother's daughter; third, a sister's +daughter; fourth, a father's sister; fifth, a daughter of a father's +brother; sixth, a daughter of a father's sister. For the man the +same order shall be observed as in the preceding case. The legislator +foresees that laws of this kind will sometimes press heavily, and that +his intention cannot always be fulfilled; as for example, when there are +mental and bodily defects in the persons who are enjoined to marry. But +he must be excused for not being always able to reconcile the general +principles of public interest with the particular circumstances of +individuals; and he is willing to allow, in like manner, that the +individual cannot always do what the lawgiver wishes. And then arbiters +must be chosen, who will determine equitably the cases which may arise +under the law: e.g. a rich cousin may sometimes desire a grander match, +or the requirements of the law can only be fulfilled by marrying a +madwoman. To meet such cases let the following law be enacted:--If any +one comes forward and says that the lawgiver, had he been alive, would +not have required the carrying out of the law in a particular case, let +him go to the fifteen eldest guardians of the law who have the care of +orphans; but if he thinks that too much power is thus given to them, he +may bring the case before the court of select judges. + +Thus will orphans have a second birth. In order to make their sad +condition as light as possible, the guardians of the law shall be +their parents, and shall be admonished to take care of them. And what +admonition can be more appropriate than the assurance which we formerly +gave, that the souls of the dead watch over mortal affairs? About this +there are many ancient traditions, which may be taken on trust from the +legislator. Let men fear, in the first place, the Gods above; secondly, +the souls of the departed, who naturally care for their own descendants; +thirdly, the aged living, who are quick to hear of any neglect of family +duties, especially in the case of orphans. For they are the holiest +and most sacred of all deposits, and the peculiar care of guardians and +magistrates; and those who try to bring them up well will contribute +to their own good and to that of their families. He who listens to the +preamble of the law will never know the severity of the legislator; but +he who disobeys, and injures the orphan, will pay twice the penalty he +would have paid if the parents had been alive. More laws might have been +made about orphans, did we not suppose that the guardians have children +and property of their own which are protected by the laws; and the duty +of the guardian in our state is the same as that of a father, though +his honour or disgrace is greater. A legal admonition and threat may, +however, be of service: the guardian of the orphan and the guardian of +the law who is over him, shall love the orphan as their own children, +and take more care of his or her property than of their own. If the +guardian of the child neglect his duty, the guardian of the law shall +fine him; and the guardian may also have the magistrate tried for +neglect in the court of select judges, and he shall pay, if convicted, +a double penalty. Further, the guardian of the orphan who is careless +or dishonest may be fined on the information of any of the citizens in a +fourfold penalty, half to go to the orphan and half to the prosecutor +of the suit. When the orphan is of age, if he thinks that he has been +ill-used, his guardian may be brought to trial by him within five years, +and the penalty shall be fixed by the court. Or if the magistrate +has neglected the orphan, he shall pay damages to him; but if he have +defrauded him, he shall make compensation and also be deposed from his +office of guardian of the law. + +If irremediable differences arise between fathers and sons, the father +may want to renounce his son, or the son may indict his father for +imbecility: such violent separations only take place when the family are +'a bad lot'; if only one of the two parties is bad, the differences do +not grow to so great a height. But here arises a difficulty. Although +in any other state a son who is disinherited does not cease to be a +citizen, in ours he does; for the number of citizens cannot exceed 5040. +And therefore he who is to suffer such a penalty ought to be abjured, +not only by his father, but by the whole family. The law, then, should +run as follows:--If any man's evil fortune or temper incline him to +disinherit his son, let him not do so lightly or on the instant; but let +him have a council of his own relations and of the maternal relations of +his son, and set forth to them the propriety of disinheriting him, and +allow his son to answer. And if more than half of the kindred male and +female, being of full age, condemn the son, let him be disinherited. +If any other citizen desires to adopt him, he may, for young men's +characters often change in the course of life. But if, after ten years, +he remains unadopted, let him be sent to a colony. If disease, or old +age, or evil disposition cause a man to go out of his mind, and he is +ruining his house and property, and his son doubts about indicting him +for insanity, let him lay the case before the eldest guardians of the +law, and consult with them. And if they advise him to proceed, and the +father is decided to be imbecile, he shall have no more control over his +property, but shall live henceforward like a child in the house. + +If a man and his wife are of incompatible tempers, ten guardians of the +law and ten of the matrons who regulate marriage shall take their case +in hand, and reconcile them, if possible. If, however, their swelling +souls cannot be pacified, the wife may try and find a new husband, and +the husband a new wife; probably they are not very gentle creatures, and +should therefore be joined to milder natures. The younger of those +who are separated should also select their partners with a view to the +procreation of children; while the older should seek a companion for +their declining years. If a woman dies, leaving children male or female, +the law will advise, but not compel, the widower to abstain from a +second marriage; if she leave no children, he shall be compelled to +marry. Also a widow, if she is not old enough to live honestly without +marriage, shall marry again; and in case she have no children, she +should marry for the sake of them. There is sometimes an uncertainty +which parent the offspring is to follow: in unions of a female slave +with a male slave, or with a freedman or free man, or of a free woman +with a male slave, the offspring is to belong to the master; but if the +master or mistress be themselves the parent of the child, the slave and +the child are to be sent away to another land. + +Concerning duty to parents, let the preamble be as follows:--We honour +the Gods in their lifeless images, and believe that we thus propitiate +them. But he who has an aged father or mother has a living image, which +if he cherish it will do him far more good than any statue. 'What do +you mean by cherishing them?' I will tell you. Oedipus and Amyntor and +Theseus cursed their children, and their curses took effect. This proves +that the Gods hear the curses of parents who are wronged; and shall we +doubt that they hear and fulfil their blessings too?' 'Surely not.' And, +as we were saying, no image is more honoured by the Gods than an aged +father and mother, to whom when honour is done, the God who hears their +prayers is rejoiced, and their influence is greater than that of the +lifeless statue; for they pray that good or evil may come to us in +proportion as they are honoured or dishonoured, but the statue is +silent. 'Excellent.' Good men are glad when their parents live to +extreme old age, or if they depart early, lament their loss; but to bad +man their parents are always terrible. Wherefore let every one honour +his parents, and if this preamble fails of influencing him, let him hear +the law:--If any one does not take sufficient care of his parents, let +the aggrieved person inform the three eldest guardians of the law and +three of the women who are concerned with marriages. Women up to forty +years of age, and men up to thirty, who thus offend, shall be beaten +and imprisoned. After that age they are to be brought before a court +composed of the eldest citizens, who may inflict any punishment upon +them which they please. If the injured party cannot inform, let any +freeman who hears of the case inform; a slave who does so shall be +set free,--if he be the slave of the one of the parties, by the +magistrate,--if owned by another, at the cost of the state; and let the +magistrates, take care that he is not wronged by any one out of revenge. + +The injuries which one person does to another by the use of poisons +are of two kinds;--one affects the body by the employment of drugs and +potions; the other works on the mind by the practice of sorcery and +magic. Fatal cases of either sort have been already mentioned; and now +we must have a law respecting cases which are not fatal. There is no use +in arguing with a man whose mind is disturbed by waxen images placed at +his own door, or on the sepulchre of his father or mother, or at a spot +where three ways meet. But to the wizards themselves we must address +a solemn preamble, begging them not to treat the world as if they were +children, or compel the legislator to expose them, and to show men that +the poisoner who is not a physician and the wizard who is not a prophet +or diviner are equally ignorant of what they are doing. Let the law be +as follows:--He who by the use of poison does any injury not fatal to +a man or his servants, or any injury whether fatal or not to another's +cattle or bees, is to be punished with death if he be a physician, and +if he be not a physician he is to suffer the punishment awarded by the +court: and he who injures another by sorcery, if he be a diviner or +prophet, shall be put to death; and, if he be not a diviner, the court +shall determine what he ought to pay or suffer. + +Any one who injures another by theft or violence shall pay damages at +least equal to the injury; and besides the compensation, a suitable +punishment shall be inflicted. The foolish youth who is the victim of +others is to have a lighter punishment; he whose folly is occasioned +by his own jealousy or desire or anger is to suffer more heavily. +Punishment is to be inflicted, not for the sake of vengeance, for +what is done cannot be undone, but for the sake of prevention and +reformation. And there should be a proportion between the punishment and +the crime, in which the judge, having a discretion left him, must, +by estimating the crime, second the legislator, who, like a painter, +furnishes outlines for him to fill up. + +A madman is not to go about at large in the city, but is to be taken +care of by his relatives. Neglect on their part is to be punished in the +first class by a fine of a hundred drachmas, and proportionally in +the others. Now madness is of various kinds; in addition to that +which arises from disease there is the madness which originates in a +passionate temperament, and makes men when engaged in a quarrel use +foul and abusive language against each other. This is intolerable in a +well-ordered state; and therefore our law shall be as follows:--No one +is to speak evil of another, but when men differ in opinion they are to +instruct one another without speaking evil. Nor should any one seek +to rouse the passions which education has calmed; for he who feeds and +nurses his wrath is apt to make ribald jests at his opponent, with a +loss of character or dignity to himself. And for this reason no one may +use any abusive word in a temple, or at sacrifices, or games, or in +any public assembly, and he who offends shall be censured by the proper +magistrate; and the magistrate, if he fail to censure him, shall not +claim the prize of virtue. In any other place the angry man who indulges +in revilings, whether he be the beginner or not, may be chastised by an +elder. The reviler is always trying to make his opponent ridiculous; and +the use of ridicule in anger we cannot allow. We forbid the comic poet +to ridicule our citizens, under a penalty of expulsion from the country +or a fine of three minae. Jest in which there is no offence may be +allowed; but the question of offence shall be determined by the director +of education, who is to be the licenser of theatrical performances. + +The righteous man who is in adversity will not be allowed to starve in a +well-ordered city; he will never be a beggar. Nor is a man to be pitied, +merely because he is hungry, unless he be temperate. Therefore let the +law be as follows:--Let there be no beggars in our state; and he who +begs shall be expelled by the magistrates both from town and country. + +If a slave, male or female, does any harm to the property of another, +who is not himself a party to the harm, the master shall compensate the +injury or give up the offending slave. But if the master argue that the +charge has arisen by collusion, with the view of obtaining the slave, +he may put the plaintiff on his trial for malpractices, and recover from +him twice the value of the slave; or if he is cast he must make good +the damage and deliver up the slave. The injury done by a horse or other +animal shall be compensated in like manner. + +A witness who will not come of himself may be summoned, and if he fail +in appearing, he shall be liable for any harm which may ensue: if he +swears that he does not know, he may leave the court. A judge who is +called upon as a witness must not vote. A free woman, if she is over +forty, may bear witness and plead, and, if she have no husband, she may +also bring an action. A slave, male or female, and a child may witness +and plead only in case of murder, but they must give sureties that they +will appear at the trial, if they should be charged with false witness. +Such charges must be made pending the trial, and the accusations shall +be sealed by both parties and kept by the magistrates until the trial +for perjury comes off. If a man is twice convicted of perjury, he is not +to be required, if three times, he is not to be allowed to bear witness, +or, if he persists in bearing witness, is to be punished with death. +When more than half the evidence is proved to be false there must be a +new trial. + +The best and noblest things in human life are liable to be defiled and +perverted. Is not justice the civilizer of mankind? And yet upon the +noble profession of the advocate has come an evil name. For he is said +to make the worse appear the better cause, and only requires money +in return for his services. Such an art will be forbidden by the +legislator, and if existing among us will be requested to depart to +another city. To the disobedient let the voice of the law be heard +saying:--He who tries to pervert justice in the minds of the judges, or +to increase litigation, shall be brought before the supreme court. If he +does so from contentiousness, let him be silenced for a time, and, if +he offend again, put to death. If he have acted from a love of gain, +let him be sent out of the country if he be a foreigner, or if he be a +citizen let him be put to death. + +BOOK XII. If a false message be taken to or brought from other states, +whether friendly or hostile, by ambassadors or heralds, they shall be +indicted for having dishonoured their sacred office, and, if convicted, +shall suffer a penalty.--Stealing is mean; robbery is shameless. Let no +man deceive himself by the supposed example of the Gods, for no God or +son of a God ever really practised either force or fraud. On this point +the legislator is better informed than all the poets put together. He +who listens to him shall be for ever happy, but he who will not listen +shall have the following law directed against him:--He who steals much, +or he who steals little of the public property is deserving of the same +penalty; for they are both impelled by the same evil motive. When the +law punishes one man more lightly than another, this is done under the +idea, not that he is less guilty, but that he is more curable. Now a +thief who is a foreigner or slave may be curable; but the thief who is +a citizen, and has had the advantages of education, should be put to +death, for he is incurable. + +Much consideration and many regulations are necessary about military +expeditions; the great principal of all is that no one, male or +female, in war or peace, in great matters or small, shall be without a +commander. Whether men stand or walk, or drill, or pursue, or retreat, +or wash, or eat, they should all act together and in obedience to +orders. We should practise from our youth upwards the habits of command +and obedience. All dances, relaxations, endurances of meats and drinks, +of cold and heat, and of hard couches, should have a view to war, and +care should be taken not to destroy the natural covering and use of the +head and feet by wearing shoes and caps; for the head is the lord of +the body, and the feet are the best of servants. The soldier should have +thoughts like these; and let him hear the law:--He who is enrolled shall +serve, and if he absent himself without leave he shall be indicted for +failure of service before his own branch of the army when the expedition +returns, and if he be found guilty he shall suffer the penalty which the +courts award, and never be allowed to contend for any prize of valour, +or to accuse another of misbehaviour in military matters. Desertion +shall also be tried and punished in the same manner. After the courts +for trying failure of service and desertion have been held, the generals +shall hold another court, in which the several arms of the service will +award prizes for the expedition which has just concluded. The prize is +to be a crown of olive, which the victor shall offer up at the temple +of his favourite war God...In any suit which a man brings, let the +indictment be scrupulously true, for justice is an honourable maiden, +to whom falsehood is naturally hateful. For example, when men are +prosecuted for having lost their arms, great care should be taken by the +witnesses to distinguish between cases in which they have been lost from +necessity and from cowardice. If the hero Patroclus had not been killed +but had been brought back alive from the field, he might have been +reproached with having lost the divine armour. And a man may lose +his arms in a storm at sea, or from a fall, and under many other +circumstances. There is a distinction of language to be observed in the +use of the two terms, 'thrower away of a shield' (ripsaspis), and 'loser +of arms' (apoboleus oplon), one being the voluntary, the other the +involuntary relinquishment of them. Let the law then be as follows:--If +any one is overtaken by the enemy, having arms in his hands, and he +leaves them behind him voluntarily, choosing base life instead of +honourable death, let justice be done. The old legend of Caeneus, who +was changed by Poseidon from a woman into a man, may teach by contraries +the appropriate punishment. Let the thrower away of his shield be +changed from a man into a woman--that is to say, let him be all his life +out of danger, and never again be admitted by any commander into the +ranks of his army; and let him pay a heavy fine according to his class. +And any commander who permits him to serve shall also be punished by a +fine. + +All magistrates, whatever be their tenure of office, must give an +account of their magistracy. But where shall we find the magistrate who +is worthy to supervise them or look into their short-comings and crooked +ways? The examiner must be more than man who is sufficient for these +things. For the truth is that there are many causes of the dissolution +of states; which, like ships or animals, have their cords, and girders, +and sinews easily relaxed, and nothing tends more to their welfare and +preservation than the supervision of them by examiners who are better +than the magistrates; failing in this they fall to pieces, and each +becomes many instead of one. Wherefore let the people meet after the +summer solstice, in the precincts of Apollo and the Sun, and appoint +three men of not less than fifty years of age. They shall proceed as +follows:--Each citizen shall select some one, not himself, whom he +thinks the best. The persons selected shall be reduced to one half, who +have the greatest number of votes, if they are an even number; but if an +odd number, he who has the smallest number of votes shall be previously +withdrawn. The voting shall continue in the same manner until three only +remain; and if the number of votes cast for them be equal, a distinction +between the first, second, and third shall be made by lot. The three +shall be crowned with an olive wreath, and proclamation made, that the +city of the Magnetes, once more preserved by the Gods, presents her +three best men to Apollo and the Sun, to whom she dedicates them as long +as their lives answer to the judgment formed of them. They shall choose +in the first year of their office twelve examiners, to continue until +they are seventy-five years of age; afterwards three shall be added +annually. While they hold office, they shall dwell within the precinct +of the God. They are to divide all the magistracies into twelve classes, +and may apply any methods of enquiry, and inflict any punishments which +they please; in some cases singly, in other cases together, announcing +the acquittal or punishment of the magistrate on a tablet which they +will place in the agora. A magistrate who has been condemned by the +examiners may appeal to the select judges, and, if he gain his suit, +may in turn prosecute the examiners; but if the appellant is cast, +his punishment shall be doubled, unless he was previously condemned to +death. + +And what honours shall be paid to these examiners, whom the whole state +counts worthy of the rewards of virtue? They shall have the first place +at all sacrifices and other ceremonies, and in all assemblies and +public places; they shall go on sacred embassies, and have the exclusive +privilege of wearing a crown of laurel. They are priests of Apollo +and the Sun, and he of their number who is judged first shall be high +priest, and give his name to the year. The manner of their burial, too, +shall be different from that of the other citizens. The colour of their +funeral array shall be white, and, instead of the voice of lamentation, +around the bier shall stand a chorus of fifteen boys and fifteen +maidens, chanting hymns in honour of the deceased in alternate strains +during an entire day; and at dawn a band of a hundred youths shall carry +the bier to the grave, marching in the garb of warriors, and the boys in +front of the bier shall sing their national hymn, while the maidens and +women past child-bearing follow after. Priests and priestesses may also +follow, unless the Pythian oracle forbids. The sepulchre shall be a +vault built underground, which will last for ever, having couches of +stone placed side by side; on one of these they shall lay the departed +saint, and then cover the tomb with a mound, and plant trees on every +side except one, where an opening shall be left for other interments. +Every year there shall be games--musical, gymnastic, or equestrian, in +honour of those who have passed every ordeal. But if any of them, after +having been acquitted on any occasion, begin to show the wickedness +of human nature, he who pleases may bring them to trial before a court +composed of the guardians of the law, and of the select judges, and +of any of the examiners who are alive. If he be convicted he shall be +deprived of his honours, and if the accuser do not obtain a fifth part +of the votes, he shall pay a fine according to his class. + +What is called the judgment of Rhadamanthus is suited to 'ages of +faith,' but not to our days. He knew that his contemporaries believed +in the Gods, for many of them were the sons of Gods; and he thought that +the easiest and surest method of ending litigation was to commit the +decision to Heaven. In our own day, men either deny the existence +of Gods or their care of men, or maintain that they may be bribed by +attentions and gifts; and the procedure of Rhadamanthus would therefore +be out of date. When the religious ideas of mankind change, their laws +should also change. Thus oaths should no longer be taken from plaintiff +and defendant; simple statements of affirmation and denial should be +substituted. For there is something dreadful in the thought, that nearly +half the citizens of a state are perjured men. There is no objection +to an oath, where a man has no interest in forswearing himself; as, for +example, when a judge is about to give his decision, or in voting at +an election, or in the judgment of games and contests. But where +there would be a premium on perjury, oaths and imprecations should be +prohibited as irrelevant, like appeals to feeling. Let the principles of +justice be learned and taught without words of evil omen. The oaths of +a stranger against a stranger may be allowed, because strangers are not +permitted to become permanent residents in our state. + +Trials in private causes are to be decided in the same manner as lesser +offences against the state. The non-attendance at a chorus or sacrifice, +or the omission to pay a war-tax, may be regarded as in the first +instance remediable, and the defaulter may give security; but if he +forfeits the security, the goods pledged shall be sold and the money +given to the state. And for obstinate disobedience, the magistrate shall +have the power of inflicting greater penalties. + +A city which is without trade or commerce must consider what it will do +about the going abroad of its own people and the admission of strangers. +For out of intercourse with strangers there arises great confusion of +manners, which in most states is not of any consequence, because the +confusion exists already; but in a well-ordered state it may be a great +evil. Yet the absolute prohibition of foreign travel, or the exclusion +of strangers, is impossible, and would appear barbarous to the rest of +mankind. Public opinion should never be lightly regarded, for the many +are not so far wrong in their judgments as in their lives. Even the +worst of men have often a divine instinct, which enables them to judge +of the differences between the good and bad. States are rightly advised +when they desire to have the praise of men; and the greatest and truest +praise is that of virtue. And our Cretan colony should, and probably +will, have a character for virtue, such as few cities have. Let +this, then, be our law about foreign travel and the reception of +strangers:--No one shall be allowed to leave the country who is under +forty years of age--of course military service abroad is not included in +this regulation--and no one at all except in a public capacity. To the +Olympic, and Pythian, and Nemean, and Isthmian games, shall be sent the +fairest and best and bravest, who shall support the dignity of the city +in time of peace. These, when they come home, shall teach the youth the +inferiority of all other governments. Besides those who go on sacred +missions, other persons shall be sent out by permission of the guardians +to study the institutions of foreign countries. For a people which has +no experience, and no knowledge of the characters of men or the reason +of things, but lives by habit only, can never be perfectly civilized. +Moreover, in all states, bad as well as good, there are holy and +inspired men; these the citizen of a well-ordered city should be ever +seeking out; he should go forth to find them over sea and over land, +that he may more firmly establish institutions in his own state which +are good already and amend the bad. 'What will be the best way of +accomplishing such an object?' In the first place, let the visitor of +foreign countries be between fifty and sixty years of age, and let him +be a citizen of repute, especially in military matters. On his return +he shall appear before the Nocturnal Council: this is a body which sits +from dawn to sunrise, and includes amongst its members the priests who +have gained the prize of virtue, and the ten oldest guardians of the +law, and the director and past directors of education; each of whom has +power to bring with him a younger friend of his own selection, who is +between thirty and forty. The assembly thus constituted shall consider +the laws of their own and other states, and gather information relating +to them. Anything of the sort which is approved by the elder members of +the council shall be studied with all diligence by the younger; who are +to be specially watched by the rest of the citizens, and shall receive +honour, if they are deserving of honour, or dishonour, if they prove +inferior. This is the assembly to which the visitor of foreign countries +shall come and tell anything which he has heard from others in the +course of his travels, or which he has himself observed. If he be made +neither better nor worse, let him at least be praised for his zeal; and +let him receive still more praise, and special honour after death, if +he be improved. But if he be deteriorated by his travels, let him be +prohibited from speaking to any one; and if he submit, he may live as +a private individual: but if he be convicted of attempting to make +innovations in education and the laws, let him die. + +Next, as to the reception of strangers. Of these there are four +classes:--First, merchants, who, like birds of passage, find their way +over the sea at a certain time of the year, that they may exhibit their +wares. These should be received in markets and public buildings without +the city, by proper officers, who shall see that justice is done them, +and shall also watch against any political designs which they may +entertain; no more intercourse is to be held with them than is +absolutely necessary. Secondly, there are the visitors at the festivals, +who shall be entertained by hospitable persons at the temples for a +reasonable time; the priests and ministers of the temples shall have +a care of them. In small suits brought by them or against them, the +priests shall be the judges; but in the more important, the wardens of +the agora. Thirdly, there are ambassadors of foreign states; these are +to be honourably received by the generals and commanders, and placed +under the care of the Prytanes and of the persons with whom they are +lodged. Fourthly, there is the philosophical stranger, who, like our +own spectators, from time to time goes to see what is rich and rare in +foreign countries. Like them he must be fifty years of age: and let him +go unbidden to the doors of the wise and rich, that he may learn from +them, and they from him. + +These are the rules of missions into foreign countries, and of the +reception of strangers. Let Zeus, the God of hospitality, be honoured; +and let not the stranger be excluded, as in Egypt, from meals and +sacrifices, or, (as at Sparta,) driven away by savage proclamations. + +Let guarantees be clearly given in writing and before witnesses. The +number of witnesses shall be three when the sum lent is under a thousand +drachmas, or five when above. The agent and principal at a fraudulent +sale shall be equally liable. He who would search another man's house +for anything must swear that he expects to find it there; and he shall +enter naked, or having on a single garment and no girdle. The owner +shall place at the disposal of the searcher all his goods, sealed as +well as unsealed; if he refuse, he shall be liable in double the value +of the property, if it shall prove to be in his possession. If the owner +be absent, the searcher may counter-seal the property which is under +seal, and place watchers. If the owner remain absent more than five +days, the searcher shall take the magistrates, and open the sealed +property, and seal it up again in their presence. The recovery of goods +disputed, except in the case of lands and houses, (about which there +can be no dispute in our state), is to be barred by time. The public and +unimpeached use of anything for a year in the city, or for five years in +the country, or the private possession and domestic use for three years +in the city, or for ten years in the country, is to give a right of +ownership. But if the possessor have the property in a foreign country, +there shall be no bar as to time. The proceedings of any trial are to +be void, in which either the parties or the witnesses, whether bond or +free, have been prevented by violence from attending:--if a slave be +prevented, the suit shall be invalid; or if a freeman, he who is guilty +of the violence shall be imprisoned for a year, and shall also be liable +to an action for kidnapping. If one competitor forcibly prevents another +from attending at the games, the other may be inscribed as victor in +the temples, and the first, whether victor or not, shall be liable to an +action for damages. The receiver of stolen goods shall undergo the same +punishment as the thief. The receiver of an exile shall be punished with +death. A man ought to have the same friends and enemies as his country; +and he who makes war or peace for himself shall be put to death. And if +a party in the state make war or peace, their leaders shall be indicted +by the generals, and, if convicted, they shall be put to death. The +ministers and officers of a country ought not to receive gifts, even as +the reward of good deeds. He who disobeys shall die. + +With a view to taxation a man should have his property and income +valued: and the government may, at their discretion, levy the tax upon +the annual return, or take a portion of the whole. + +The good man will offer moderate gifts to the Gods; his land or hearth +cannot be offered, because they are already consecrated to all Gods. +Gold and silver, which arouse envy, and ivory, which is taken from the +dead body of an animal, are unsuitable offerings; iron and brass are +materials of war. Wood and stone of a single piece may be offered; also +woven work which has not occupied one woman more than a month in making. +White is a colour which is acceptable to the Gods; figures of birds and +similar offerings are the best of gifts, but they must be such as the +painter can execute in a day. + +Next concerning lawsuits. Judges, or rather arbiters, may be agreed +upon by the plaintiff and defendant; and if no decision is obtained from +them, their fellow-tribesmen shall judge. At this stage there shall be +an increase of the penalty: the defendant, if he be cast, shall pay a +fifth more than the damages claimed. If he further persist, and appeal +a second time, the case shall be heard before the select judges; and +he shall pay, if defeated, the penalty and half as much again. And the +pursuer, if on the first appeal he is defeated, shall pay one fifth +of the damages claimed by him; and if on the second, one half. Other +matters relating to trials, such as the assignment of judges to courts, +the times of sitting, the number of judges, the modes of pleading +and procedure, as we have already said, may be determined by younger +legislators. + +These are to be the rules of private courts. As regards public courts, +many states have excellent modes of procedure which may serve for +models; these, when duly tested by experience, should be ratified and +made permanent by us. + +Let the judge be accomplished in the laws. He should possess writings +about them, and make a study of them; for laws are the highest +instrument of mental improvement, and derive their name from mind (nous, +nomos). They afford a measure of all censure and praise, whether in +verse or prose, in conversation or in books, and are an antidote to the +vain disputes of men and their equally vain acquiescence in each other's +opinions. The just judge, who imbibes their spirit, makes the city and +himself to stand upright. He establishes justice for the good, and cures +the tempers of the bad, if they can be cured; but denounces death, which +is the only remedy, to the incurable, the threads of whose life cannot +be reversed. + +When the suits of the year are completed, execution is to follow. The +court is to award to the plaintiff the property of the defendant, if he +is cast, reserving to him only his lot of land. If the plaintiff is +not satisfied within a month, the court shall put into his hands the +property of the defendant. If the defendant fails in payment to the +amount of a drachma, he shall lose the use and protection of the court; +or if he rebel against the authority of the court, he shall be brought +before the guardians of the law, and if found guilty he shall be put to +death. + +Man having been born, educated, having begotten and brought up children, +and gone to law, fulfils the debt of nature. The rites which are to be +celebrated after death in honour of the Gods above and below shall be +determined by the Interpreters. The dead shall be buried in uncultivated +places, where they will be out of the way and do least injury to the +living. For no one either in life or after death has any right to +deprive other men of the sustenance which mother earth provides for +them. No sepulchral mound is to be piled higher than five men can +raise it in five days, and the grave-stone shall not be larger than is +sufficient to contain an inscription of four heroic verses. The dead +are only to be exposed for three days, which is long enough to test the +reality of death. The legislator will instruct the people that the body +is a mere shadow or image, and that the soul, which is our true being, +is gone to give an account of herself before the Gods below. When they +hear this, the good are full of hope, and the evil are terrified. It +is also said that not much can be done for any one after death. And +therefore while in life all man should be helped by their kindred to +pass their days justly and holily, that they may depart in peace. When +a man loses a son or a brother, he should consider that the beloved one +has gone away to fulfil his destiny in another place, and should not +waste money over his lifeless remains. Let the law then order a moderate +funeral of five minae for the first class, of three for the second, of +two for the third, of one for the fourth. One of the guardians of the +law, to be selected by the relatives, shall assist them in arranging +the affairs of the deceased. There would be a want of delicacy in +prescribing that there should or should not be mourning for the dead. +But, at any rate, such mourning is to be confined to the house; there +must be no processions in the streets, and the dead body shall be taken +out of the city before daybreak. Regulations about other forms of burial +and about the non-burial of parricides and other sacrilegious persons +have already been laid down. The work of legislation is therefore nearly +completed; its end will be finally accomplished when we have provided +for the continuance of the state. + +Do you remember the names of the Fates? Lachesis, the giver of the lots, +is the first of them; Clotho, the spinster, the second; Atropos, the +unchanging one, is the third and last, who makes the threads of the web +irreversible. And we too want to make our laws irreversible, for the +unchangeable quality in them will be the salvation of the state, and the +source of health and order in the bodies and souls of our citizens. 'But +can such a quality be implanted?' I think that it may; and at any rate +we must try; for, after all our labour, to have been piling up a fabric +which has no foundation would be too ridiculous. 'What foundation would +you lay?' We have already instituted an assembly which was composed +of the ten oldest guardians of the law, and secondly, of those who had +received prizes of virtue, and thirdly, of the travellers who had gone +abroad to enquire into the laws of other countries. Moreover, each of +the members was to choose a young man, of not less than thirty years of +age, to be approved by the rest; and they were to meet at dawn, when all +the world is at leisure. This assembly will be an anchor to the vessel +of state, and provide the means of permanence; for the constitutions of +states, like all other things, have their proper saviours, which are to +them what the head and soul are to the living being. 'How do you mean?' +Mind in the soul, and sight and hearing in the head, or rather, the +perfect union of mind and sense, may be justly called every man's +salvation. 'Certainly.' Yes; but of what nature is this union? In the +case of a ship, for example, the senses of the sailors are added to the +intelligence of the pilot, and the two together save the ship and +the men in the ship. Again, the physician and the general have their +objects; and the object of the one is health, of the other victory. +States, too, have their objects, and the ruler must understand, first, +their nature, and secondly, the means of attaining them, whether in laws +or men. The state which is wanting in this knowledge cannot be +expected to be wise when the time for action arrives. Now what class +or institution is there in our state which has such a saving power? 'I +suspect that you are referring to the Nocturnal Council.' Yes, to that +council which is to have all virtue, and which should aim directly at +the mark. 'Very true.' The inconsistency of legislation in most states +is not surprising, when the variety of their objects is considered. One +of them makes their rule of justice the government of a class; another +aims at wealth; another at freedom, or at freedom and power; and some +who call themselves philosophers maintain that you should seek for all +of them at once. But our object is unmistakeably virtue, and virtue is +of four kinds. 'Yes; and we said that mind is the chief and ruler of the +three other kinds of virtue and of all else.' True, Cleinias; and now, +having already declared the object which is present to the mind of the +pilot, the general, the physician, we will interrogate the mind of the +statesman. Tell me, I say, as the physician and general have told us +their object, what is the object of the statesman. Can you tell me? 'We +cannot.' Did we not say that there are four virtues--courage, wisdom, +and two others, all of which are called by the common name of virtue, +and are in a sense one? 'Certainly we did.' The difficulty is, not in +understanding the differences of the virtues, but in apprehending their +unity. Why do we call virtue, which is a single thing, by the two names +of wisdom and courage? The reason is that courage is concerned with +fear, and is found both in children and in brutes; for the soul may +be courageous without reason, but no soul was, or ever will be, wise +without reason. 'That is true.' I have explained to you the difference, +and do you in return explain to me the unity. But first let us consider +whether any one who knows the name of a thing without the definition has +any real knowledge of it. Is not such knowledge a disgrace to a man of +sense, especially where great and glorious truths are concerned? and can +any subject be more worthy of the attention of our legislators than the +four virtues of which we are speaking--courage, temperance, justice, +wisdom? Ought not the magistrates and officers of the state to instruct +the citizens in the nature of virtue and vice, instead of leaving them +to be taught by some chance poet or sophist? A city which is without +instruction suffers the usual fate of cities in our day. What then shall +we do? How shall we perfect the ideas of our guardians about virtue? how +shall we give our state a head and eyes? 'Yes, but how do you apply the +figure?' The city will be the body or trunk; the best of our young men +will mount into the head or acropolis and be our eyes; they will look +about them, and inform the elders, who are the mind and use the younger +men as their instruments: together they will save the state. Shall this +be our constitution, or shall all be educated alike, and the special +training be given up? 'That is impossible.' Let us then endeavour to +attain to some more exact idea of education. Did we not say that the +true artist or guardian ought to have an eye, not only to the many, but +to the one, and to order all things with a view to the one? Can there be +any more philosophical speculation than how to reduce many things which +are unlike to one idea? 'Perhaps not.' Say rather, 'Certainly not.' And +the rulers of our divine state ought to have an exact knowledge of +the common principle in courage, temperance, justice, wisdom, which is +called by the name of virtue; and unless we know whether virtue is one +or many, we shall hardly know what virtue is. Shall we contrive some +means of engrafting this knowledge on our state, or give the matter up? +'Anything rather than that.' Let us begin by making an agreement. 'By +all means, if we can.' Well, are we not agreed that our guardians ought +to know, not only how the good and the honourable are many, but also how +they are one? 'Yes, certainly.' The true guardian of the laws ought to +know their truth, and should also be able to interpret and execute them? +'He should.' And is there any higher knowledge than the knowledge of the +existence and power of the Gods? The people may be excused for following +tradition; but the guardian must be able to give a reason of the faith +which is in him. And there are two great evidences of religion--the +priority of the soul and the order of the heavens. For no man of +sense, when he contemplates the universe, will be likely to substitute +necessity for reason and will. Those who maintain that the sun and the +stars are inanimate beings are utterly wrong in their opinions. The +men of a former generation had a suspicion, which has been confirmed +by later thinkers, that things inanimate could never without mind have +attained such scientific accuracy; and some (Anaxagoras) even in those +days ventured to assert that mind had ordered all things in heaven; but +they had no idea of the priority of mind, and they turned the world, +or more properly themselves, upside down, and filled the universe +with stones, and earth, and other inanimate bodies. This led to +great impiety, and the poets said many foolish things against the +philosophers, whom they compared to 'yelping she-dogs,' besides making +other abusive remarks. No man can now truly worship the Gods who does +not believe that the soul is eternal, and prior to the body, and the +ruler of all bodies, and does not perceive also that there is mind +in the stars; or who has not heard the connexion of these things with +music, and has not harmonized them with manners and laws, giving a +reason of things which are matters of reason. He who is unable to +acquire this knowledge, as well as the ordinary virtues of a citizen, +can only be a servant, and not a ruler in the state. + +Let us then add another law to the effect that the Nocturnal Council +shall be a guard set for the salvation of the state. 'Very good.' To +establish this will be our aim, and I hope that others besides myself +will assist. 'Let us proceed along the road in which God seems to guide +us.' We cannot, Megillus and Cleinias, anticipate the details which will +hereafter be needed; they must be supplied by experience. 'What do you +mean?' First of all a register will have to be made of all those whose +age, character, or education would qualify them to be guardians. The +subjects which they are to learn, and the order in which they are to +be learnt, are mysteries which cannot be explained beforehand, but not +mysteries in any other sense. 'If that is the case, what is to be done?' +We must stake our all on a lucky throw, and I will share the risk by +stating my views on education. And I would have you, Cleinias, who are +the founder of the Magnesian state, and will obtain the greatest glory +if you succeed, and will at least be praised for your courage, if you +fail, take especial heed of this matter. If we can only establish the +Nocturnal Council, we will hand over the city to its keeping; none of +the present company will hesitate about that. Our dream will then become +a reality; and our citizens, if they are carefully chosen and well +educated, will be saviours and guardians such as the world hitherto has +never seen. + +The want of completeness in the Laws becomes more apparent in the later +books. There is less arrangement in them, and the transitions are more +abrupt from one subject to another. Yet they contain several noble +passages, such as the 'prelude to the discourse concerning the honour +and dishonour of parents,' or the picture of the dangers attending the +'friendly intercourse of young men and maidens with one another,' or the +soothing remonstrance which is addressed to the dying man respecting his +right to do what he will with his own, or the fine description of the +burial of the dead. The subject of religion in Book X is introduced as +a prelude to offences against the Gods, and this portion of the work +appears to be executed in Plato's best manner. + +In the last four books, several questions occur for consideration: among +them are (I) the detection and punishment of offences; (II) the nature +of the voluntary and involuntary; (III) the arguments against atheism, +and against the opinion that the Gods have no care of human affairs; +(IV) the remarks upon retail trade; (V) the institution of the Nocturnal +Council. + +I. A weak point in the Laws of Plato is the amount of inquisition into +private life which is to be made by the rulers. The magistrate is +always watching and waylaying the citizens. He is constantly to receive +information against improprieties of life. Plato does not seem to be +aware that espionage can only have a negative effect. He has not yet +discovered the boundary line which parts the domain of law from that of +morality or social life. Men will not tell of one another; nor will +he ever be the most honoured citizen, who gives the most frequent +information about offenders to the magistrates. + +As in some writers of fiction, so also in philosophers, we may observe +the effect of age. Plato becomes more conservative as he grows older, +and he would govern the world entirely by men like himself, who are +above fifty years of age; for in them he hopes to find a principle of +stability. He does not remark that, in destroying the freedom he is +destroying also the life of the State. In reducing all the citizens to +rule and measure, he would have been depriving the Magnesian colony of +those great men 'whose acquaintance is beyond all price;' and he would +have found that in the worst-governed Hellenic State, there was more of +a carriere ouverte for extraordinary genius and virtue than in his own. + +Plato has an evident dislike of the Athenian dicasteries; he prefers a +few judges who take a leading part in the conduct of trials to a great +number who only listen in silence. He allows of two appeals--in each +case however with an increase of the penalty. Modern jurists would +disapprove of the redress of injustice being purchased only at an +increasing risk; though indirectly the burden of legal expenses, which +seems to have been little felt among the Athenians, has a similar +effect. The love of litigation, which is a remnant of barbarism quite +as much as a corruption of civilization, and was innate in the Athenian +people, is diminished in the new state by the imposition of severe +penalties. If persevered in, it is to be punished with death. + +In the Laws murder and homicide besides being crimes, are also +pollutions. Regarded from this point of view, the estimate of such +offences is apt to depend on accidental circumstances, such as the +shedding of blood, and not on the real guilt of the offender or the +injury done to society. They are measured by the horror which they +arouse in a barbarous age. For there is a superstition in law as well as +in religion, and the feelings of a primitive age have a traditional hold +on the mass of the people. On the other hand, Plato is innocent of the +barbarity which would visit the sins of the fathers upon the children, +and he is quite aware that punishment has an eye to the future, and not +to the past. Compared with that of most European nations in the last +century his penal code, though sometimes capricious, is reasonable and +humane. + +A defect in Plato's criminal jurisprudence is his remission of the +punishment when the homicide has obtained the forgiveness of the +murdered person; as if crime were a personal affair between +individuals, and not an offence against the State. There is a ridiculous +disproportion in his punishments. Because a slave may fairly receive +a blow for stealing one fig or one bunch of grapes, or a tradesman for +selling adulterated goods to the value of one drachma, it is rather +hard upon the slave that he should receive as many blows as he has taken +grapes or figs, or upon the tradesman who has sold adulterated goods +to the value of a thousand drachmas that he should receive a thousand +blows. + +II. But before punishment can be inflicted at all, the legislator +must determine the nature of the voluntary and involuntary. The great +question of the freedom of the will, which in modern times has been worn +threadbare with purely abstract discussion, was approached both by Plato +and Aristotle--first, from the judicial; secondly, from the sophistical +point of view. They were puzzled by the degrees and kinds of crime; they +observed also that the law only punished hurts which are inflicted by a +voluntary agent on an involuntary patient. + +In attempting to distinguish between hurt and injury, Plato says that +mere hurt is not injury; but that a benefit when done in a wrong spirit +may sometimes injure, e.g. when conferred without regard to right and +wrong, or to the good or evil consequences which may follow. He means +to say that the good or evil disposition of the agent is the principle +which characterizes actions; and this is not sufficiently described by +the terms voluntary and involuntary. You may hurt another involuntarily, +and no one would suppose that you had injured him; and you may hurt him +voluntarily, as in inflicting punishment--neither is this injury; but if +you hurt him from motives of avarice, ambition, or cowardly fear, this +is injury. Injustice is also described as the victory of desire or +passion or self-conceit over reason, as justice is the subordination of +them to reason. In some paradoxical sense Plato is disposed to affirm +all injustice to be involuntary; because no man would do injustice who +knew that it never paid and could calculate the consequences of what +he was doing. Yet, on the other hand, he admits that the distinction of +voluntary and involuntary, taken in another and more obvious sense, is +the basis of legislation. His conception of justice and injustice is +complicated (1) by the want of a distinction between justice and virtue, +that is to say, between the quality which primarily regards others, and +the quality in which self and others are equally regarded; (2) by the +confusion of doing and suffering justice; (3) by the unwillingness to +renounce the old Socratic paradox, that evil is involuntary. + +III. The Laws rest on a religious foundation; in this respect they +bear the stamp of primitive legislation. They do not escape the almost +inevitable consequence of making irreligion penal. If laws are based +upon religion, the greatest offence against them must be irreligion. +Hence the necessity for what in modern language, and according to a +distinction which Plato would scarcely have understood, might be termed +persecution. But the spirit of persecution in Plato, unlike that of +modern religious bodies, arises out of the desire to enforce a true and +simple form of religion, and is directed against the superstitions which +tend to degrade mankind. Sir Thomas More, in his Utopia, is in favour +of tolerating all except the intolerant, though he would not promote to +high offices those who disbelieved in the immortality of the soul. Plato +has not advanced quite so far as this in the path of toleration. But +in judging of his enlightenment, we must remember that the evils of +necromancy and divination were far greater than those of intolerance in +the ancient world. Human nature is always having recourse to the first; +but only when organized into some form of priesthood falls into the +other; although in primitive as in later ages the institution of a +priesthood may claim probably to be an advance on some form of religion +which preceded. The Laws would have rested on a sounder foundation, if +Plato had ever distinctly realized to his mind the difference between +crime and sin or vice. Of this, as of many other controversies, a clear +definition might have been the end. But such a definition belongs to a +later age of philosophy. + +The arguments which Plato uses for the being of a God, have an extremely +modern character: first, the consensus gentium; secondly, the argument +which has already been adduced in the Phaedrus, of the priority of the +self-moved. The answer to those who say that God 'cares not,' is, that +He governs by general laws; and that he who takes care of the great +will assuredly take care of the small. Plato did not feel, and has not +attempted to consider, the difficulty of reconciling the special with +the general providence of God. Yet he is on the road to a solution, when +he regards the world as a whole, of which all the parts work together +towards the final end. + +We are surprised to find that the scepticism, which we attribute to +young men in our own day, existed then (compare Republic); that the +Epicureanism expressed in the line of Horace (borrowed from Lucretius)-- + +'Namque Deos didici securum agere aevum,' + +was already prevalent in the age of Plato; and that the terrors of +another world were freely used in order to gain advantages over other +men in this. The same objection which struck the Psalmist--'when I saw +the prosperity of the wicked'--is supposed to lie at the root of the +better sort of unbelief. And the answer is substantially the same which +the modern theologian would offer:--that the ways of God in this world +cannot be justified unless there be a future state of rewards and +punishments. Yet this future state of rewards and punishments is in +Plato's view not any addition of happiness or suffering imposed from +without, but the permanence of good and evil in the soul: here he is in +advance of many modern theologians. The Greek, too, had his difficulty +about the existence of evil, which in one solitary passage, remarkable +for being inconsistent with his general system, Plato explains, +after the Magian fashion, by a good and evil spirit (compare Theaet., +Statesman). This passage is also remarkable for being at variance with +the general optimism of the Tenth Book--not 'all things are ordered by +God for the best,' but some things by a good, others by an evil spirit. + +The Tenth Book of the Laws presents a picture of the state of belief +among the Greeks singularly like that of the world in which we live. +Plato is disposed to attribute the incredulity of his own age to several +causes. First, to the bad effect of mythological tales, of which he +retains his disapproval; but he has a weak side for antiquity, and is +unwilling, as in the Republic, wholly to proscribe them. Secondly, he +remarks the self-conceit of a newly-fledged generation of philosophers, +who declare that the sun, moon, and stars, are earth and stones only; +and who also maintain that the Gods are made by the laws of the state. +Thirdly, he notes a confusion in the minds of men arising out of their +misinterpretation of the appearances of the world around them: they do +not always see the righteous rewarded and the wicked punished. So in +modern times there are some whose infidelity has arisen from doubts +about the inspiration of ancient writings; others who have been made +unbelievers by physical science, or again by the seemingly political +character of religion; while there is a third class to whose minds the +difficulty of 'justifying the ways of God to man' has been the chief +stumblingblock. Plato is very much out of temper at the impiety of some +of his contemporaries; yet he is determined to reason with the victims, +as he regards them, of these illusions before he punishes them. His +answer to the unbelievers is twofold: first, that the soul is prior to +the body; secondly, that the ruler of the universe being perfect has +made all things with a view to their perfection. The difficulties +arising out of ancient sacred writings were far less serious in the age +of Plato than in our own. + +We too have our popular Epicureanism, which would allow the world to go +on as if there were no God. When the belief in Him, whether of ancient +or modern times, begins to fade away, men relegate Him, either in theory +or practice, into a distant heaven. They do not like expressly to deny +God when it is more convenient to forget Him; and so the theory of the +Epicurean becomes the practice of mankind in general. Nor can we be +said to be free from that which Plato justly considers to be the worst +unbelief--of those who put superstition in the place of true religion. +For the larger half of Christians continue to assert that the justice of +God may be turned aside by gifts, and, if not by the 'odour of fat, and +the sacrifice steaming to heaven,' still by another kind of +sacrifice placed upon the altar--by masses for the quick and dead, by +dispensations, by building churches, by rites and ceremonies--by the +same means which the heathen used, taking other names and shapes. And +the indifference of Epicureanism and unbelief is in two ways the parent +of superstition, partly because it permits, and also because it +creates, a necessity for its development in religious and enthusiastic +temperaments. If men cannot have a rational belief, they will have an +irrational. And hence the most superstitious countries are also at a +certain point of civilization the most unbelieving, and the revolution +which takes one direction is quickly followed by a reaction in the +other. So we may read 'between the lines' ancient history and philosophy +into modern, and modern into ancient. Whether we compare the theory of +Greek philosophy with the Christian religion, or the practice of the +Gentile world with the practice of the Christian world, they will be +found to differ more in words and less in reality than we might have +supposed. The greater opposition which is sometimes made between them +seems to arise chiefly out of a comparison of the ideal of the one with +the practice of the other. + +To the errors of superstition and unbelief Plato opposes the simple and +natural truth of religion; the best and highest, whether conceived in +the form of a person or a principle--as the divine mind or as the idea +of good--is believed by him to be the basis of human life. That all +things are working together for good to the good and evil to the evil in +this or in some other world to which human actions are transferred, is +the sum of his faith or theology. Unlike Socrates, he is absolutely free +from superstition. Religion and morality are one and indivisible to him. +He dislikes the 'heathen mythology,' which, as he significantly remarks, +was not tolerated in Crete, and perhaps (for the meaning of his words +is not quite clear) at Sparta. He gives no encouragement to individual +enthusiasm; 'the establishment of religion could only be the work of a +mighty intellect.' Like the Hebrews, he prohibits private rites; for the +avoidance of superstition, he would transfer all worship of the Gods +to the public temples. He would not have men and women consecrating +the accidents of their lives. He trusts to human punishments and not to +divine judgments; though he is not unwilling to repeat the old tradition +that certain kinds of dishonesty 'prevent a man from having a family.' +He considers that the 'ages of faith' have passed away and cannot now +be recalled. Yet he is far from wishing to extirpate the sentiment of +religion, which he sees to be common to all mankind--Barbarians as well +as Hellenes. He remarks that no one passes through life without, sooner +or later, experiencing its power. To which we may add the further remark +that the greater the irreligion, the more violent has often been the +religious reaction. + +It is remarkable that Plato's account of mind at the end of the Laws +goes beyond Anaxagoras, and beyond himself in any of his previous +writings. Aristotle, in a well-known passage (Met.) which is an echo of +the Phaedo, remarks on the inconsistency of Anaxagoras in introducing +the agency of mind, and yet having recourse to other and inferior, +probably material causes. But Plato makes the further criticism, that +the error of Anaxagoras consisted, not in denying the universal agency +of mind, but in denying the priority, or, as we should say, the eternity +of it. Yet in the Timaeus he had himself allowed that God made the world +out of pre-existing materials: in the Statesman he says that there were +seeds of evil in the world arising out of the remains of a former chaos +which could not be got rid of; and even in the Tenth Book of the Laws he +has admitted that there are two souls, a good and evil. In the Meno, the +Phaedrus, and the Phaedo, he had spoken of the recovery of ideas from a +former state of existence. But now he has attained to a clearer point of +view: he has discarded these fancies. From meditating on the priority of +the human soul to the body, he has learnt the nature of soul absolutely. +The power of the best, of which he gave an intimation in the Phaedo +and in the Republic, now, as in the Philebus, takes the form of an +intelligence or person. He no longer, like Anaxagoras, supposes mind to +be introduced at a certain time into the world and to give order to +a pre-existing chaos, but to be prior to the chaos, everlasting and +evermoving, and the source of order and intelligence in all things. This +appears to be the last form of Plato's religious philosophy, which might +almost be summed up in the words of Kant, 'the starry heaven above and +the moral law within.' Or rather, perhaps, 'the starry heaven above and +mind prior to the world.' + +IV. The remarks about retail trade, about adulteration, and about +mendicity, have a very modern character. Greek social life was more +like our own than we are apt to suppose. There was the same division +of ranks, the same aristocratic and democratic feeling, and, even in a +democracy, the same preference for land and for agricultural pursuits. +Plato may be claimed as the first free trader, when he prohibits the +imposition of customs on imports and exports, though he was clearly +not aware of the importance of the principle which he enunciated. The +discredit of retail trade he attributes to the rogueries of traders, +and is inclined to believe that if a nobleman would keep a shop, which +heaven forbid! retail trade might become honourable. He has hardly +lighted upon the true reason, which appears to be the essential +distinction between buyers and sellers, the one class being necessarily +in some degree dependent on the other. When he proposes to fix prices +'which would allow a moderate gain,' and to regulate trade in several +minute particulars, we must remember that this is by no means so absurd +in a city consisting of 5040 citizens, in which almost every one would +know and become known to everybody else, as in our own vast population. +Among ourselves we are very far from allowing every man to charge what +he pleases. Of many things the prices are fixed by law. Do we not often +hear of wages being adjusted in proportion to the profits of employers? +The objection to regulating them by law and thus avoiding the conflicts +which continually arise between the buyers and sellers of labour, is not +so much the undesirableness as the impossibility of doing so. Wherever +free competition is not reconcileable either with the order of society, +or, as in the case of adulteration, with common honesty, the government +may lawfully interfere. The only question is,--Whether the interference +will be effectual, and whether the evil of interference may not be +greater than the evil which is prevented by it. + +He would prohibit beggars, because in a well-ordered state no good man +would be left to starve. This again is a prohibition which might have +been easily enforced, for there is no difficulty in maintaining the +poor when the population is small. In our own times the difficulty of +pauperism is rendered far greater, (1) by the enormous numbers, (2) by +the facility of locomotion, (3) by the increasing tenderness for human +life and suffering. And the only way of meeting the difficulty seems +to be by modern nations subdividing themselves into small bodies having +local knowledge and acting together in the spirit of ancient communities +(compare Arist. Pol.) + +V. Regarded as the framework of a polity the Laws are deemed by Plato to +be a decline from the Republic, which is the dream of his earlier years. +He nowhere imagines that he has reached a higher point of speculation. +He is only descending to the level of human things, and he often returns +to his original idea. For the guardians of the Republic, who were +the elder citizens, and were all supposed to be philosophers, is now +substituted a special body, who are to review and amend the laws, +preserving the spirit of the legislator. These are the Nocturnal +Council, who, although they are not specially trained in dialectic, +are not wholly destitute of it; for they must know the relation of +particular virtues to the general principle of virtue. Plato has been +arguing throughout the Laws that temperance is higher than courage, +peace than war, that the love of both must enter into the character of +the good citizen. And at the end the same thought is summed up by him in +an abstract form. The true artist or guardian must be able to reduce the +many to the one, than which, as he says with an enthusiasm worthy of the +Phaedrus or Philebus, 'no more philosophical method was ever devised +by the wit of man.' But the sense of unity in difference can only be +acquired by study; and Plato does not explain to us the nature of this +study, which we may reasonably infer, though there is a remarkable +omission of the word, to be akin to the dialectic of the Republic. + +The Nocturnal Council is to consist of the priests who have obtained the +rewards of virtue, of the ten eldest guardians of the law, and of the +director and ex-directors of education; each of whom is to select for +approval a younger coadjutor. To this council the 'Spectator,' who is +sent to visit foreign countries, has to make his report. It is not +an administrative body, but an assembly of sages who are to make +legislation their study. Plato is not altogether disinclined to changes +in the law where experience shows them to be necessary; but he is also +anxious that the original spirit of the constitution should never be +lost sight of. + +The Laws of Plato contain the latest phase of his philosophy, showing in +many respects an advance, and in others a decline, in his views of life +and the world. His Theory of Ideas in the next generation passed +into one of Numbers, the nature of which we gather chiefly from the +Metaphysics of Aristotle. Of the speculative side of this theory there +are no traces in the Laws, but doubtless Plato found the practical value +which he attributed to arithmetic greatly confirmed by the possibility +of applying number and measure to the revolution of the heavens, and +to the regulation of human life. In the return to a doctrine of numbers +there is a retrogression rather than an advance; for the most barren +logical abstraction is of a higher nature than number and figure. +Philosophy fades away into the distance; in the Laws it is confined to +the members of the Nocturnal Council. The speculative truth which was +the food of the guardians in the Republic, is for the majority of the +citizens to be superseded by practical virtues. The law, which is the +expression of mind written down, takes the place of the living word of +the philosopher. (Compare the contrast of Phaedrus, and Laws; also the +plays on the words nous, nomos, nou dianome; and the discussion in the +Statesman of the difference between the personal rule of a king and +the impersonal reign of law.) The State is based on virtue and religion +rather than on knowledge; and virtue is no longer identified with +knowledge, being of the commoner sort, and spoken of in the sense +generally understood. Yet there are many traces of advance as well as +retrogression in the Laws of Plato. The attempt to reconcile the ideal +with actual life is an advance; to 'have brought philosophy down from +heaven to earth,' is a praise which may be claimed for him as well as +for his master Socrates. And the members of the Nocturnal Council are +to continue students of the 'one in many' and of the nature of God. +Education is the last word with which Plato supposes the theory of the +Laws to end and the reality to begin. + +Plato's increasing appreciation of the difficulties of human affairs, +and of the element of chance which so largely influences them, is an +indication not of a narrower, but of a maturer mind, which had become +more conversant with realities. Nor can we fairly attribute any want of +originality to him, because he has borrowed many of his provisions from +Sparta and Athens. Laws and institutions grow out of habits and customs; +and they have 'better opinion, better confirmation,' if they have come +down from antiquity and are not mere literary inventions. Plato would +have been the first to acknowledge that the Book of Laws was not the +creation of his fancy, but a collection of enactments which had been +devised by inspired legislators, like Minos, Lycurgus, and Solon, +to meet the actual needs of men, and had been approved by time and +experience. + +In order to do justice therefore to the design of the work, it is +necessary to examine how far it rests on an historical foundation and +coincides with the actual laws of Sparta and Athens. The consideration +of the historical aspect of the Laws has been reserved for this place. +In working out the comparison the writer has been greatly assisted +by the excellent essays of C.F. Hermann ('De vestigiis institutorum +veterum, imprimis Atticorum, per Platonis de Legibus libros indagandis,' +and 'Juris domestici et familiaris apud Platonem in Legibus cum veteris +Graeciae inque primis Athenarum institutis comparatio': Marburg, 1836), +and by J.B. Telfy's 'Corpus Juris Attici' (Leipzig, 1868). + + + + +EXCURSUS ON THE RELATION OF THE LAWS OF PLATO TO THE INSTITUTIONS OF +CRETE AND LACEDAEMON AND TO THE LAWS AND CONSTITUTION OF ATHENS. + +The Laws of Plato are essentially Greek: unlike Xenophon's Cyropaedia, +they contain nothing foreign or oriental. Their aim is to reconstruct +the work of the great lawgivers of Hellas in a literary form. They +partake both of an Athenian and a Spartan character. Some of them too +are derived from Crete, and are appropriately transferred to a Cretan +colony. But of Crete so little is known to us, that although, as +Montesquieu (Esprit des Lois) remarks, 'the Laws of Crete are the +original of those of Sparta and the Laws of Plato the correction of +these latter,' there is only one point, viz. the common meals, in which +they can be compared. Most of Plato's provisions resemble the laws and +customs which prevailed in these three states (especially in the two +former), and which the personifying instinct of the Greeks attributed +to Minos, Lycurgus, and Solon. A very few particulars may have been +borrowed from Zaleucus (Cic. de Legibus), and Charondas, who is said to +have first made laws against perjury (Arist. Pol.) and to have forbidden +credit (Stob. Florileg., Gaisford). Some enactments are Plato's own, and +were suggested by his experience of defects in the Athenian and other +Greek states. The Laws also contain many lesser provisions, which are +not found in the ordinary codes of nations, because they cannot be +properly defined, and are therefore better left to custom and common +sense. 'The greater part of the work,' as Aristotle remarks (Pol.), 'is +taken up with laws': yet this is not wholly true, and applies to the +latter rather than to the first half of it. The book rests on an ethical +and religious foundation: the actual laws begin with a hymn of praise +in honour of the soul. And the same lofty aspiration after the good +is perpetually recurring, especially in Books X, XI, XII, and whenever +Plato's mind is filled with his highest themes. In prefixing to most of +his laws a prooemium he has two ends in view, to persuade and also +to threaten. They are to have the sanction of laws and the effect of +sermons. And Plato's 'Book of Laws,' if described in the language of +modern philosophy, may be said to be as much an ethical and educational, +as a political or legal treatise. + +But although the Laws partake both of an Athenian and a Spartan +character, the elements which are borrowed from either state are +necessarily very different, because the character and origin of the two +governments themselves differed so widely. Sparta was the more ancient +and primitive: Athens was suited to the wants of a later stage of +society. The relation of the two states to the Laws may be conceived +in this manner:--The foundation and ground-plan of the work are more +Spartan, while the superstructure and details are more Athenian. At +Athens the laws were written down and were voluminous; more than a +thousand fragments of them have been collected by Telfy. Like the Roman +or English law, they contained innumerable particulars. Those of them +which regulated daily life were familiarly known to the Athenians; for +every citizen was his own lawyer, and also a judge, who decided the +rights of his fellow-citizens according to the laws, often after hearing +speeches from the parties interested or from their advocates. It is to +Rome and not to Athens that the invention of law, in the modern sense +of the term, is commonly ascribed. But it must be remembered that long +before the times of the Twelve Tables (B.C. 451), regular courts and +forms of law had existed at Athens and probably in the Greek colonies. +And we may reasonably suppose, though without any express proof of the +fact, that many Roman institutions and customs, like Latin literature +and mythology, were partly derived from Hellas and had imperceptibly +drifted from one shore of the Ionian Sea to the other (compare +especially the constitutions of Servius Tullius and of Solon). + +It is not proved that the laws of Sparta were in ancient times either +written down in books or engraved on tablets of marble or brass. Nor is +it certain that, if they had been, the Spartans could have read +them. They were ancient customs, some of them older probably than the +settlement in Laconia, of which the origin is unknown; they occasionally +received the sanction of the Delphic oracle, but there was a still +stronger obligation by which they were enforced,--the necessity of +self-defence: the Spartans were always living in the presence of their +enemies. They belonged to an age when written law had not yet taken +the place of custom and tradition. The old constitution was very rarely +affected by new enactments, and these only related to the duties of the +Kings or Ephors, or the new relations of classes which arose as +time went on. Hence there was as great a difference as could well +be conceived between the Laws of Athens and Sparta: the one was the +creation of a civilized state, and did not differ in principle from our +modern legislation, the other of an age in which the people were held +together and also kept down by force of arms, and which afterwards +retained many traces of its barbaric origin 'surviving in culture.' + +Nevertheless the Lacedaemonian was the ideal of a primitive Greek state. +According to Thucydides it was the first which emerged out of confusion +and became a regular government. It was also an army devoted to +military exercises, but organized with a view to self-defence and not +to conquest. It was not quick to move or easily excited; but stolid, +cautious, unambitious, procrastinating. For many centuries it retained +the same character which was impressed upon it by the hand of the +legislator. This singular fabric was partly the result of circumstances, +partly the invention of some unknown individual in prehistoric times, +whose ideal of education was military discipline, and who, by the +ascendency of his genius, made a small tribe into a nation which became +famous in the world's history. The other Hellenes wondered at the +strength and stability of his work. The rest of Hellas, says Thucydides, +undertook the colonisation of Heraclea the more readily, having a +feeling of security now that they saw the Lacedaemonians taking part in +it. The Spartan state appears to us in the dawn of history as a vision +of armed men, irresistible by any other power then existing in the +world. It can hardly be said to have understood at all the rights +or duties of nations to one another, or indeed to have had any moral +principle except patriotism and obedience to commanders. Men were so +trained to act together that they lost the freedom and spontaneity of +human life in cultivating the qualities of the soldier and ruler. The +Spartan state was a composite body in which kings, nobles, citizens, +perioeci, artisans, slaves, had to find a 'modus vivendi' with one +another. All of them were taught some use of arms. The strength of the +family tie was diminished among them by an enforced absence from +home and by common meals. Sparta had no life or growth; no poetry or +tradition of the past; no art, no thought. The Athenians started on +their great career some centuries later, but the Spartans would have +been easily conquered by them, if Athens had not been deficient in the +qualities which constituted the strength (and also the weakness) of her +rival. + +The ideal of Athens has been pictured for all time in the speech which +Thucydides puts into the mouth of Pericles, called the Funeral Oration. +He contrasts the activity and freedom and pleasantness of Athenian +life with the immobility and severe looks and incessant drill of the +Spartans. The citizens of no city were more versatile, or more readily +changed from land to sea or more quickly moved about from place to +place. They 'took their pleasures' merrily, and yet, when the time for +fighting arrived, were not a whit behind the Spartans, who were like men +living in a camp, and, though always keeping guard, were often too late +for the fray. Any foreigner might visit Athens; her ships found a way +to the most distant shores; the riches of the whole earth poured in upon +her. Her citizens had their theatres and festivals; they 'provided their +souls with many relaxations'; yet they were not less manly than the +Spartans or less willing to sacrifice this enjoyable existence for their +country's good. The Athenian was a nobler form of life than that of +their rivals, a life of music as well as of gymnastic, the life of a +citizen as well as of a soldier. Such is the picture which Thucydides +has drawn of the Athenians in their glory. It is the spirit of this life +which Plato would infuse into the Magnesian state and which he seeks to +combine with the common meals and gymnastic discipline of Sparta. + +The two great types of Athens and Sparta had deeply entered into his +mind. He had heard of Sparta at a distance and from common Hellenic +fame: he was a citizen of Athens and an Athenian of noble birth. He must +often have sat in the law-courts, and may have had personal experience +of the duties of offices such as he is establishing. There is no need to +ask the question, whence he derived his knowledge of the Laws of +Athens: they were a part of his daily life. Many of his enactments +are recognized to be Athenian laws from the fragments preserved in +the Orators and elsewhere: many more would be found to be so if we had +better information. Probably also still more of them would have been +incorporated in the Magnesian code, if the work had ever been finally +completed. But it seems to have come down to us in a form which is +partly finished and partly unfinished, having a beginning and end, +but wanting arrangement in the middle. The Laws answer to Plato's own +description of them, in the comparison which he makes of himself and his +two friends to gatherers of stones or the beginners of some +composite work, 'who are providing materials and partly putting them +together:--having some of their laws, like stones, already fixed in +their places, while others lie about.' + +Plato's own life coincided with the period at which Athens rose to her +greatest heights and sank to her lowest depths. It was impossible that +he should regard the blessings of democracy in the same light as the +men of a former generation, whose view was not intercepted by the evil +shadow of the taking of Athens, and who had only the glories of Marathon +and Salamis and the administration of Pericles to look back upon. On the +other hand the fame and prestige of Sparta, which had outlived so many +crimes and blunders, was not altogether lost at the end of the life +of Plato. Hers was the only great Hellenic government which preserved +something of its ancient form; and although the Spartan citizens were +reduced to almost one-tenth of their original number (Arist. Pol.), +she still retained, until the rise of Thebes and Macedon, a certain +authority and predominance due to her final success in the struggle with +Athens and to the victories which Agesilaus won in Asia Minor. + +Plato, like Aristotle, had in his mind some form of a mean state which +should escape the evils and secure the advantages of both aristocracy +and democracy. It may however be doubted whether the creation of such +a state is not beyond the legislator's art, although there have been +examples in history of forms of government, which through some community +of interest or of origin, through a balance of parties in the state +itself, or through the fear of a common enemy, have for a while +preserved such a character of moderation. But in general there arises a +time in the history of a state when the struggle between the few and +the many has to be fought out. No system of checks and balances, such as +Plato has devised in the Laws, could have given equipoise and stability +to an ancient state, any more than the skill of the legislator could +have withstood the tide of democracy in England or France during the +last hundred years, or have given life to China or India. + +The basis of the Magnesian constitution is the equal division of land. +In the new state, as in the Republic, there was to be neither poverty +nor riches. Every citizen under all circumstances retained his lot, and +as much money as was necessary for the cultivation of it, and no one was +allowed to accumulate property to the amount of more than five times +the value of the lot, inclusive of it. The equal division of land was a +Spartan institution, not known to have existed elsewhere in Hellas. The +mention of it in the Laws of Plato affords considerable presumption that +it was of ancient origin, and not first introduced, as Mr. Grote and +others have imagined, in the reformation of Cleomenes III. But at +Sparta, if we may judge from the frequent complaints of the accumulation +of property in the hands of a few persons (Arist. Pol.), no provision +could have been made for the maintenance of the lot. Plutarch indeed +speaks of a law introduced by the Ephor Epitadeus soon after the +Peloponnesian War, which first allowed the Spartans to sell their land +(Agis): but from the manner in which Aristotle refers to the subject, +we should imagine this evil in the state to be of a much older standing. +Like some other countries in which small proprietors have been numerous, +the original equality passed into inequality, and, instead of a large +middle class, there was probably at Sparta greater disproportion in the +property of the citizens than in any other state of Hellas. Plato was +aware of the danger, and has improved on the Spartan custom. The land, +as at Sparta, must have been tilled by slaves, since other occupations +were found for the citizens. Bodies of young men between the ages of +twenty-five and thirty were engaged in making biennial peregrinations of +the country. They and their officers are to be the magistrates, police, +engineers, aediles, of the twelve districts into which the colony was +divided. Their way of life may be compared with that of the Spartan +secret police or Crypteia, a name which Plato freely applies to them +without apparently any consciousness of the odium which has attached to +the word in history. + +Another great institution which Plato borrowed from Sparta (or Crete) is +the Syssitia or common meals. These were established in both states, and +in some respects were considered by Aristotle to be better managed in +Crete than at Lacedaemon (Pol.). In the Laws the Cretan custom appears +to be adopted (This is not proved, as Hermann supposes ('De Vestigiis,' +etc.)): that is to say, if we may interpret Plato by Aristotle, the cost +of them was defrayed by the state and not by the individuals (Arist. +Pol); so that the members of the mess, who could not pay their quota, +still retained their rights of citizenship. But this explanation is +hardly consistent with the Laws, where contributions to the Syssitia +from private estates are expressly mentioned. Plato goes further than +the legislators of Sparta and Crete, and would extend the common meals +to women as well as men: he desires to curb the disorders, which existed +among the female sex in both states, by the application to women of the +same military discipline to which the men were already subject. It +was an extension of the custom of Syssitia from which the ancient +legislators shrank, and which Plato himself believed to be very +difficult of enforcement. + +Like Sparta, the new colony was not to be surrounded by walls,--a state +should learn to depend upon the bravery of its citizens only--a fallacy +or paradox, if it is not to be regarded as a poetical fancy, which is +fairly enough ridiculed by Aristotle (Pol.). Women, too, must be ready +to assist in the defence of their country: they are not to rush to the +temples and altars, but to arm themselves with shield and spear. In the +regulation of the Syssitia, in at least one of his enactments respecting +property, and in the attempt to correct the licence of women, Plato +shows, that while he borrowed from the institutions of Sparta and +favoured the Spartan mode of life, he also sought to improve upon them. + +The enmity to the sea is another Spartan feature which is transferred +by Plato to the Magnesian state. He did not reflect that a non-maritime +power would always be at the mercy of one which had a command of the +great highway. Their many island homes, the vast extent of coast which +had to be protected by them, their struggles first of all with the +Phoenicians and Carthaginians, and secondly with the Persian fleets, +forced the Greeks, mostly against their will, to devote themselves to +the sea. The islanders before the inhabitants of the continent, the +maritime cities before the inland, the Corinthians and Athenians before +the Spartans, were compelled to fit out ships: last of all the Spartans, +by the pressure of the Peloponnesian War, were driven to establish a +naval force, which, after the battle of Aegospotami, for more than +a generation commanded the Aegean. Plato, like the Spartans, had a +prejudice against a navy, because he regarded it as the nursery of +democracy. But he either never considered, or did not care to explain, +how a city, set upon an island and 'distant not more than ten miles from +the sea, having a seaboard provided with excellent harbours,' could have +safely subsisted without one. + +Neither the Spartans nor the Magnesian colonists were permitted to +engage in trade or commerce. In order to limit their dealings as far +as possible to their own country, they had a separate coinage; the +Magnesians were only allowed to use the common currency of Hellas when +they travelled abroad, which they were forbidden to do unless they +received permission from the government. Like the Spartans, Plato +was afraid of the evils which might be introduced into his state +by intercourse with foreigners; but he also shrinks from the utter +exclusiveness of Sparta, and is not unwilling to allow visitors of a +suitable age and rank to come from other states to his own, as he also +allows citizens of his own state to go to foreign countries and bring +back a report of them. Such international communication seemed to him +both honourable and useful. + +We may now notice some points in which the commonwealth of the Laws +approximates to the Athenian model. These are much more numerous than +the previous class of resemblances; we are better able to compare the +laws of Plato with those of Athens, because a good deal more is known to +us of Athens than of Sparta. + +The information which we possess about Athenian law, though +comparatively fuller, is still fragmentary. The sources from which our +knowledge is derived are chiefly the following:-- + +(1) The Orators,--Antiphon, Andocides, Lysias, Isocrates, Demosthenes, +Aeschines, Lycurgus, and others. + +(2) Herodotus, Thucydides, Xenophon, Plato, Aristotle, as well as later +writers, such as Cicero de Legibus, Plutarch, Aelian, Pausanias. + +(3) Lexicographers, such as Harpocration, Pollux, Hesychius, Suidas, and +the compiler of the Etymologicum Magnum, many of whom are of uncertain +date, and to a great extent based upon one another. Their writings +extend altogether over more than eight hundred years, from the second to +the tenth century. + +(4) The Scholia on Aristophanes, Plato, Demosthenes. + +(5) A few inscriptions. + +Our knowledge of a subject derived from such various sources and for the +most part of uncertain date and origin, is necessarily precarious. No +critic can separate the actual laws of Solon from those which passed +under his name in later ages. Nor do the Scholiasts and Lexicographers +attempt to distinguish how many of these laws were still in force at the +time when they wrote, or when they fell into disuse and were to be found +in books only. Nor can we hastily assume that enactments which occur +in the Laws of Plato were also a part of Athenian law, however probable +this may appear. + +There are two classes of similarities between Plato's Laws and those of +Athens: (i) of institutions (ii) of minor enactments. + +(i) The constitution of the Laws in its general character resembles much +more nearly the Athenian constitution of Solon's time than that which +succeeded it, or the extreme democracy which prevailed in Plato's own +day. It was a mean state which he hoped to create, equally unlike a +Syracusan tyranny or the mob-government of the Athenian assembly. There +are various expedients by which he sought to impart to it the quality of +moderation. (1) The whole people were to be educated: they could not be +all trained in philosophy, but they were to acquire the simple elements +of music, arithmetic, geometry, astronomy; they were also to be subject +to military discipline, archontes kai archomenoi. (2) The majority of +them were, or had been at some time in their lives, magistrates, and had +the experience which is given by office. (3) The persons who held the +highest offices were to have a further education, not much inferior to +that provided for the guardians in the Republic, though the range of +their studies is narrowed to the nature and divisions of virtue: here +their philosophy comes to an end. (4) The entire number of the citizens +(5040) rarely, if ever, assembled, except for purposes of elections. The +whole people were divided into four classes, each having the right to be +represented by the same number of members in the Council. The result of +such an arrangement would be, as in the constitution of Servius Tullius, +to give a disproportionate share of power to the wealthier classes, who +may be supposed to be always much fewer in number than the poorer. This +tendency was qualified by the complicated system of selection by vote, +previous to the final election by lot, of which the object seems to be +to hand over to the wealthy few the power of selecting from the many +poor, and vice versa. (5) The most important body in the state was the +Nocturnal Council, which is borrowed from the Areopagus at Athens, as it +existed, or was supposed to have existed, in the days before Ephialtes +and the Eumenides of Aeschylus, when its power was undiminished. In +some particulars Plato appears to have copied exactly the customs and +procedure of the Areopagus: both assemblies sat at night (Telfy). There +was a resemblance also in more important matters. Like the Areopagus, +the Nocturnal Council was partly composed of magistrates and other +state officials, whose term of office had expired. (7) The constitution +included several diverse and even opposing elements, such as +the Assembly and the Nocturnal Council. (8) There was much less +exclusiveness than at Sparta; the citizens were to have an interest in +the government of neighbouring states, and to know what was going on in +the rest of the world.--All these were moderating influences. + +A striking similarity between Athens and the constitution of the +Magnesian colony is the use of the lot in the election of judges +and other magistrates. That such a mode of election should have +been resorted to in any civilized state, or that it should have been +transferred by Plato to an ideal or imaginary one, is very singular +to us. The most extreme democracy of modern times has never thought of +leaving government wholly to chance. It was natural that Socrates +should scoff at it, and ask, 'Who would choose a pilot or carpenter or +flute-player by lot' (Xen. Mem.)? Yet there were many considerations +which made this mode of choice attractive both to the oligarch and to +the democrat:--(1) It seemed to recognize that one man was as good as +another, and that all the members of the governing body, whether few or +many, were on a perfect equality in every sense of the word. (2) To the +pious mind it appeared to be a choice made, not by man, but by heaven +(compare Laws). (3) It afforded a protection against corruption and +intrigue...It must also be remembered that, although elected by lot, +the persons so elected were subject to a scrutiny before they entered +on their office, and were therefore liable, after election, if +disqualified, to be rejected (Laws). They were, moreover, liable to be +called to account after the expiration of their office. In the election +of councillors Plato introduces a further check: they are not to be +chosen directly by lot from all the citizens, but from a select body +previously elected by vote. In Plato's state at least, as we may infer +from his silence on this point, judges and magistrates performed +their duties without pay, which was a guarantee both of their +disinterestedness and of their belonging probably to the higher class of +citizens (compare Arist. Pol.). Hence we are not surprised that the use +of the lot prevailed, not only in the election of the Athenian Council, +but also in many oligarchies, and even in Plato's colony. The +evil consequences of the lot are to a great extent avoided, if the +magistrates so elected do not, like the dicasts at Athens, receive pay +from the state. + +Another parallel is that of the Popular Assembly, which at Athens was +omnipotent, but in the Laws has only a faded and secondary existence. In +Plato it was chiefly an elective body, having apparently no judicial and +little political power entrusted to it. At Athens it was the mainspring +of the democracy; it had the decision of war or peace, of life and +death; the acts of generals or statesmen were authorized or condemned +by it; no office or person was above its control. Plato was far from +allowing such a despotic power to exist in his model community, and +therefore he minimizes the importance of the Assembly and narrows its +functions. He probably never asked himself a question, which naturally +occurs to the modern reader, where was to be the central authority in +this new community, and by what supreme power would the differences of +inferior powers be decided. At the same time he magnifies and brings +into prominence the Nocturnal Council (which is in many respects a +reflection of the Areopagus), but does not make it the governing body of +the state. + +Between the judicial system of the Laws and that of Athens there was +very great similarity, and a difference almost equally great. Plato not +unfrequently adopts the details when he rejects the principle. At +Athens any citizen might be a judge and member of the great court of +the Heliaea. This was ordinarily subdivided into a number of inferior +courts, but an occasion is recorded on which the whole body, in +number six thousand, met in a single court (Andoc. de Myst.). Plato +significantly remarks that a few judges, if they are good, are better +than a great number. He also, at least in capital cases, confines the +plaintiff and defendant to a single speech each, instead of allowing two +apiece, as was the common practice at Athens. On the other hand, in all +private suits he gives two appeals, from the arbiters to the courts of +the tribes, and from the courts of the tribes to the final or supreme +court. There was nothing answering to this at Athens. The three courts +were appointed in the following manner:--the arbiters were to be agreed +upon by the parties to the cause; the judges of the tribes to be elected +by lot; the highest tribunal to be chosen at the end of each year by the +great officers of state out of their own number--they were to serve for +a year, to undergo a scrutiny, and, unlike the Athenian judges, to vote +openly. Plato does not dwell upon methods of procedure: these are the +lesser matters which he leaves to the younger legislators. In cases of +murder and some other capital offences, the cause was to be tried by a +special tribunal, as was the custom at Athens: military offences, too, +as at Athens, were decided by the soldiers. Public causes in the Laws, +as sometimes at Athens, were voted upon by the whole people: because, as +Plato remarks, they are all equally concerned in them. They were to +be previously investigated by three of the principal magistrates. He +believes also that in private suits all should take part; '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.' The wardens of the country, like the +Forty at Athens, also exercised judicial power in small matters, as +well as the wardens of the agora and city. The department of justice is +better organized in Plato than in an ordinary Greek state, proceeding +more by regular methods, and being more restricted to distinct duties. + +The executive of Plato's Laws, like the Athenian, was different from +that of a modern civilized state. The difference chiefly consists in +this, that whereas among ourselves there are certain persons or classes +of persons set apart for the execution of the duties of government, in +ancient Greece, as in all other communities in the earlier stages of +their development, they were not equally distinguished from the rest of +the citizens. The machinery of government was never so well organized as +in the best modern states. The judicial department was not so completely +separated from the legislative, nor the executive from the judicial, nor +the people at large from the professional soldier, lawyer, or priest. To +Aristotle (Pol.) it was a question requiring serious consideration--Who +should execute a sentence? There was probably no body of police to whom +were entrusted the lives and properties of the citizens in any Hellenic +state. Hence it might be reasonably expected that every man should be +the watchman of every other, and in turn be watched by him. The ancients +do not seem to have remembered the homely adage that, 'What is every +man's business is no man's business,' or always to have thought of +applying the principle of a division of labour to the administration +of law and to government. Every Athenian was at some time or on some +occasion in his life a magistrate, judge, advocate, soldier, sailor, +policeman. He had not necessarily any private business; a good deal +of his time was taken up with the duties of office and other public +occupations. So, too, in Plato's Laws. A citizen was to interfere in a +quarrel, if older than the combatants, or to defend the outraged party, +if his junior. He was especially bound to come to the rescue of a parent +who was ill-treated by his children. He was also required to prosecute +the murderer of a kinsman. In certain cases he was allowed to arrest an +offender. He might even use violence to an abusive person. Any +citizen who was not less than thirty years of age at times exercised +a magisterial authority, to be enforced even by blows. Both in the +Magnesian state and at Athens many thousand persons must have shared +in the highest duties of government, if a section only of the Council, +consisting of thirty or of fifty persons, as in the Laws, or at +Athens after the days of Cleisthenes, held office for a month, or for +thirty-five days only. It was almost as if, in our own country, the +Ministry or the Houses of Parliament were to change every month. The +average ability of the Athenian and Magnesian councillors could not have +been very high, considering there were so many of them. And yet they +were entrusted with the performance of the most important executive +duties. In these respects the constitution of the Laws resembles Athens +far more than Sparta. All the citizens were to be, not merely soldiers, +but politicians and administrators. + +(ii) There are numerous minor particulars in which the Laws of Plato +resemble those of Athens. These are less interesting than the preceding, +but they show even more strikingly how closely in the composition of his +work Plato has followed the laws and customs of his own country. + +(1) Evidence. (a) At Athens a child was not allowed to give evidence +(Telfy). Plato has a similar law: 'A child shall be allowed to give +evidence only in cases of murder.' (b) At Athens an unwilling witness +might be summoned; but he was not required to appear if he was ready +to declare on oath that he knew nothing about the matter in question +(Telfy). So in the Laws. (c) Athenian law enacted that when more than +half the witnesses in a case had been convicted of perjury, there was to +be a new trial (anadikos krisis--Telfy). There is a similar provision in +the Laws. (d) False-witness was punished at Athens by atimia and a fine +(Telfy). Plato is at once more lenient and more severe: '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,...he shall be punished +with death.' + +(2) Murder. (a) Wilful murder was punished in Athenian law by death, +perpetual exile, and confiscation of property (Telfy). Plato, too, +has the alternative of death or exile, but he does not confiscate the +murderer's property. (b) The Parricide was not allowed to escape by +going into exile at Athens (Telfy), nor, apparently, in the Laws. (c) +A homicide, if forgiven by his victim before death, received no +punishment, either at Athens (Telfy), or in the Magnesian state. In both +(Telfy) the contriver of a murder is punished as severely as the doer; +and persons accused of the crime are forbidden to enter temples or +the agora until they have been tried (Telfy). (d) At Athens slaves who +killed their masters and were caught red-handed, were not to be put to +death by the relations of the murdered man, but to be handed over to the +magistrates (Telfy). So in the Laws, the slave who is guilty of wilful +murder has a public execution: but if the murder is committed in anger, +it is punished by the kinsmen of the victim. + +(3) Involuntary homicide. (a) The guilty person, according to the +Athenian law, had to go into exile, and might not return, until the +family of the man slain were conciliated. Then he must be purified +(Telfy). If he is caught before he has obtained forgiveness, he may be +put to death. These enactments reappear in the Laws. (b) The curious +provision of Plato, that a stranger who has been banished for +involuntary homicide and is subsequently wrecked upon the coast, must +'take up his abode on the sea-shore, wetting his feet in the sea, and +watching for an opportunity of sailing,' recalls the procedure of +the Judicium Phreatteum at Athens, according to which an involuntary +homicide, who, having gone into exile, is accused of a wilful murder, +was tried at Phreatto for this offence in a boat by magistrates on the +shore. (c) A still more singular law, occurring both in the Athenian +and Magnesian code, enacts that a stone or other inanimate object which +kills a man is to be tried, and cast over the border (Telfy). + +(4) Justifiable or excusable homicide. Plato and Athenian law agree in +making homicide justifiable or excusable in the following cases:--(1) at +the games (Telfy); (2) in war (Telfy); (3) if the person slain was found +doing violence to a free woman (Telfy); (4) if a doctor's patient dies; +(5) in the case of a robber (Telfy); (6) in self-defence (Telfy). + +(5) Impiety. Death or expulsion was the Athenian penalty for impiety +(Telfy). In the Laws it is punished in various cases by imprisonment for +five years, for life, and by death. + +(6) Sacrilege. Robbery of temples at Athens was punished by death, +refusal of burial in the land, and confiscation of property (Telfy). +In the Laws the citizen who is guilty of such a crime is to 'perish +ingloriously and be cast beyond the borders of the land,' but his +property is not confiscated. + +(7) Sorcery. The sorcerer at Athens was to be executed (Telfy): compare +Laws, where it is enacted that the physician who poisons and the +professional sorcerer shall be punished with death. + +(8) Treason. Both at Athens and in the Laws the penalty for treason was +death (Telfy), and refusal of burial in the country (Telfy). + +(9) Sheltering exiles. 'If a man receives an exile, he shall be punished +with death.' So, too, in Athenian law (Telfy.). + +(10) Wounding. Athenian law compelled a man who had wounded another to +go into exile; if he returned, he was to be put to death (Telfy). Plato +only punishes the offence with death when children wound their parents +or one another, or a slave wounds his master. + +(11) Bribery. Death was the punishment for taking a bribe, both +at Athens (Telfy) and in the Laws; but Athenian law offered an +alternative--the payment of a fine of ten times the amount of the bribe. + +(12) Theft. Plato, like Athenian law (Telfy), punishes the theft of +public property by death; the theft of private property in both involves +a fine of double the value of the stolen goods (Telfy). + +(13) Suicide. He 'who slays him who of all men, as they say, is his own +best friend,' is regarded in the same spirit by Plato and by Athenian +law. Plato would have him 'buried ingloriously on the borders of the +twelve portions of the land, in such places as are uncultivated and +nameless,' and 'no column or inscription is to mark the place of his +interment.' Athenian law enacted that the hand which did the deed should +be separated from the body and be buried apart (Telfy). + +(14) Injury. In cases of wilful injury, Athenian law compelled the +guilty person to pay double the damage; in cases of involuntary injury, +simple damages (Telfy). Plato enacts that if a man wounds another in +passion, and the wound is curable, he shall pay double the damage, if +incurable or disfiguring, fourfold damages. If, however, the wounding is +accidental, he shall simply pay for the harm done. + +(15) Treatment of parents. Athenian law allowed any one to indict +another for neglect or illtreatment of parents (Telfy). So Plato bids +bystanders assist a father who is assaulted by his son, and allows any +one to give information against children who neglect their parents. + +(16) Execution of sentences. Both Plato and Athenian law give to the +winner of a suit power to seize the goods of the loser, if he does not +pay within the appointed time (Telfy). At Athens the penalty was also +doubled (Telfy); not so in Plato. Plato however punishes contempt of +court by death, which at Athens seems only to have been visited with a +further fine (Telfy). + +(17) Property. (a) Both at Athens and in the Laws a man who has disputed +property in his possession must give the name of the person from whom he +received it (Telfy); and any one searching for lost property must enter +a house naked (Telfy), or, as Plato says, 'naked, or wearing only a +short tunic and without a girdle. (b) Athenian law, as well as Plato, +did not allow a father to disinherit his son without good reason and the +consent of impartial persons (Telfy). Neither grants to the eldest +son any special claim on the paternal estate (Telfy). In the law of +inheritance both prefer males to females (Telfy). (c) Plato and Athenian +law enacted that a tree should be planted at a fair distance from a +neighbour's property (Telfy), and that when a man could not get water, +his neighbour must supply him (Telfy). Both at Athens and in Plato there +is a law about bees, the former providing that a beehive must be set up +at not less a distance than 300 feet from a neighbour's (Telfy), and the +latter forbidding the decoying of bees. + +(18) Orphans. A ward must proceed against a guardian whom he suspects +of fraud within five years of the expiration of the guardianship. This +provision is common to Plato and to Athenian law (Telfy). Further, the +latter enacted that the nearest male relation should marry or provide +a husband for an heiress (Telfy),--a point in which Plato follows it +closely. + +(19) Contracts. Plato's law that '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,' according to Pollux (quoted in Telfy's note) +prevailed also at Athens. + +(20) Trade regulations. (a) Lying was forbidden in the agora both by +Plato and at Athens (Telfy). (b) Athenian law allowed an action of +recovery against a man who sold an unsound slave as sound (Telfy). +Plato's enactment is more explicit: he allows only an unskilled person +(i.e. one who is not a trainer or physician) to take proceedings in such +a case. (c) Plato diverges from Athenian practice in the disapproval of +credit, and does not even allow the supply of goods on the deposit of +a percentage of their value (Telfy). He enacts that 'when goods are +exchanged by buying and selling, a man shall deliver them and receive +the price of them at a fixed place in the agora, and have done with +the matter,' and that 'he who gives credit must be satisfied whether he +obtain his money or not, for in such exchanges he will not be protected +by law. (d) Athenian law forbad an extortionate rate of interest +(Telfy); Plato allows interest in one case only--if a contractor does +not receive the price of his work within a year of the time agreed--and +at the rate of 200 per cent. per annum for every drachma a monthly +interest of an obol. (e) Both at Athens and in the Laws sales were to be +registered (Telfy), as well as births (Telfy). + +(21) Sumptuary laws. Extravagance at weddings (Telfy), and at funerals +(Telfy) was forbidden at Athens and also in the Magnesian state. + +There remains the subject of family life, which in Plato's Laws +partakes both of an Athenian and Spartan character. Under this head may +conveniently be included the condition of women and of slaves. To family +life may be added citizenship. + +As at Sparta, marriages are to be contracted for the good of the state; +and they may be dissolved on the same ground, where there is a failure +of issue,--the interest of the state requiring that every one of the +5040 lots should have an heir. Divorces are likewise permitted by Plato +where there is an incompatibility of temper, as at Athens by mutual +consent. The duty of having children is also enforced by a still higher +motive, expressed by Plato in the noble words:--'A man should cling to +immortality, and leave behind him children's children to be the servants +of God in his place.' Again, as at Athens, the father is allowed to put +away his undutiful son, but only with the consent of impartial persons +(Telfy), and the only suit which may be brought by a son against a +father is for imbecility. The class of elder and younger men and women +are still to regard one another, as in the Republic, as standing in the +relation of parents and children. This is a trait of Spartan character +rather than of Athenian. A peculiar sanctity and tenderness was to be +shown towards the aged; the parent or grandparent stricken with years +was to be loved and worshipped like the image of a God, and was to be +deemed far more able than any lifeless statue to bring good or ill +to his descendants. Great care is to be taken of orphans: they are +entrusted to the fifteen eldest Guardians of the Law, who are to be +'lawgivers and fathers to them not inferior to their natural fathers,' +as at Athens they were entrusted to the Archons. Plato wishes to make +the misfortune of orphanhood as little sad to them as possible. + +Plato, seeing the disorder into which half the human race had fallen at +Athens and Sparta, is minded to frame for them a new rule of life. He +renounces his fanciful theory of communism, but still desires to place +women as far as possible on an equality with men. They were to be +trained in the use of arms, they are to live in public. Their time was +partly taken up with gymnastic exercises; there could have been little +family or private life among them. Their lot was to be neither like that +of Spartan women, who were made hard and common by excessive practice +of gymnastic and the want of all other education,--nor yet like that of +Athenian women, who, at least among the upper classes, retired into a +sort of oriental seclusion,--but something better than either. They were +to be the perfect mothers of perfect children, yet not wholly taken up +with the duties of motherhood, which were to be made easy to them as far +as possible (compare Republic), but able to share in the perils of war +and to be the companions of their husbands. Here, more than anywhere +else, the spirit of the Laws reverts to the Republic. In speaking of +them as the companions of their husbands we must remember that it is an +Athenian and not a Spartan way of life which they are invited to share, +a life of gaiety and brightness, not of austerity and abstinence, which +often by a reaction degenerated into licence and grossness. + +In Plato's age the subject of slavery greatly interested the minds of +thoughtful men; and how best to manage this 'troublesome piece of goods' +exercised his own mind a good deal. He admits that they have often +been found better than brethren or sons in the hour of danger, and are +capable of rendering important public services by informing against +offenders--for this they are to be rewarded; and the master who puts +a slave to death for the sake of concealing some crime which he has +committed, is held guilty of murder. But they are not always treated +with equal consideration. The punishments inflicted on them bear +no proportion to their crimes. They are to be addressed only in the +language of command. Their masters are not to jest with them, lest they +should increase the hardship of their lot. Some privileges were granted +to them by Athenian law of which there is no mention in Plato; they +were allowed to purchase their freedom from their master, and if they +despaired of being liberated by him they could demand to be sold, on the +chance of falling into better hands. But there is no suggestion in +the Laws that a slave who tried to escape should be branded with the +words--kateche me, pheugo, or that evidence should be extracted from him +by torture, that the whole household was to be executed if the master +was murdered and the perpetrator remained undetected: all these were +provisions of Athenian law. Plato is more consistent than either the +Athenians or the Spartans; for at Sparta too the Helots were treated in +a manner almost unintelligible to us. On the one hand, they had arms put +into their hands, and served in the army, not only, as at Plataea, in +attendance on their masters, but, after they had been manumitted, as a +separate body of troops called Neodamodes: on the other hand, they were +the victims of one of the greatest crimes recorded in Greek history +(Thucyd.). The two great philosophers of Hellas sought to extricate +themselves from this cruel condition of human life, but acquiesced in +the necessity of it. A noble and pathetic sentiment of Plato, suggested +by the thought of their misery, may be quoted in this place:--'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.' + +All the citizens of the Magnesian state were free and equal; there was +no distinction of rank among them, such as is believed to have prevailed +at Sparta. Their number was a fixed one, corresponding to the 5040 lots. +One of the results of this is the requirement that younger sons or those +who have been disinherited shall go out to a colony. At Athens, where +there was not the same religious feeling against increasing the size of +the city, the number of citizens must have been liable to considerable +fluctuations. Several classes of persons, who were not citizens by +birth, were admitted to the privilege. Perpetual exiles from other +countries, people who settled there to practise a trade (Telfy), any one +who had shown distinguished valour in the cause of Athens, the Plataeans +who escaped from the siege, metics and strangers who offered to serve +in the army, the slaves who fought at Arginusae,--all these could or +did become citizens. Even those who were only on one side of Athenian +parentage were at more than one period accounted citizens. But at times +there seems to have arisen a feeling against this promiscuous extension +of the citizen body, an expression of which is to be found in the law +of Pericles--monous Athenaious einai tous ek duoin Athenaion gegonotas +(Plutarch, Pericles); and at no time did the adopted citizen enjoy the +full rights of citizenship--e.g. he might not be elected archon or to +the office of priest (Telfy), although this prohibition did not extend +to his children, if born of a citizen wife. Plato never thinks of making +the metic, much less the slave, a citizen. His treatment of the former +class is at once more gentle and more severe than that which prevailed +at Athens. He imposes upon them no tax but good behaviour, whereas at +Athens they were required to pay twelve drachmae per annum, and to +have a patron: on the other hand, he only allows them to reside in the +Magnesian state on condition of following a trade; they were required to +depart when their property exceeded that of the third class, and in any +case after a residence of twenty years, unless they could show that they +had conferred some great benefit on the state. This privileged position +reflects that of the isoteleis at Athens, who were excused from the +metoikion. It is Plato's greatest concession to the metic, as the +bestowal of freedom is his greatest concession to the slave. + +Lastly, there is a more general point of view under which the Laws of +Plato may be considered,--the principles of Jurisprudence which are +contained in them. These are not formally announced, but are scattered +up and down, to be observed by the reflective reader for himself. Some +of them are only the common principles which all courts of justice have +gathered from experience; others are peculiar and characteristic. That +judges should sit at fixed times and hear causes in a regular order, +that evidence should be laid before them, that false witnesses should +be disallowed, and corruption punished, that defendants should be +heard before they are convicted,--these are the rules, not only of the +Hellenic courts, but of courts of law in all ages and countries. +But there are also points which are peculiar, and in which ancient +jurisprudence differs considerably from modern; some of them are of +great importance...It could not be said at Athens, nor was it ever +contemplated by Plato, that all men, including metics and slaves, should +be equal 'in the eye of the law.' There was some law for the slave, but +not much; no adequate protection was given him against the cruelty of +his master...It was a singular privilege granted, both by the Athenian +and Magnesian law, to a murdered man, that he might, before he died, +pardon his murderer, in which case no legal steps were afterwards to +be taken against him. This law is the remnant of an age in which the +punishment of offences against the person was the concern rather of +the individual and his kinsmen than of the state...Plato's division of +crimes into voluntary and involuntary and those done from passion, only +partially agrees with the distinction which modern law has drawn between +murder and manslaughter; his attempt to analyze them is confused by the +Socratic paradox, that 'All vice is involuntary'...It is singular that +both in the Laws and at Athens theft is commonly punished by a twofold +restitution of the article stolen. The distinction between civil and +criminal courts or suits was not yet recognized...Possession gives a +right of property after a certain time...The religious aspect under +which certain offences were regarded greatly interfered with a just +and natural estimate of their guilt...As among ourselves, the intent to +murder was distinguished by Plato from actual murder...We note that +both in Plato and the laws of Athens, libel in the market-place and +personality in the theatre were forbidden...Both in Plato and Athenian +law, as in modern times, the accomplice of a crime is to be punished as +well as the principal...Plato does not allow a witness in a cause to +act as a judge of it...Oaths are not to be taken by the parties to a +suit...Both at Athens and in Plato's Laws capital punishment for +murder was not to be inflicted, if the offender was willing to go into +exile...Respect for the dead, duty towards parents, are to be enforced +by the law as well as by public opinion...Plato proclaims the noble +sentiment that the object of all punishment is the improvement of the +offender... Finally, he repeats twice over, as with the voice of a +prophet, that the crimes of the fathers are not to be visited upon the +children. In this respect he is nobly distinguished from the Oriental, +and indeed from the spirit of Athenian law (compare Telfy,--dei kai +autous kai tous ek touton atimous einai), as the Hebrew in the age of +Ezekial is from the Jewish people of former ages. + +Of all Plato's provisions the object is to bring the practice of the law +more into harmony with reason and philosophy; to secure impartiality, +and while acknowledging that every citizen has a right to share in the +administration of justice, to counteract the tendency of the courts to +become mere popular assemblies. + +... + +Thus we have arrived at the end of the writings of Plato, and at the +last stage of philosophy which was really his. For in what followed, +which we chiefly gather from the uncertain intimations of Aristotle, the +spirit of the master no longer survived. The doctrine of Ideas passed +into one of numbers; instead of advancing from the abstract to the +concrete, the theories of Plato were taken out of their context, and +either asserted or refuted with a provoking literalism; the Socratic or +Platonic element in his teaching was absorbed into the Pythagorean or +Megarian. His poetry was converted into mysticism; his unsubstantial +visions were assailed secundum artem by the rules of logic. His +political speculations lost their interest when the freedom of Hellas +had passed away. Of all his writings the Laws were the furthest removed +from the traditions of the Platonic school in the next generation. Both +his political and his metaphysical philosophy are for the most part +misinterpreted by Aristotle. The best of him--his love of truth, and +his 'contemplation of all time and all existence,' was soonest lost; and +some of his greatest thoughts have slept in the ear of mankind almost +ever since they were first uttered. + +We have followed him during his forty or fifty years of authorship, from +the beginning when he first attempted to depict the teaching of Socrates +in a dramatic form, down to the time at which the character of Socrates +had disappeared, and we have the latest reflections of Plato's own mind +upon Hellas and upon philosophy. He, who was 'the last of the poets,' in +his book of Laws writes prose only; he has himself partly fallen +under the rhetorical influences which in his earlier dialogues he was +combating. The progress of his writings is also the history of his life; +we have no other authentic life of him. They are the true self of the +philosopher, stripped of the accidents of time and place. The great +effort which he makes is, first, to realize abstractions, secondly, +to connect them. In the attempt to realize them, he was carried into a +transcendental region in which he isolated them from experience, and we +pass out of the range of science into poetry or fiction. The fancies of +mythology for a time cast a veil over the gulf which divides phenomena +from onta (Meno, Phaedrus, Symposium, Phaedo). In his return to earth +Plato meets with a difficulty which has long ceased to be a difficulty +to us. He cannot understand how these obstinate, unmanageable ideas, +residing alone in their heaven of abstraction, can be either combined +with one another, or adapted to phenomena (Parmenides, Philebus, +Sophist). That which is the most familiar process of our own minds, to +him appeared to be the crowning achievement of the dialectical art. The +difficulty which in his own generation threatened to be the destruction +of philosophy, he has rendered unmeaning and ridiculous. For by his +conquests in the world of mind our thoughts are widened, and he has +furnished us with new dialectical instruments which are of greater +compass and power. We have endeavoured to see him as he truly was, a +great original genius struggling with unequal conditions of knowledge, +not prepared with a system nor evolving in a series of dialogues ideas +which he had long conceived, but contradictory, enquiring as he goes +along, following the argument, first from one point of view and then +from another, and therefore arriving at opposite conclusions, hovering +around the light, and sometimes dazzled with excess of light, but always +moving in the same element of ideal truth. We have seen him also in his +decline, when the wings of his imagination have begun to droop, but his +experience of life remains, and he turns away from the contemplation of +the eternal to take a last sad look at human affairs. + +... + +And so having brought into the world 'noble children' (Phaedr.), he +rests from the labours of authorship. More than two thousand two hundred +years have passed away since he returned to the place of Apollo and +the Muses. Yet the echo of his words continues to be heard among men, +because of all philosophers he has the most melodious voice. He is the +inspired prophet or teacher who can never die, the only one in whom the +outward form adequately represents the fair soul within; in whom the +thoughts of all who went before him are reflected and of all who come +after him are partly anticipated. Other teachers of philosophy are dried +up and withered,--after a few centuries they have become dust; but he +is fresh and blooming, and is always begetting new ideas in the minds of +men. They are one-sided and abstract; but he has many sides of wisdom. +Nor is he always consistent with himself, because he is always moving +onward, and knows that there are many more things in philosophy than can +be expressed in words, and that truth is greater than consistency. He +who approaches him in the most reverent spirit shall reap most of +the fruit of his wisdom; he who reads him by the light of ancient +commentators will have the least understanding of him. + +We may see him with the eye of the mind in the groves of the Academy, +or on the banks of the Ilissus, or in the streets of Athens, alone or +walking with Socrates, full of those thoughts which have since become +the common possession of mankind. Or we may compare him to a statue hid +away in some temple of Zeus or Apollo, no longer existing on earth, +a statue which has a look as of the God himself. Or we may once more +imagine him following in another state of being the great company +of heaven which he beheld of old in a vision (Phaedr.). So, 'partly +trifling, but with a certain degree of seriousness' (Symp.), we linger +around the memory of a world which has passed away (Phaedr.). + + + + + +LAWS + + + + +BOOK I. + +PERSONS OF THE DIALOGUE: An Athenian Stranger, Cleinias (a Cretan), +Megillus (a Lacedaemonian). + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +ATHENIAN: 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? + +CLEINIAS: 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. + +ATHENIAN: 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 talking 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. + +CLEINIAS: 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. + +ATHENIAN: Very good. + +CLEINIAS: Very good, indeed; and still better when we see them; let us +move on cheerily. + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: 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 men 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. + +ATHENIAN: 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? + +CLEINIAS: Certainly; and our Lacedaemonian friend, if I am not mistaken, +will agree with me. + +MEGILLUS: Why, my good friend, how could any Lacedaemonian say anything +else? + +ATHENIAN: And is what you say applicable only to states, or also to +villages? + +CLEINIAS: To both alike. + +ATHENIAN: The case is the same? + +CLEINIAS: Yes. + +ATHENIAN: And in the village will there be the same war of family +against family, and of individual against individual? + +CLEINIAS: The same. + +ATHENIAN: And should each man conceive himself to be his own +enemy:--what shall we say? + +CLEINIAS: 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. + +(ATHENIAN: My good sir, what do you mean?)-- + +CLEINIAS:...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. + +ATHENIAN: 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? + +CLEINIAS: You mean that in each of them there is a principle of +superiority or inferiority to self? + +ATHENIAN: Yes. + +CLEINIAS: 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. + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: Your remark, Stranger, is a paradox, and yet we cannot +possibly deny it. + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: Very possibly. + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: What you say, Stranger, is most true. + +MEGILLUS: Quite excellent, in my opinion, as far as we have gone. + +ATHENIAN: Again; might there not be a judge over these brethren, of whom +we were speaking? + +CLEINIAS: Certainly. + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: The last would be by far the best sort of judge and +legislator. + +ATHENIAN: And yet the aim of all the laws which he gave would be the +reverse of war. + +CLEINIAS: Very true. + +ATHENIAN: 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? + +CLEINIAS: He would have the latter chiefly in view. + +ATHENIAN: 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? + +CLEINIAS: Every one would desire the latter in the case of his own +state. + +ATHENIAN: And would not that also be the desire of the legislator? + +CLEINIAS: Certainly. + +ATHENIAN: And would not every one always make laws for the sake of the +best? + +CLEINIAS: To be sure. + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: 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. + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +MEGILLUS: Very true. + +CLEINIAS: And they have found their way from Lacedaemon to Crete. + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: Certainly, far milder. + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: Evidently. + +ATHENIAN: 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 says, '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 (i.e., it ranks after justice, temperance, +and wisdom.). + +CLEINIAS: Stranger, we are degrading our inspired lawgiver to a rank +which is far beneath him. + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: What ought we to say then? + +ATHENIAN: What truth and what justice require of us, if I am not +mistaken, when speaking in behalf of divine excellence;--that 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? + +CLEINIAS: By all means. + +ATHENIAN: 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 class 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. + +CLEINIAS: How shall we proceed, Stranger? + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +MEGILLUS: Very good; and suppose that you first criticize this praiser +of Zeus and the laws of Crete. + +ATHENIAN: 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? + +MEGILLUS: Yes. + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +MEGILLUS: Then I, or any other Lacedaemonian, would reply that hunting +is third in order. + +ATHENIAN: Let us see if we can discover what comes fourth and fifth. + +MEGILLUS: I think that I can get as far as the fourth 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. + +ATHENIAN: 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? + +MEGILLUS: I should say the latter. + +ATHENIAN: 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? + +CLEINIAS: I was. + +ATHENIAN: Now, which is in the truest sense inferior, the man who is +overcome by pleasure or by pain? + +CLEINIAS: 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. + +ATHENIAN: 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? + +CLEINIAS: Able to meet both, I should say. + +ATHENIAN: 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? + +MEGILLUS: 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. + +CLEINIAS: Neither can I show anything of that sort which is at all +equally prominent in the Cretan laws. + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: You are quite right, Athenian Stranger, and we will do as you +say. + +ATHENIAN: At our time of life, Cleinias, there should be no feeling of +irritation. + +CLEINIAS: Certainly not. + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: 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. + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: 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. + +ATHENIAN: 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? + +CLEINIAS: 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. + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +MEGILLUS: 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. + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +MEGILLUS: 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. + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +MEGILLUS: O best of men, we have only to take arms into our hands, and +we send all these nations flying before us. + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +MEGILLUS: How do you mean? + +ATHENIAN: 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? + +MEGILLUS: I shall gladly welcome any method of enquiry which is right. + +ATHENIAN: 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? + +MEGILLUS: Certainly not. + +ATHENIAN: 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? + +MEGILLUS: I say that he is not a good captain if, although he have +nautical skill, he is liable to sea-sickness. + +ATHENIAN: 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? + +MEGILLUS: Impossible. + +ATHENIAN: And what if besides being a coward he has no skill? + +MEGILLUS: He is a miserable fellow, not fit to be a commander of men, +but only of old women. + +ATHENIAN: 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? + +MEGILLUS: Certainly not, if they have never seen or been present at such +a meeting when rightly ordered. + +ATHENIAN: Reflect; may not banqueters and banquets be said to constitute +a kind of meeting? + +MEGILLUS: Of course. + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: 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. + +ATHENIAN: Likely enough; then let me try to be your instructor: You +would acknowledge, would you not, that in all gatherings of mankind, of +whatever sort, there ought to be a leader? + +CLEINIAS: Certainly I should. + +ATHENIAN: And we were saying just now, that when men are at war the +leader ought to be a brave man? + +CLEINIAS: We were. + +ATHENIAN: The brave man is less likely than the coward to be disturbed +by fears? + +CLEINIAS: That again is true. + +ATHENIAN: 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? + +CLEINIAS: Assuredly. + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: True. + +ATHENIAN: And that sort of meeting, if attended with drunkenness, is apt +to be unquiet. + +CLEINIAS: Certainly; the reverse of quiet. + +ATHENIAN: In the first place, then, the revellers as well as the +soldiers will require a ruler? + +CLEINIAS: To be sure; no men more so. + +ATHENIAN: And we ought, if possible, to provide them with a quiet ruler? + +CLEINIAS: Of course. + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: Very true. + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: It will be by a singular good fortune that he is saved. + +ATHENIAN: 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? + +CLEINIAS: 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. + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: You seem to imply, my friend, that convivial meetings, when +rightly ordered, are an important element of education. + +ATHENIAN: Certainly I do. + +CLEINIAS: And can you show that what you have been saying is true? + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: Your opinion, Stranger, about the questions which are now +being raised, is precisely what we want to hear. + +ATHENIAN: 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? + +MEGILLUS: 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 country; +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. + +CLEINIAS: 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. + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: Let us proceed, if you please. + +ATHENIAN: Well, then, if I tell you what are my notions of education, +will you consider whether they satisfy you? + +CLEINIAS: Let us hear. + +ATHENIAN: 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? + +CLEINIAS: Certainly. + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: Very true; and we entirely agree with you. + +ATHENIAN: And we agreed before that they are good men who are able to +rule themselves, and bad men who are not. + +CLEINIAS: You are quite right. + +ATHENIAN: Let me now proceed, if I can, to clear up the subject a little +further by an illustration which I will offer you. + +CLEINIAS: Proceed. + +ATHENIAN: Do we not consider each of ourselves to be one? + +CLEINIAS: We do. + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: Exactly. + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: I am hardly able to follow you; proceed, however, as if I +were. + +MEGILLUS: I am in the like case. + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: Perhaps, however, the theme may turn out not to be unworthy of +the length of discourse. + +ATHENIAN: Very good; let us proceed with any enquiry which really bears +on our present object. + +CLEINIAS: Proceed. + +ATHENIAN: Suppose that we give this puppet of ours drink,--what will be +the effect on him? + +CLEINIAS: Having what in view do you ask that question? + +ATHENIAN: 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? + +CLEINIAS: Very greatly. + +ATHENIAN: 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? + +CLEINIAS: Yes, they entirely desert him. + +ATHENIAN: Does he not return to the state of soul in which he was when a +young child? + +CLEINIAS: He does. + +ATHENIAN: Then at that time he will have the least control over himself? + +CLEINIAS: The least. + +ATHENIAN: And will he not be in a most wretched plight? + +CLEINIAS: Most wretched. + +ATHENIAN: Then not only an old man but also a drunkard becomes a second +time a child? + +CLEINIAS: Well said, Stranger. + +ATHENIAN: 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? + +CLEINIAS: I suppose that there is; you at any rate, were just now saying +that you were ready to maintain such a doctrine. + +ATHENIAN: True, I was; and I am ready still, seeing that you have both +declared that you are anxious to hear me. + +CLEINIAS: To be 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. + +ATHENIAN: Are you speaking of the soul? + +CLEINIAS: Yes. + +ATHENIAN: 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? + +CLEINIAS: Certainly. + +ATHENIAN: 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? + +CLEINIAS: Yes, all that is well known. + +ATHENIAN: Also that they go of their own accord for the sake of the +subsequent benefit? + +CLEINIAS: Very good. + +ATHENIAN: And we may conceive this to be true in the same way of other +practices? + +CLEINIAS: Certainly. + +ATHENIAN: 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? + +CLEINIAS: To be sure. + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: True; but I hardly think that we shall be able to discover any +such benefits to be derived from them. + +ATHENIAN: 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? + +CLEINIAS: What are they? + +ATHENIAN: There is the fear of expected evil. + +CLEINIAS: Yes. + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: Certainly. + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: Very true. + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: True. + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: There are. + +ATHENIAN: Then each of us should be fearless and also fearful; and why +we should be either has now been determined. + +CLEINIAS: Certainly. + +ATHENIAN: And when we want to make any one fearless, we and the law +bring him face to face with many fears. + +CLEINIAS: Clearly. + +ATHENIAN: 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? + +CLEINIAS: A most unlikely supposition. + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: But has such a draught, Stranger, ever really been known among +men? + +ATHENIAN: 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?' + +CLEINIAS: 'I should,' will be the answer of every one. + +ATHENIAN: 'And you would rather have a touchstone in which there is no +risk and no great danger than the reverse?' + +CLEINIAS: In that proposition every one may safely agree. + +ATHENIAN: '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?' + +CLEINIAS: He would be certain, Stranger, to use the potion. + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: Yes, Stranger, in that last case, too, he might equally show +his self-control. + +ATHENIAN: 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? + +CLEINIAS: I suppose that he will say, Yes,--meaning that wine is such a +potion. + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: I think that every one will admit the truth of your +description. + +MEGILLUS: Certainly. + +ATHENIAN: 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-- + +CLEINIAS: Which you said to be characteristic of reverence, if I am not +mistaken. + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: That is probably the case. + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: True. + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: That is certainly true. + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: Exactly so. + + + + +BOOK II. + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +ATHENIAN: Let me once more recall our doctrine of right education; +which, if I am not mistaken, depends on the due regulation of convivial +intercourse. + +CLEINIAS: You talk rather grandly. + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: I think, Stranger, that you are quite right in all that you +have said and are saying about education. + +ATHENIAN: 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? + +CLEINIAS: I assent. + +ATHENIAN: And the uneducated is he who has not been trained in the +chorus, and the educated is he who has been well trained? + +CLEINIAS: Certainly. + +ATHENIAN: And the chorus is made up of two parts, dance and song? + +CLEINIAS: True. + +ATHENIAN: Then he who is well educated will be able to sing and dance +well? + +CLEINIAS: I suppose that he will. + +ATHENIAN: Let us see; what are we saying? + +CLEINIAS: What? + +ATHENIAN: He sings well and dances well; now must we add that he sings +what is good and dances what is good? + +CLEINIAS: Let us make the addition. + +ATHENIAN: 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? + +CLEINIAS: There is a great difference, Stranger, in the two kinds of +education. + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: True. + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: Yes. + +ATHENIAN: 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? + +CLEINIAS: How can they, when the very colours of their faces differ? + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: Your suggestion is excellent; and let us answer that these +things are so. + +ATHENIAN: Once more, are all of us equally delighted with every sort of +dance? + +CLEINIAS: Far otherwise. + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: What? + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: Very true. + +ATHENIAN: 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? + +CLEINIAS: I think that there is. + +ATHENIAN: '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? + +CLEINIAS: I know of none. + +ATHENIAN: 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? + +CLEINIAS: That is surely quite unreasonable, and is not to be thought +of. + +ATHENIAN: And yet he may do this in almost any state with the exception +of Egypt. + +CLEINIAS: And what are the laws about music and dancing in Egypt? + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: How extraordinary! + +ATHENIAN: I should rather say, How statesmanlike, how worthy of a +legislator! I know that other things in Egypt are not 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. + +CLEINIAS: Your arguments seem to prove your point. + +ATHENIAN: 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? + +CLEINIAS: Exactly. + +ATHENIAN: And when rejoicing in our good fortune, we are unable to be +still? + +CLEINIAS: True. + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: Very true. + +ATHENIAN: 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? + +CLEINIAS: Possibly. + +ATHENIAN: 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? + +CLEINIAS: In what respect? + +ATHENIAN: 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? + +CLEINIAS: 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. + +ATHENIAN: Well, then, if neither of you can answer, shall I answer this +question which you deem so absurd? + +CLEINIAS: By all means. + +ATHENIAN: If very small children are to determine the question, they +will decide for the puppet show. + +CLEINIAS: Of course. + +ATHENIAN: The older children will be advocates of comedy; educated +women, and young men, and people in general, will favour tragedy. + +CLEINIAS: Very likely. + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: Yes. + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: Certainly. + +ATHENIAN: 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? + +CLEINIAS: What? + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: 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. + +ATHENIAN: 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? + +CLEINIAS: Certainly they are. + +ATHENIAN: And if they were extended to the other Hellenes, would it be +an improvement on the present state of things? + +CLEINIAS: 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. + +ATHENIAN: 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? + +CLEINIAS: I think that we partly agree and partly do not. + +ATHENIAN: When a man has health and wealth and a tyranny which lasts, +and when he is pre-eminent 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. + +CLEINIAS: That is quite true. + +ATHENIAN: 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? + +CLEINIAS: Certainly. + +ATHENIAN: And an evil life too? + +CLEINIAS: I am not equally disposed to grant that. + +ATHENIAN: Will he not live painfully and to his own disadvantage? + +CLEINIAS: How can I possibly say so? + +ATHENIAN: 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? + +CLEINIAS: Impossible. + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: True. + +ATHENIAN: And which may be supposed to be the truer judgment--that of +the inferior or of the better soul? + +CLEINIAS: Surely, that of the better soul. + +ATHENIAN: Then the unjust life must not only be more base and depraved, +but also more unpleasant than the just and holy life? + +CLEINIAS: That seems to be implied in the present argument. + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: Truth, Stranger, is a noble thing and a lasting, but a thing +of which men are hard to be persuaded. + +ATHENIAN: And yet the story of the Sidonian Cadmus, which is so +improbable, has been readily believed, and also innumerable other tales. + +CLEINIAS: What is that story? + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: I do not see that any argument can fairly be raised by either +of us against what you are now saying. + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: I assent to what you say. + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: Who are those who compose the third choir, Stranger? for I do +not clearly understand what you mean to say about them. + +ATHENIAN: And yet almost all that I have been saying has been said with +a view to them. + +CLEINIAS: Will you try to be a little plainer? + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: I quite remember. + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: 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. + +ATHENIAN: Very true; and therefore it must be shown that there is good +reason for the proposal. + +CLEINIAS: Certainly. + +ATHENIAN: Are we agreed thus far? + +CLEINIAS: About what? + +ATHENIAN: 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? + +CLEINIAS: Every one will agree. + +ATHENIAN: 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? + +CLEINIAS: But, says the argument, we cannot let them off. + +ATHENIAN: Then how can we carry out our purpose with decorum? Will this +be the way? + +CLEINIAS: What? + +ATHENIAN: 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? + +CLEINIAS: Certainly. + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: No doubt. + +ATHENIAN: 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? + +CLEINIAS: He will be far more ready. + +ATHENIAN: There will be no impropriety in our using such a method of +persuading them to join with us in song. + +CLEINIAS: None at all. + +ATHENIAN: And what strain will they sing, and what muse will they hymn? +The strain should clearly be one suitable to them. + +CLEINIAS: Certainly. + +ATHENIAN: And what strain is suitable for heroes? Shall they sing a +choric strain? + +CLEINIAS: 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. + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: Once more, Stranger, I must complain that you depreciate our +lawgivers. + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: Certainly. + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: Just so. + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: Exactly. + +ATHENIAN: 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? + +CLEINIAS: Yes. + +ATHENIAN: But equal proportions, whether of quality or quantity, and not +pleasure, speaking generally, would give them truth or rightness. + +CLEINIAS: Yes. + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: You are speaking of harmless pleasure, are you not? + +ATHENIAN: Yes; and this I term amusement, when doing neither harm nor +good in any degree worth speaking of. + +CLEINIAS: Very true. + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: Quite true. + +ATHENIAN: Do we not regard all music as representative and imitative? + +CLEINIAS: Certainly. + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: Very true. + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: Certainly. + +ATHENIAN: And every one will admit that musical compositions are all +imitative and representative. Will not poets and spectators and actors +all agree in this? + +CLEINIAS: They will. + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: Certainly not. + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: How? + +ATHENIAN: There are ten thousand likenesses of objects of sight? + +CLEINIAS: Yes. + +ATHENIAN: 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? + +CLEINIAS: Impossible. + +ATHENIAN: 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? + +CLEINIAS: If this were not required, Stranger, we should all of us be +judges of beauty. + +ATHENIAN: 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? + +CLEINIAS: Certainly. + +ATHENIAN: 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 years' 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? + +CLEINIAS: Clearly they cannot. + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: That is most certain. + +ATHENIAN: But can a man who does not know a thing, as we were saying, +know that the thing is right? + +CLEINIAS: Impossible. + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: Certainly. + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: Quite true. + +ATHENIAN: 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? + +CLEINIAS: True. + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: Right. + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: I think so too, if drinking were regulated as you propose. + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: To what do you refer? + +ATHENIAN: 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 +(compare Euthyph.; Republic); 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. + +CLEINIAS: To be sure, I remember. + +ATHENIAN: 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? + +CLEINIAS: Certainly. + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: That, Stranger, is precisely what was said. + +ATHENIAN: Then half the subject may now be considered to have been +discussed; shall we proceed to the consideration of the other half? + +CLEINIAS: What is the other half, and how do you divide the subject? + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: Yes. + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: Most true. + +ATHENIAN: And the sound of the voice which reaches and educates the +soul, we have ventured to term music. + +CLEINIAS: We were right. + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: Exactly. + +ATHENIAN: 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? + +CLEINIAS: 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? + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: You quite understand me; do as you say. + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: There will not. + +ATHENIAN: 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? + +CLEINIAS: Very true. + +ATHENIAN: And one part of this subject has been already discussed by us, +and there still remains another to be discussed? + +CLEINIAS: Exactly. + +ATHENIAN: I have first a final word to add to my discourse about drink, +if you will allow me to do so. + +CLEINIAS: What more have you to say? + +ATHENIAN: 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 day-time 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. + +CLEINIAS: Excellent: we agree. + + + + +BOOK III. + +ATHENIAN: 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? + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: How so? + +ATHENIAN: Why, do you think that you can reckon the time which has +elapsed since cities first existed and men were citizens of them? + +CLEINIAS: Hardly. + +ATHENIAN: But are sure that it must be vast and incalculable? + +CLEINIAS: Certainly. + +ATHENIAN: 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? + +CLEINIAS: To be sure. + +ATHENIAN: Let us endeavour to ascertain the cause of these changes; for +that will probably explain the first origin and development of forms of +government. + +CLEINIAS: Very good. You shall endeavour to impart your thoughts to us, +and we will make an effort to understand you. + +ATHENIAN: Do you believe that there is any truth in ancient traditions? + +CLEINIAS: What traditions? + +ATHENIAN: 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? + +CLEINIAS: Every one is disposed to believe them. + +ATHENIAN: Let us consider one of them, that which was caused by the +famous deluge. + +CLEINIAS: What are we to observe about it? + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: Clearly. + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: Very true. + +ATHENIAN: Let us suppose, then, that the cities in the plain and on the +sea-coast were utterly destroyed at that time. + +CLEINIAS: Very good. + +ATHENIAN: Would not all implements have then perished and every other +excellent invention of political or any other sort of wisdom have +utterly disappeared? + +CLEINIAS: 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. + +ATHENIAN: Have you forgotten, Cleinias, the name of a friend who is +really of yesterday? + +CLEINIAS: I suppose that you mean Epimenides. + +ATHENIAN: 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 (Works and Days) only preached. + +CLEINIAS: Yes, according to our tradition. + +ATHENIAN: 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? + +CLEINIAS: True. + +ATHENIAN: And of cities or governments or legislation, about which we +are now talking, do you suppose that they could have any recollection at +all? + +CLEINIAS: None whatever. + +ATHENIAN: 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? + +CLEINIAS: What do you mean? + +ATHENIAN: 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? + +CLEINIAS: I understand your meaning, and you are quite right. + +ATHENIAN: But, as time advanced and the race multiplied, the world came +to be what the world is. + +CLEINIAS: Very true. + +ATHENIAN: Doubtless the change was not made all in a moment, but little +by little, during a very long period of time. + +CLEINIAS: A highly probable supposition. + +ATHENIAN: At first, they would have a natural fear ringing in their ears +which would prevent their descending from the heights into the plain. + +CLEINIAS: Of course. + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: There could not have been. + +ATHENIAN: In how many generations would this be attained? + +CLEINIAS: Clearly, not for many generations. + +ATHENIAN: During this period, and for some time afterwards, all the arts +which require iron and brass and the like would disappear. + +CLEINIAS: Certainly. + +ATHENIAN: Faction and war would also have died out in those days, and +for many reasons. + +CLEINIAS: How would that be? + +ATHENIAN: In the first place, the desolation of these primitive men +would create in them a feeling of affection and goodwill 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. + +CLEINIAS: That quite accords with my views, and with those of my friend +here. + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: Very true. + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: And thus far what you have said has been very well said. + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: Probably. + +ATHENIAN: 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 (compare +Arist. Pol.), 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.' +(Odyss.) + +CLEINIAS: 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. + +ATHENIAN: Yes, he does confirm it; and we may accept his witness to the +fact that such forms of government sometimes arise. + +CLEINIAS: We may. + +ATHENIAN: 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? + +CLEINIAS: Very true. + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: Yes; at least we may suppose so. + +ATHENIAN: There is another thing which would probably happen. + +CLEINIAS: What? + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: Certainly. + +ATHENIAN: And every man surely likes his own laws best, and the laws of +others not so well. + +CLEINIAS: True. + +ATHENIAN: Then now we seem to have stumbled upon the beginnings of +legislation. + +CLEINIAS: Exactly. + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: Yes, that would be the natural order of things. + +ATHENIAN: Then, now let us speak of a third form of government, in which +all other forms and conditions of polities and cities concur. + +CLEINIAS: What is that? + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: Yes. + +ATHENIAN: 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? + +CLEINIAS: By all means. + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: Such is the tradition. + +ATHENIAN: And we must suppose this event to have taken place many ages +after the deluge? + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: There must have been a long interval, clearly. + +ATHENIAN: And, as population increased, many other cities would begin to +be inhabited. + +CLEINIAS: Doubtless. + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: Clearly. + +ATHENIAN: The Achaeans remained ten years, and overthrew Troy. + +CLEINIAS: True. + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +MEGILLUS: To be sure. + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +MEGILLUS: 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. + +ATHENIAN: Then I suppose that we must consider this subject? + +MEGILLUS: Certainly. + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +MEGILLUS: True. + +ATHENIAN: Temenus was the king of Argos, Cresphontes of Messene, Procles +and Eurysthenes of Lacedaemon. + +MEGILLUS: Certainly. + +ATHENIAN: To these kings all the men of that day made oath that they +would assist them, if any one subverted their kingdom. + +MEGILLUS: True. + +ATHENIAN: 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? + +MEGILLUS: No. + +ATHENIAN: 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? + +MEGILLUS: Yes. + +ATHENIAN: 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? + +MEGILLUS: What security? + +ATHENIAN: That the other two states were always to come to the rescue +against a rebellious third. + +MEGILLUS: True. + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +MEGILLUS: Exactly. + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +MEGILLUS: Certainly. + +ATHENIAN: There was also another advantage possessed by the men of that +day, which greatly lightened the task of passing laws. + +MEGILLUS: What advantage? + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +MEGILLUS: Very true. + +ATHENIAN: But then, my good friends, why did the settlement and +legislation of their country turn out so badly? + +MEGILLUS: How do you mean; and why do you blame them? + +ATHENIAN: There were three kingdoms, and of these, two quickly corrupted +their original constitution and laws, and the only one which remained +was the Spartan. + +MEGILLUS: The question which you ask is not easily answered. + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +MEGILLUS: Certainly; and we must find out why this was. + +ATHENIAN: 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? + +MEGILLUS: I know of none. + +ATHENIAN: 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? + +MEGILLUS: Quite true. + +ATHENIAN: 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? + +MEGILLUS: Of course they would. + +ATHENIAN: 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 your land. +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. + +MEGILLUS: No doubt. + +ATHENIAN: But what was the ruin of this glorious confederacy? Here is a +subject well worthy of consideration. + +MEGILLUS: 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. + +ATHENIAN: Then now we seem to have happily arrived at a real and +important question. + +MEGILLUS: Very true. + +ATHENIAN: 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? + +MEGILLUS: To what are you referring, and what do you mean? + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +MEGILLUS: But were you not right and wise in speaking as you did, and we +in assenting to you? + +ATHENIAN: 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!' + +MEGILLUS: And would he not be justified? + +ATHENIAN: 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? + +MEGILLUS: Very good. + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +MEGILLUS: He would. + +ATHENIAN: Well, now, and does not the argument show that there is one +common desire of all mankind? + +MEGILLUS: What is it? + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +MEGILLUS: Certainly. + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +MEGILLUS: No doubt. + +ATHENIAN: And we join in the prayers of our friends, and ask for them +what they ask for themselves. + +MEGILLUS: We do. + +ATHENIAN: Dear is the son to the father--the younger to the elder. + +MEGILLUS: Of course. + +ATHENIAN: And yet the son often prays to obtain things which the father +prays that he may not obtain. + +MEGILLUS: When the son is young and foolish, you mean? + +ATHENIAN: 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? + +MEGILLUS: 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. + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: 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. + +MEGILLUS: Excellent, Cleinias; let us do as you say. + +CLEINIAS: By all means, if Heaven wills. Go on. + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: That is evident. + +ATHENIAN: 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-- + +CLEINIAS: What? + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: Yes, my friend, we understand and agree. + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: Let it be so laid down. + +ATHENIAN: I suppose that there must be rulers and subjects in states? + +CLEINIAS: Certainly. + +ATHENIAN: 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? + +CLEINIAS: There is. + +ATHENIAN: Next follows the principle that the noble should rule over the +ignoble; and, thirdly, that the elder should rule and the younger obey? + +CLEINIAS: To be sure. + +ATHENIAN: And, fourthly, that slaves should be ruled, and their masters +rule? + +CLEINIAS: Of course. + +ATHENIAN: Fifthly, if I am not mistaken, comes the principle that the +stronger shall rule, and the weaker be ruled? + +CLEINIAS: That is a rule not to be disobeyed. + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: Most true. + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: Certainly. + +ATHENIAN: '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.' + +CLEINIAS: Very true. + +ATHENIAN: And may we suppose this immoderate spirit to be more fatal +when found among kings than when among peoples? + +CLEINIAS: The probability is that ignorance will be a disorder +especially prevalent among kings, because they lead a proud and +luxurious life. + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: Very likely. + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +MEGILLUS: What do you mean? + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +MEGILLUS: Speak a little more clearly. + +ATHENIAN: Nothing can be clearer than the observation which I am about +to make. + +MEGILLUS: What is it? + +ATHENIAN: 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:-- + +MEGILLUS: What? + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: True. + +ATHENIAN: 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 connexion 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. + +CLEINIAS: 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. + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: Impossible. + +ATHENIAN: 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? + +CLEINIAS: By all means, if it will tend to elucidate our subject. + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: That certainly appears to have been the case. + +ATHENIAN: How, then, was this advantage lost under Cambyses, and again +recovered under Darius? Shall I try to divine? + +CLEINIAS: The enquiry, no doubt, has a bearing upon our subject. + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: What makes you say so? + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: A splendid education truly! + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: What would you expect? + +ATHENIAN: 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 a sturdy race +able to live in the open air and go without sleep, and also to fight, if +fighting is required (compare Arist. Pol.). 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. + +CLEINIAS: So runs the tale, and such probably were the facts. + +ATHENIAN: Yes; and the tradition says, that the empire came back to the +Persians, through Darius and the seven chiefs. + +CLEINIAS: True. + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +MEGILLUS: What do you mean, Stranger? + +ATHENIAN: I suppose that courage is a part of virtue? + +MEGILLUS: To be sure. + +ATHENIAN: 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? + +MEGILLUS: Heaven forbid! + +ATHENIAN: Or an artist, who was clever in his profession, but a rogue? + +MEGILLUS: Certainly not. + +ATHENIAN: And surely justice does not grow apart from temperance? + +MEGILLUS: Impossible. + +ATHENIAN: 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? + +MEGILLUS: No. + +ATHENIAN: There is a further consideration relating to the due and undue +award of honours in states. + +MEGILLUS: What is it? + +ATHENIAN: 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? + +MEGILLUS: I cannot tell. + +ATHENIAN: And that is the best answer; for whichever alternative you had +chosen, I think that you would have gone wrong. + +MEGILLUS: I am fortunate. + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +MEGILLUS: You are speaking of temperance? + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +MEGILLUS: True. + +ATHENIAN: And ought not the legislator to determine these classes? + +MEGILLUS: Certainly he should. + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +MEGILLUS: Very good. + +ATHENIAN: 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 if 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? + +MEGILLUS: Yes; let that be plainly declared. + +ATHENIAN: 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 their actions that the ordinary +distinctions of right and wrong which are made in a state are a trifle, +when compared with gold and silver. + +MEGILLUS: Quite true. + +ATHENIAN: And now enough of the Persians, and their present +mal-administration of their government, which is owing to the excess of +slavery and despotism among them. + +MEGILLUS: Good. + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +MEGILLUS: Your words, Athenian, are quite true, and worthy of yourself +and of your country. + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +MEGILLUS: True; but I wish that you would give us a fuller explanation. + +ATHENIAN: I will. Under the ancient laws, my friends, the people was not +as now the master, but rather the willing servant of the laws. + +MEGILLUS: What laws do you mean? + +ATHENIAN: 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 (compare Republic). 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 (compare Arist. +Pol.). 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? + +MEGILLUS: Very true. + +ATHENIAN: Consequent upon this freedom comes the other freedom, of +disobedience to rulers (compare Republic); 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? + +MEGILLUS: Very good. + +ATHENIAN: This, then, has been said for the sake-- + +MEGILLUS: Of what? + +ATHENIAN: 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? + +MEGILLUS: Certainly. + +ATHENIAN: With a view to this we selected two kinds of government, +the one the most 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. + +MEGILLUS: Very true. + +ATHENIAN: 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? + +CLEINIAS: 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. + +ATHENIAN: Good news, Cleinias; if Megillus has no objection, you may be +sure that I will do all in my power to please you. + +CLEINIAS: Thank you. + +MEGILLUS: And so will I. + +CLEINIAS: Excellent; and now let us begin to frame the State. + + + + +BOOK IV. + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +ATHENIAN: And are there harbours on the seaboard? + +CLEINIAS: Excellent harbours, Stranger; there could not be better. + +ATHENIAN: Alas! what a prospect! And is the surrounding country +productive, or in need of importations? + +CLEINIAS: Hardly in need of anything. + +ATHENIAN: And is there any neighbouring State? + +CLEINIAS: 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. + +ATHENIAN: And has the place a fair proportion of hill, and plain, and +wood? + +CLEINIAS: Like the rest of Crete in that. + +ATHENIAN: You mean to say that there is more rock than plain? + +CLEINIAS: Exactly. + +ATHENIAN: 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 (compare Ar. Pol.). 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. + +CLEINIAS: I remember, and am of opinion that we both were and are in the +right. + +ATHENIAN: Well, but let me ask, how is the country supplied with timber +for ship-building? + +CLEINIAS: 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. + +ATHENIAN: These are also natural advantages. + +CLEINIAS: Why so? + +ATHENIAN: Because no city ought to be easily able to imitate its enemies +in what is mischievous. + +CLEINIAS: How does that bear upon any of the matters of which we have +been speaking? + +ATHENIAN: Remember, my good friend, what I said at first about the +Cretan laws, that they looked 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 fall 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? + +CLEINIAS: 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. + +ATHENIAN: 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 not mistaken, is a remark +which has been made already. + +CLEINIAS: Yes. + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: The best by far. + +ATHENIAN: 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? + +CLEINIAS: 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. + +ATHENIAN: 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 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. + +CLEINIAS: No doubt; but I should like to know why you say so. + +ATHENIAN: 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? + +CLEINIAS: To what are you referring? + +ATHENIAN: 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 disease 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. + +CLEINIAS: What is it? + +ATHENIAN: 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? + +CLEINIAS: Yes. + +ATHENIAN: 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? + +CLEINIAS: Most true. + +ATHENIAN: 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? + +CLEINIAS: Certainly. + +ATHENIAN: And all the other artists just now mentioned, if they were +bidden to offer up each their special prayer, would do so? + +CLEINIAS: Of course. + +ATHENIAN: And the legislator would do likewise? + +CLEINIAS: I believe that he would. + +ATHENIAN: '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? + +CLEINIAS: Yes. + +ATHENIAN: 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.' + +CLEINIAS: I suppose, Megillus, that this companion virtue of which the +Stranger speaks, must be temperance? + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: Certainly. + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: By what possible arguments, Stranger, can any man persuade +himself of such a monstrous doctrine? + +ATHENIAN: There is surely no difficulty in seeing, Cleinias, what is in +accordance with the order of nature? + +CLEINIAS: You would assume, as you say, a tyrant who was young, +temperate, quick at learning, having a good memory, courageous, of a +noble nature? + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: 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? + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: How? I do not understand. + +ATHENIAN: 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? + +CLEINIAS: No, and I cannot say that I have any great desire to see one. + +ATHENIAN: And yet, where there is a tyranny, you might certainly see +that of which I am now speaking. + +CLEINIAS: What do you mean? + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: 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? + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: Of what are you speaking? + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: How do you mean? + +ATHENIAN: Let us try to amuse ourselves, old boys as we are, by moulding +in words the laws which are suitable to your state. + +CLEINIAS: Let us proceed without delay. + +ATHENIAN: 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! + +CLEINIAS: May He come! + +ATHENIAN: But what form of polity are we going to give the city? + +CLEINIAS: 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. + +ATHENIAN: 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? + +CLEINIAS: Perhaps you should. + +MEGILLUS: 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 +(compare Ar. Pol.)? 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. + +CLEINIAS: I am in the same difficulty, Megillus; for I do not feel +confident that the polity of Cnosus is any of these. + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: And who is this God? + +ATHENIAN: 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? + +CLEINIAS: By all means. + +ATHENIAN: 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 (compare Statesman). + +CLEINIAS: It will be very necessary to hear about that. + +ATHENIAN: I quite agree with you; and therefore I have introduced the +subject. + +CLEINIAS: Most appropriately; and since the tale is to the point, you +will do well in giving us the whole story. + +ATHENIAN: 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 ease and pleasure +to themselves, and no less to us, taking care of 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. + +CLEINIAS: Certainly we will. + +ATHENIAN: You are aware,--are you not?--that there are often 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. + +CLEINIAS: How? + +ATHENIAN: Justice is said by them to be the interest of the stronger +(Republic). + +CLEINIAS: Speak plainer. + +ATHENIAN: I will:--'Surely,' they say, 'the governing power makes +whatever laws have authority in any state'? + +CLEINIAS: True. + +ATHENIAN: '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'? + +CLEINIAS: How can they have any other? + +ATHENIAN: 'And whoever transgresses these laws is punished as an +evil-doer by the legislator, who calls the laws just'? + +CLEINIAS: Naturally. + +ATHENIAN: 'This, then, is always the mode and fashion in which justice +exists.' + +CLEINIAS: Certainly, if they are correct in their view. + +ATHENIAN: Why, yes, this is one of those false principles of government +to which we were referring. + +CLEINIAS: Which do you mean? + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: Yes; I remember. + +ATHENIAN: Consider, then, to whom our state is to be entrusted. For +there is a thing which has occurred times without number in states-- + +CLEINIAS: What thing? + +ATHENIAN: 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 offices 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. + +CLEINIAS: Truly, Stranger, you see with the keen vision of age. + +ATHENIAN: Why, yes; every man when he is young has that sort of vision +dullest, and when he is old keenest. + +CLEINIAS: Very true. + +ATHENIAN: 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? + +CLEINIAS: Certainly. + +ATHENIAN: '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'? + +CLEINIAS: 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. + +ATHENIAN: 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 +(compare Crat.; Theaet.), 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 +a 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 numbers, 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. + +CLEINIAS: What is that? + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: Certainly. + +ATHENIAN: 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.' +(Works and Days.) + +CLEINIAS: Yes; and he certainly speaks well. + +ATHENIAN: Very true: and now let me tell you the effect which the +preceding discourse has had upon me. + +CLEINIAS: Proceed. + +ATHENIAN: 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.' + +CLEINIAS: Of course he can. + +ATHENIAN: '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.' + +CLEINIAS: That is true. + +ATHENIAN: May we not fairly make answer to him on behalf of the poets? + +CLEINIAS: What answer shall we make to him? + +ATHENIAN: 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 in 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. + +CLEINIAS: Certainly not. + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: Very true. + +ATHENIAN: 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? + +CLEINIAS: To be sure. + +ATHENIAN: 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 practices 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? + +CLEINIAS: I should say, Stranger, that the double way is far better. + +ATHENIAN: Should you like to see an example of the double and single +method in legislation? + +CLEINIAS: Certainly I should. + +ATHENIAN: What will be our first law? Will not the legislator, observing +the order of nature, begin by making regulations for states about +births? + +CLEINIAS: He will. + +ATHENIAN: In all states the birth of children goes back to the connexion +of marriage? + +CLEINIAS: Very true. + +ATHENIAN: And, according to the true order, the laws relating to +marriage should be those which are first determined in every state? + +CLEINIAS: Quite so. + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +MEGILLUS: 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. + +CLEINIAS: Thank you, Megillus. + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: What is it? + +ATHENIAN: 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 good-will 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. + +CLEINIAS: The lawgiver, if he asks my opinion, will certainly legislate +in the form which you advise. + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: 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. + +ATHENIAN: I understand you to mean that we have made a sufficient +preamble about Gods and demigods, and about parents living or dead; and +now you would have us bring the rest of the subject into the light of +day? + +CLEINIAS: Exactly. + +ATHENIAN: 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 amusements, and thus arrive, as far as in us lies, +at the nature of education. These then are the topics which follow next +in order. + +CLEINIAS: Very good. + + + + +BOOK V. + +ATHENIAN: 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 +(compare Republic). 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; I 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 elements 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 +class 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, an 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 (compare Statesman), 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 their's 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 connexion 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 +(compare Republic),--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 +(compare Arist. Pol.), 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 may 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;--there 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 (compare +Arist. Pol.). 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 (compare Arist. Pol.). 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 the 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 (compare Republic). 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 of 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 demigods 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: And now having made an end of the preliminaries we will +proceed to the appointment of magistracies. + +CLEINIAS: Very good. + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: What have you got to say? + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: Of course. + +ATHENIAN: 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? + +CLEINIAS: Impossible. + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: Excellent, Stranger. + +ATHENIAN: Yes; and I will be as good as my word. + +CLEINIAS: Let us by all means do as you propose. + +ATHENIAN: That we will, by the grace of God, if old age will only permit +us. + +CLEINIAS: But God will be gracious. + +ATHENIAN: Yes; and under his guidance let us consider a further point. + +CLEINIAS: What is it? + +ATHENIAN: Let us remember what a courageously mad and daring creation +this our city is. + +CLEINIAS: What had you in your mind when you said that? + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: A reasonable supposition. + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: What method can we devise of electing them? + +ATHENIAN: 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 these 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. + +CLEINIAS: But why, Stranger, do not you and Megillus take a part in our +new city? + +ATHENIAN: 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 (compare Arist. Pol.), 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 Agora 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 he 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. + +CLEINIAS: That is very true. + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: What is it? + +ATHENIAN: 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 offences. 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 counter-proposal 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 180 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 harmonised 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, is 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 no 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? + +CLEINIAS: To be sure there ought. + +ATHENIAN: 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 buildings, 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 (compare Arist. Pol.); +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 in 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 cognisant 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. But 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 (Arist. Pol.); 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. + +CLEINIAS: 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. + +ATHENIAN: Thus far, then, the old men's rational pastime has gone off +well. + +CLEINIAS: You mean, I suppose, their serious and noble pursuit? + +ATHENIAN: Perhaps; but I should like to know whether you and I are +agreed about a certain thing. + +CLEINIAS: About what thing? + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: I know something of these matters from report, although I have +never had any great acquaintance with the art. + +ATHENIAN: 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? + +CLEINIAS: True. + +ATHENIAN: 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? + +CLEINIAS: Assuredly, that is the sort of thing which every one would +desire. + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: By all means. + +ATHENIAN: And is not this what you and I have to do at the present +moment? + +CLEINIAS: What have we to do? + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: Certainly; if we can. + +ATHENIAN: At any rate, we must do our best. + +CLEINIAS: Of course. + +ATHENIAN: 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 (compare Tim.). 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 (compare Republic) 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 connexion +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 (compare Arist. Pol.). For, as Cleinias says, every law +should have a suitable prelude. + +CLEINIAS: You recollect at the right moment, Stranger, and do not miss +the opportunity which the argument affords of saying a word in season. + +ATHENIAN: 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 connexions;--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 +(compare Statesman). 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 class 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, he +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. + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +MEGILLUS: To be sure. + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +MEGILLUS: True. + +CLEINIAS: 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? + +ATHENIAN: 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 of +slave, and freeman, and master. + +CLEINIAS: That is obvious. + +ATHENIAN: 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 (compare Aris. Pol.); 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 (compare Arist. Pol.), 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. + +CLEINIAS: True. + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: Very good. + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: Quite true. + +ATHENIAN: The temples are to be placed all round the agora, and the +whole city built on the heights in a circle (compare Arist. Pol.), 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 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 offences 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 (compare +Arist. Pol.); 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 (compare Arist. Pol.). 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. + +CLEINIAS: By all means. + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: Certainly. + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: Likely enough. + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: What is the cause, Stranger, of this extreme hesitation? + +ATHENIAN: 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 (Arist. Pol.), 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. + +CLEINIAS: There is nothing which we should both of us like better, +Stranger, than to hear what you have to say. + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: True. + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: Certainly. + +ATHENIAN: 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? + +CLEINIAS: No doubt. + +ATHENIAN: 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? + +CLEINIAS: True. + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: Such has been the constant tradition, and is very likely true. + +ATHENIAN: Some one might say to us, What is the drift of all this? + +CLEINIAS: A very pertinent question, Stranger. + +ATHENIAN: And therefore I will endeavour, Cleinias, if I can, to draw +the natural inference. + +CLEINIAS: Proceed. + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: Very true. + +ATHENIAN: Let us keep in mind the words which have now been spoken; for +hereafter there may be need of them. + +CLEINIAS: What do you bid us keep in mind? + +ATHENIAN: That which we comprehended under the three words--first, +eating, secondly, drinking, thirdly, the excitement of love. + +CLEINIAS: We shall be sure to remember, Stranger. + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: What do you mean? + +ATHENIAN: 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 in 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 connexion 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. Am I not right in maintaining that a good education is that +which tends most to the improvement of mind and body? + +CLEINIAS: Undoubtedly. + +ATHENIAN: And nothing can be plainer than that the fairest bodies are +those which grow up from infancy in the best and straightest manner? + +CLEINIAS: Certainly. + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: True. + +ATHENIAN: Well, and is not rapid growth without proper and abundant +exercise the source endless evils in the body? + +CLEINIAS: Yes. + +ATHENIAN: And the body should have the most exercise when it receives +most nourishment? + +CLEINIAS: But, Stranger, are we to impose this great amount of exercise +upon newly-born infants? + +ATHENIAN: Nay, rather on the bodies of infants still unborn. + +CLEINIAS: What do you mean, my good sir? In the process of gestation? + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: By all means. + +ATHENIAN: 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 (compare Republic), 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 the 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 (compare Arist. Pol.),--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. + +CLEINIAS: What penalty? + +ATHENIAN: Ridicule, and the difficulty of getting the feminine and +servant-like dispositions of the nurses to comply. + +CLEINIAS: Then why was there any need to speak of the matter at all? + +ATHENIAN: 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 (compare Republic); 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. + +CLEINIAS: Likely enough. + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: By all means. + +ATHENIAN: 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 (compare Arist. Pol.); 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. + +CLEINIAS: Well, Stranger, and what is the reason of this? + +ATHENIAN: The reason is obvious. + +CLEINIAS: What? + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: Certainly. + +ATHENIAN: 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 (compare Republic), and every +one will allow that this is the way to form a habit of cowardice and not +of courage. + +CLEINIAS: No doubt. + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: True. + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: Quite true. + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: To be sure. + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: Certainly. + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: 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? + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: Quite true. + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: True. + +ATHENIAN: 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? + +CLEINIAS: Certainly. + +ATHENIAN: 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? (Compare Arist. Pol.) + +CLEINIAS: To be sure, Stranger--more especially if we could procure him +a variety of pleasures. + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: Proceed. + +ATHENIAN: 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 (compare Republic), 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. + +CLEINIAS: 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? + +ATHENIAN: Very good, Cleinias; and now let us all three consider a +further point. + +CLEINIAS: What is it? + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: Very true: we are disposed to agree with you. + +ATHENIAN: 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 of 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. + +CLEINIAS: In what respect? + +ATHENIAN: 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, 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 of 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? + +CLEINIAS: It is not easy, Stranger, to put aside these principles of +gymnastic and wrestling and to enunciate better ones. + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: By all means. + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: What have you to say, Stranger? + +ATHENIAN: 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? + +CLEINIAS: You mean the evil of blaming antiquity in states? + +ATHENIAN: Exactly. + +CLEINIAS: 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. + +ATHENIAN: I should expect so. + +CLEINIAS: Proceed. + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: To be sure. + +ATHENIAN: 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? + +CLEINIAS: That is the only doctrine which we can admit. + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: Most true. + +ATHENIAN: Can any of us imagine a better mode of effecting this object +than that of the Egyptians? + +CLEINIAS: What is their method? + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: Very good. + +ATHENIAN: In the consideration of this subject, let us remember what is +due to ourselves. + +CLEINIAS: To what are you referring? + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: Most true. + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: Excellent, Stranger; let us do as you propose. + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: Very good. + +ATHENIAN: 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? + +CLEINIAS: Of course. + +ATHENIAN: 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-- + +CLEINIAS: What? + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: By all means; that law is approved by the suffrages of us all. + +ATHENIAN: But what shall be our next musical law or type? Ought not +prayers to be offered up to the Gods when we sacrifice? + +CLEINIAS: Certainly. + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: Very true. + +ATHENIAN: Were we not a little while ago quite convinced that no silver +or golden Plutus should dwell in our state? + +CLEINIAS: To be sure. + +ATHENIAN: 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-- + +CLEINIAS: What? will you explain the law more precisely? + +ATHENIAN: 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? + +CLEINIAS: Let it be so, by all means. + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: Certainly. + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: Quite true. + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: Very true. + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: Certainly. + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: In what respect? + +ATHENIAN: At present they think that their serious pursuits 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 born or 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. + +ATHENIAN: 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 as 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? + +CLEINIAS: 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. + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: Certainly. + +ATHENIAN: 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, as 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 the 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. + +MEGILLUS: What shall we do, Cleinias? Shall we allow a stranger to run +down Sparta in this fashion? + +CLEINIAS: Yes; for as we have given him liberty of speech we must let +him go on until we have perfected the work of legislation. + +MEGILLUS: Very true. + +ATHENIAN: Then now I may proceed? + +CLEINIAS: By all means. + +ATHENIAN: 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 hand-maidens +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 as 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 as 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 able to read and write; but the acquisition of perfect beauty or +quickness in writing, 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. + +CLEINIAS: What troubles you, Stranger? and why are you so perplexed in +your mind? + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: To what do you refer in this instance? + +ATHENIAN: I will tell you. There is a difficulty in opposing many +myriads of mouths. + +CLEINIAS: Well, and have we not already opposed the popular voice in +many important enactments? + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: Certainly. + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: Yes, I do. + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: How would you advise the guardian of the law to act? + +ATHENIAN: In what respect? + +CLEINIAS: 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. + +ATHENIAN: My good Cleinias, I rather think that I am fortunate. + +CLEINIAS: How so? + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: 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. + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: Yes. + +ATHENIAN: And now that we have done with the teacher of letters, the +teacher of the lyre has to receive orders from us. + +CLEINIAS: Certainly. + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: To what do you refer? + +ATHENIAN: We were saying, if I remember rightly, that the sixty +years 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. + +CLEINIAS: Very true. + +ATHENIAN: 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 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. + +CLEINIAS: That, again, is true. + +ATHENIAN: 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? + +CLEINIAS: Yes. + +ATHENIAN: Then the boys ought to have dancing masters, and the girls +dancing mistresses to exercise them. + +CLEINIAS: Very good. + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: But how will an old man be able to attend to such great +charges? + +ATHENIAN: 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! + +CLEINIAS: Such a want of education, Stranger, is certainly an unseemly +thing to happen in a state, as well as a great misfortune. + +ATHENIAN: 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? + +CLEINIAS: I quite agree. + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: Excellent. ATHENIAN: 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 moves +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 cannot 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. + +CLEINIAS: We can have no hesitation in assenting when you put the matter +thus. + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: And what necessities of knowledge are there, Stranger, which +are divine and not human? + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: I think, Stranger, that what you have now said is very true +and agreeable to nature. + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: 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. + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: True. + +ATHENIAN: 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, and 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. + +CLEINIAS: What kind of ignorance do you mean? + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: About what? Say, Stranger, what you mean. + +ATHENIAN: 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? + +CLEINIAS: Certainly. + +ATHENIAN: And what breadth is? + +CLEINIAS: To be sure. + +ATHENIAN: And you know that these are two distinct things, and that +there is a third thing called depth? + +CLEINIAS: Of course. + +ATHENIAN: And do not all these seem to you to be commensurable with +themselves? + +CLEINIAS: Yes. + +ATHENIAN: That is to say, length is naturally commensurable with length, +and breadth with breadth, and depth in like manner with depth? + +CLEINIAS: Undoubtedly. + +ATHENIAN: 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? + +CLEINIAS: Clearly, far from good. + +ATHENIAN: Concerning length and breadth when compared with depth, or +breadth and length when compared with one another, are not all the +Hellenes agreed that these are commensurable with one another in some +way? + +CLEINIAS: Quite true. + +ATHENIAN: 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? + +CLEINIAS: Certainly. + +ATHENIAN: And there are other things akin to these, in which there +spring up other errors of the same family. + +CLEINIAS: What are they? + +ATHENIAN: The natures of commensurable and incommensurable quantities in +their relation to one another. A man who is good for anything 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 far +better and more graceful way of passing their time than the old man's +game of draughts. + +CLEINIAS: I dare say; and these pastimes are not so very unlike a game +of draughts. + +ATHENIAN: 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 any one is of another mind, let him say what he has to say. + +CLEINIAS: Certainly. + +ATHENIAN: Then if these studies are such as we maintain, we will include +them; if not, they shall be excluded. + +CLEINIAS: Assuredly: but may we not now, Stranger, prescribe these +studies as necessary, and so fill up the lacunae of our laws? + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: A fair condition. + +ATHENIAN: Next let us see whether we are or are not willing that the +study of astronomy shall be proposed for our youth. + +CLEINIAS: Proceed. + +ATHENIAN: Here occurs a strange phenomenon, which certainly cannot in +any point of view be tolerated. + +CLEINIAS: To what are you referring? + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: What do you mean? + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: Your words are reasonable enough; but shall we find any good +or true notion about the stars? + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: Lies of what nature? + +ATHENIAN: We say that they and divers other stars do not keep the same +path, and we call them planets or wanderers. + +CLEINIAS: 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. + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: 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. + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: 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. + +ATHENIAN: 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? + +CLEINIAS: Worse than ludicrous, I should say. + +ATHENIAN: At all events, the Gods cannot like us to be spreading a false +report of them. + +CLEINIAS: Most true, if such is the fact. + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: Very good. + +ATHENIAN: 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 wild 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 whithersoever 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. + +CLEINIAS: Very good. + + + + +BOOK VIII. + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +ATHENIAN: 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 +connexion 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 no fellow, either in respect of leisure or +command 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 in 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 such poems as have been judged sacred and dedicated to the Gods, +and such as are the works of good men, in which praise or blame has been +awarded and which have been deemed to fulfil their design fairly. + +The regulations about war, and about liberty of speech in poetry, 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 not 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? + +CLEINIAS: The way which you mention, Stranger, would be the only way. + +ATHENIAN: And shall the warriors of our city, who are destined when +occasion calls 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. + +CLEINIAS: We are quite agreed, Stranger, that we should legislate about +such things, and that the whole state should practise them. + +ATHENIAN: 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? + +CLEINIAS: Perhaps. + +ATHENIAN: Certainly not, sweet Cleinias; there are two causes, which are +quite enough to account for the deficiency. + +CLEINIAS: What are they? + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: True. + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: What do you mean? + +ATHENIAN: Must not they be truly unfortunate whose souls are compelled +to pass through life always hungering? + +CLEINIAS: Then that is one cause, Stranger; but you spoke of another. + +ATHENIAN: Thank you for reminding me. + +CLEINIAS: The insatiable lifelong love of wealth, as you were saying, +is one cause which absorbs mankind, and prevents them from rightly +practising the arts of war: Granted; and now tell me, what is the other? + +ATHENIAN: Do you imagine that I delay because I am in a perplexity? + +CLEINIAS: 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. + +ATHENIAN: That is a very fair rebuke, Cleinias; and I will now proceed +to the second cause. + +CLEINIAS: Proceed. + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: True. + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: Very good. + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: Very true. + +ATHENIAN: Neither of them can attain their greatest efficiency without +arms. + +CLEINIAS: How can they? + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: Very good. + +ATHENIAN: 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 are 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 +our 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. + +CLEINIAS: What is this, Stranger, that you are saying? For we do not as +yet understand your meaning. + +ATHENIAN: 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 the 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. + +CLEINIAS: How is that? + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: Very true. + +ATHENIAN: 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 difficulty 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. + +Athenian: I knew well, my friend, that I should obtain your assent, +which I accept, and therefore have no need to analyze 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. + +MEGILLUS: Very good. + +ATHENIAN: Upon reflection I see a way of imposing the law, which, in one +respect, is easy, but, in another, is of the utmost difficulty. + +MEGILLUS: What do you mean? + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +MEGILLUS: When do you mean? + +ATHENIAN: 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 connexion ever takes place between +them. Nor does the thought of such a thing ever enter at all into the +minds of most of them. + +MEGILLUS: Very true. + +ATHENIAN: Does not a little word extinguish all pleasures of that sort? + +MEGILLUS: What word? + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +MEGILLUS: You are very right in saying that tradition, if no breath of +opposition ever assails it, has a marvellous power. + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +MEGILLUS: Yes; but will he ever succeed in making all mankind use the +same language about them? + +ATHENIAN: 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 law 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. + +MEGILLUS: Very true. + +ATHENIAN: 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? + +CLEINIAS: By all means. + +ATHENIAN: 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? + +CLEINIAS: He will be far more temperate when he is in training. + +ATHENIAN: 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, and also +because he was of a manly and temperate disposition, never had any +connexion 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. + +CLEINIAS: No doubt this fact has been often affirmed positively by the +ancients of these athletes. + +ATHENIAN: And had they the courage to abstain from what is ordinarily +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? + +CLEINIAS: Of what victory are you speaking? + +ATHENIAN: 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? + +CLEINIAS: I dare say. + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: And what law would you advise them to pass if this one failed? + +ATHENIAN: Clearly, Cleinias, the one which would naturally follow. + +CLEINIAS: What is that? + +ATHENIAN: 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 class, and will compel them not to transgress. + +CLEINIAS: What are they? + +ATHENIAN: 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 realised 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. + +MEGILLUS: I, for my part, Stranger, would gladly receive this law. +Cleinias shall speak for himself, and tell you what is his opinion. + +CLEINIAS: I will, Megillus, when an opportunity offers; at present, I +think that we had better allow the Stranger to proceed with his laws. + +MEGILLUS: Very good. + +ATHENIAN: 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 inn-keepers 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 +any one 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 lawgivers, 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: He 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 them an 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, a 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' grape 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 the 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 sun, or the air, which +are the 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 +cognizant, 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 rather 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 a +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 required 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 moneymaking, 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. + +CLEINIAS: What do you mean? + +ATHENIAN: I mean that the earth of necessity produces and nourishes the +various articles of food, sometimes better and sometimes worse. + +CLEINIAS: Of course. + +ATHENIAN: 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 number 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 demi-gods; 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 wrong 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 sale, 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 as he pleases and when he pleases. As to other goods and implements +which are likely to be wanted, they shall sell them in the 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 or 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 limits a man may increase and +diminish his possessions, let the excess be registered in the books +of the guardians of the law; or 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: 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 court, how the summonses are to be served, and 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 permitting 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 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! + +CLEINIAS: Very good. + +ATHENIAN: 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 who 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. + +CLEINIAS: 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? + +ATHENIAN: 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 my 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. + +CLEINIAS: And would he not be right? + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: Very true. + +ATHENIAN: But we are fortunate. + +CLEINIAS: In what way? + +ATHENIAN: 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? + +CLEINIAS: 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 +the 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. + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: What is it? + +ATHENIAN: There are many writings to be found in cities, and among +them there are discourses composed by legislators as well as by other +persons. + +CLEINIAS: To be sure. + +ATHENIAN: 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? + +CLEINIAS: Yes; to them far above all others. + +ATHENIAN: 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? + +CLEINIAS: Certainly not. + +ATHENIAN: 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! + +CLEINIAS: Excellent; let us do as you say. + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: By all means. + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: What are the inconsistencies which you observe in us? + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: They would be quite right. + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: And what is the inference? + +ATHENIAN: The inference is, that a just action in partaking of the just +partakes also in the same degree of the fair and honourable. + +CLEINIAS: Certainly. + +ATHENIAN: 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? + +CLEINIAS: True. + +ATHENIAN: 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? + +CLEINIAS: What do you mean? + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: To what? + +ATHENIAN: 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? + +CLEINIAS: Such appears to be the case. + +ATHENIAN: In this discordant and inconsistent fashion does the language +of the many rend asunder the honourable and just. + +CLEINIAS: Very true, Stranger. + +ATHENIAN: Then now, Cleinias, let us see how far we ourselves are +consistent about these matters. + +CLEINIAS: Consistent in what? + +ATHENIAN: I think that I have clearly stated in the former part of the +discussion, but if I did not, let me now state-- + +CLEINIAS: What? + +ATHENIAN: That all bad men are always involuntarily bad; and from this I +must proceed to draw a further inference. + +CLEINIAS: What is it? + +ATHENIAN: 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? + +CLEINIAS: Very good, Stranger; and what shall we say in answer to these +objections? + +ATHENIAN: That is a very fair question. In the first place, let us-- + +CLEINIAS: Do what? + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: 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. + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: Very true, Stranger; there cannot be two opinions among us +upon that point. + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: Certainly. + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: Very good. + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: What direction? + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: 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? + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: Very true. + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: Quite true. + +ATHENIAN: 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 crimes, 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. + +CLEINIAS: You are perfectly right. + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: Certainly. + +ATHENIAN: But no one was ever yet heard to say that one of us is +superior and another inferior to ignorance. + +CLEINIAS: Very true. + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: Yes, often. + +ATHENIAN: 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, and 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. + +CLEINIAS: Quite right. + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: What are the two kinds? + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: Naturally. + +ATHENIAN: 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 homicide; 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 authorised to declare. And if a man kills his own slave, when he has +been purified according to law, 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 the other, 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, and 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 is 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. + +CLEINIAS: Certainly. + +ATHENIAN: Let us proceed: If any one slays a freeman 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 cognizance): 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. + +CLEINIAS: Very good. + +ATHENIAN: 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 the 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 did 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 of 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 of 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 all of them, small or great, is +next to impossible. + +CLEINIAS: Then what is to be the inference? + +ATHENIAN: The inference is, that some things should be left to courts of +law; others the legislator must decide for himself. + +CLEINIAS: And what ought the legislator to decide, and what ought he to +leave to the courts of law? + +ATHENIAN: 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 any one +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 or a 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 law 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 he do 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 be liable 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 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 +was 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 class, 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 may 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 to 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 who 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 +forever 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, and 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: My good friend, let us first hear the jests which I suspect +that they in their superiority will utter against us. + +CLEINIAS: What jests? + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: But is there any difficulty in proving the existence of the +Gods? + +ATHENIAN: How would you prove it? + +CLEINIAS: 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. + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: Why, Stranger, what other reason is there? + +ATHENIAN: One which you who live in a different atmosphere would never +guess. + +CLEINIAS: What is it? + +ATHENIAN: A very grievous sort of ignorance which is imagined to be the +greatest wisdom. + +CLEINIAS: What do you mean? + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: One such teacher, O stranger, would be bad enough, and you +imply that there are many of them, which is worse. + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: 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; for 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. + +ATHENIAN: 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 many 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 to 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. + +CLEINIAS: Our address, Stranger, thus far, is excellent. + +ATHENIAN: Quite true, Megillus and Cleinias, but I am afraid that we +have unconsciously lighted on a strange doctrine. + +CLEINIAS: What doctrine do you mean? + +ATHENIAN: The wisest of all doctrines, in the opinion of many. + +CLEINIAS: I wish that you would speak plainer. + +ATHENIAN: The doctrine that all things do become, have become, and will +become, some by nature, some by art, and some by chance. + +CLEINIAS: Is not that true? + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: By all means. + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: How is that? + +ATHENIAN: 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 co-operate +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. + +CLEINIAS: How do you mean? + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: 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! + +ATHENIAN: 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? + +CLEINIAS: 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, as +you appear to me to maintain, and I am disposed to agree with you in +thinking. + +ATHENIAN: 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? + +CLEINIAS: 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. + +ATHENIAN: 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? + +MEGILLUS: There is no more proper champion of them. + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: Very true. + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: You are right; but I should like to know how this happens. + +ATHENIAN: I fear that the argument may seem singular. + +CLEINIAS: 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. + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: Still I do not understand you. + +ATHENIAN: 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? + +CLEINIAS: Certainly. + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: But why is the word 'nature' wrong? + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: You are quite right. + +ATHENIAN: Shall we, then, take this as the next point to which our +attention should be directed? + +CLEINIAS: By all means. + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: Excellent, Stranger, and I hope that you will do as you +propose. + +ATHENIAN: 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 move in 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? + +CLEINIAS: Which are they? + +ATHENIAN: Just the two, with which our present enquiry is concerned. + +CLEINIAS: Speak plainer. + +ATHENIAN: I suppose that our enquiry has reference to the soul? + +CLEINIAS: Very true. + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: Granted. + +ATHENIAN: 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 coincident 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. + +CLEINIAS: Certainly. + +ATHENIAN: And which of these ten motions ought we to prefer as being the +mightiest and most efficient? + +CLEINIAS: I must say that the motion which is able to move itself is ten +thousand times superior to all the others. + +ATHENIAN: Very good; but may I make one or two corrections in what I +have been saying? + +CLEINIAS: What are they? + +ATHENIAN: When I spoke of the tenth sort of motion, that was not quite +correct. + +CLEINIAS: What was the error? + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: What do you mean? + +ATHENIAN: 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? + +CLEINIAS: Very true, and I quite agree. + +ATHENIAN: 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? + +CLEINIAS: 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. + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: Quite true. + +ATHENIAN: At this stage of the argument let us put a question. + +CLEINIAS: What question? + +ATHENIAN: If we were to see this power existing in any earthy, watery, +or fiery substance, simple or compound--how should we describe it? + +CLEINIAS: You mean to ask whether we should call such a self-moving +power life? + +ATHENIAN: I do. + +CLEINIAS: Certainly we should. + +ATHENIAN: And when we see soul in anything, must we not do the +same--must we not admit that this is life? + +CLEINIAS: We must. + +ATHENIAN: And now, I beseech you, reflect--you would admit that we have +a threefold knowledge of things? + +CLEINIAS: What do you mean? + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: How two? + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: How? + +ATHENIAN: 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'? + +CLEINIAS: True. + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: Quite true. + +ATHENIAN: 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? + +CLEINIAS: You mean to say that the essence which is defined as the +self-moved is the same with that which has the name soul? + +ATHENIAN: 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? + +CLEINIAS: Certainly not; the soul as being the source of motion, has +been most satisfactorily shown to be the oldest of all things. + +ATHENIAN: 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? + +CLEINIAS: Exactly. + +ATHENIAN: 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? + +CLEINIAS: Nothing can be more true. + +ATHENIAN: 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? + +CLEINIAS: Certainly. + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: To be sure. + +ATHENIAN: In the next place, we must 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? + +CLEINIAS: We must. + +ATHENIAN: And as the soul orders and inhabits all things that move, +however moving, must we not say that she orders also the heavens? + +CLEINIAS: Of course. + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: Very true. + +ATHENIAN: 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? + +CLEINIAS: There is no room at all for doubt. + +ATHENIAN: 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: + +CLEINIAS: How would you answer? + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: True. + +ATHENIAN: But if the world moves wildly and irregularly, then the evil +soul guides it. + +CLEINIAS: True again. + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: Very good. + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: What do you mean? + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: That will be excellent. + +ATHENIAN: You will surely remember our saying that all things were +either at rest or in motion? + +CLEINIAS: I do. + +ATHENIAN: And that of things in motion some were moving in one place, +and others in more than one? + +CLEINIAS: Yes. + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: What do you mean? + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: It does us great credit. + +ATHENIAN: 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? + +CLEINIAS: That is most true. + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: 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. + +ATHENIAN: You have understood my meaning right well, Cleinias, and now +let me ask you another question. + +CLEINIAS: What are you going to ask? + +ATHENIAN: If the soul carries round the sun and moon, and the other +stars, does she not carry round each individual of them? + +CLEINIAS: Certainly. + +ATHENIAN: Then of one of them let us speak, and the same argument will +apply to all. + +CLEINIAS: Which will you take? + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: What is that? + +ATHENIAN: If the soul carries round the sun, we shall not be far wrong +in supposing one of three alternatives. + +CLEINIAS: What are they? + +ATHENIAN: 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 a body, but guides the sun by some +extraordinary and wonderful power. + +CLEINIAS: Yes, certainly; the soul can only order all things in one of +these three ways. + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: Yes, by every man who has the least particle of sense. + +ATHENIAN: 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 are full of Gods? + +CLEINIAS: No one, Stranger, would be such a madman. + +ATHENIAN: And now, Megillus and Cleinias, let us offer terms to him who +has hitherto denied the existence of the Gods, and leave him. + +CLEINIAS: What terms? + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: Certainly, quite enough, Stranger. + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: Very good; do as you say, and we will help you as well as we +can. + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: No doubt he heard that. + +ATHENIAN: 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? + +CLEINIAS: Certainly. + +ATHENIAN: Yes; and courage is a part of virtue, and cowardice of vice? + +CLEINIAS: True. + +ATHENIAN: And the one is honourable, and the other dishonourable? + +CLEINIAS: To be sure. + +ATHENIAN: And the one, like other meaner things, is a human quality, but +the Gods have no part in anything of the sort? + +CLEINIAS: That again is what everybody will admit. + +ATHENIAN: But do we imagine carelessness and idleness and luxury to be +virtues? What do you think? + +CLEINIAS: Decidedly not. + +ATHENIAN: They rank under the opposite class? + +CLEINIAS: Yes. + +ATHENIAN: And their opposites, therefore, would fall under the opposite +class? + +CLEINIAS: Yes. + +ATHENIAN: 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? + +CLEINIAS: And the comparison is a most just one. + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: Of course not. How could he have? + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: What are they? + +ATHENIAN: 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? + +CLEINIAS: Certainly not. + +ATHENIAN: 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? + +CLEINIAS: Yes. + +ATHENIAN: And do you admit also that they have all power which mortals +and immortals can have? + +CLEINIAS: They will, of course, admit this also. + +ATHENIAN: And surely we three and they two--five in all--have +acknowledged that they are good and perfect? + +CLEINIAS: Assuredly. + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: Most true. + +ATHENIAN: Then not from inactivity and carelessness is any God ever +negligent; for there is no cowardice in them. + +CLEINIAS: That is very true. + +ATHENIAN: 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? + +CLEINIAS: There is none. + +ATHENIAN: 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? + +CLEINIAS: Impossible. + +ATHENIAN: Do not all human things partake of the nature of soul? And is +not man the most religious of all animals? + +CLEINIAS: That is not to be denied. + +ATHENIAN: And we acknowledge that all mortal creatures are the property +of the Gods, to whom also the whole of heaven belongs? + +CLEINIAS: Certainly. + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: What is it? + +ATHENIAN: Sensation and power are in an inverse ratio to each other in +respect to their ease and difficulty. + +CLEINIAS: What do you mean? + +ATHENIAN: 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 small and unimportant things than of their opposites. + +CLEINIAS: Far more. + +ATHENIAN: 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? + +CLEINIAS: Decidedly not well. + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: Of course not. + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: Never, Stranger, let us admit a supposition about the Gods +which is both impious and false. + +ATHENIAN: I think that we have now argued enough with him who delights +to accuse the Gods of neglect. + +CLEINIAS: Yes. + +ATHENIAN: He has been forced to acknowledge that he is in error, but he +still seems to me to need some words of consolation. + +CLEINIAS: What consolation will you offer him? + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: In what way do you mean? + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: How so? + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: Yes, that is probably true. + +ATHENIAN: 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 proving 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. + +CLEINIAS: Very good; let us do as you say. + +ATHENIAN: 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? + +CLEINIAS: True. + +ATHENIAN: 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 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. + +CLEINIAS: Quite true. + +ATHENIAN: 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? + +CLEINIAS: Precisely so. + +ATHENIAN: 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? + +CLEINIAS: Assuredly not. + +ATHENIAN: And surely they are not like charioteers who are bribed to +give up the victory to other chariots? + +CLEINIAS: That would be a fearful image of the Gods. + +ATHENIAN: Nor are they like generals, or physicians, or husbandmen, or +shepherds; and no one would compare them to dogs who have been silenced +by wolves. + +CLEINIAS: A thing not to be spoken of. + +ATHENIAN: And are not all the Gods the chiefest of all guardians, and do +they not guard our highest interests? + +CLEINIAS: Yes; the chiefest. + +ATHENIAN: 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? + +CLEINIAS: 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. + +ATHENIAN: 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? + +CLEINIAS: You have our entire assent to your words. + +ATHENIAN: I have spoken with vehemence because I am zealous against evil +men; and I will tell you, 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. + +CLEINIAS: So let us hope; and even if we have failed, the style of our +argument will not discredit the lawgiver. + +ATHENIAN: 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 be 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 the 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 +authorised--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 some 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 who meets 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 the 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, and 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 from 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 of 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 a 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 who 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 offspring, +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 wardens 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--all +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: 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 houses which +can only be reached by 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 practises, 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 well-born 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 that other craft of war, in which generals and tacticians are the +craftsmen, who undertake voluntarily or involuntarily 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. + +CLEINIAS: What do you mean, Stranger? + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: In what way? + +ATHENIAN: He wants to have the entire control of all his property, and +will use angry words. + +CLEINIAS: Such as what? + +ATHENIAN: 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! + +CLEINIAS: Well, Stranger, and may he not very fairly say so? + +ATHENIAN: In my opinion, Cleinias, the ancient legislators were +too good-natured, and made laws without sufficient observation or +consideration of human things. + +CLEINIAS: What do you mean? + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: What? + +ATHENIAN: 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 I +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 who 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 recognised 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 when 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, I 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; he 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. + +CLEINIAS: And how, Stranger, can we act most fairly under the +circumstances? + +ATHENIAN: There must be arbiters chosen to deal with such laws and the +subjects of them. + +CLEINIAS: What do you mean? + +ATHENIAN: 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 as 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 would 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 is not different from the case of those who have a 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 diligent. 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 a 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 ordain 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 proven--the 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. + +CLEINIAS: And what do you call the true mode of service? + +ATHENIAN: I will tell you, O my friend, for such things are worth +listening to. + +CLEINIAS: Proceed. + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: Certainly. + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: Excellent. + +ATHENIAN: 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 ears 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 practises, 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 who 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 drachmas, 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 +evil-speaking; 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 civilised 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 +the 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 and 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 slave who has done the injury. But if the 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 rescinded, and there shall be a discussion and a decision as +to whether the suit was determined by that false evidence or not; 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 civiliser 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 that both the art, and the power of speech which is +thereby imparted, are at the service of him who 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 listen 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 for those +who disobey, the voice of the law is as follows: If any one 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 he 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 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 for ever 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 a 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 men 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 searching +for 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 at +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 the third prize. If any one goes on an expedition, and +returns home before the appointed time, when the generals have not +withdrawn the army, he shall be indicted for desertion before the same +persons who took cognizance 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 sin 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 +an action against some innocent person on that account. To make the +distinction may be 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 men 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 class, 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 greater 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 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 the 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 exercises, +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 near 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 child-bearing; +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-class, pay twelve minae, and eight if he be of the +second class, and six if he be of the third class, 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 worst men, is that in return for a 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 opinions 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 a +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 sold 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 uncivilised; it is a practice +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 +men 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 be one 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 is not to be +included among travels of the class authorised 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 civilised, +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: 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 a member, as well as the last +appointed as those who have been released from the office; and each of +them shall take with him as his companion a 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 class 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 annually 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 offering 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 in 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 under-world 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 of 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 taken 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. + +CLEINIAS: That is very good, Stranger; but I wish you would tell me more +clearly what you mean. + +ATHENIAN: O Cleinias, many things of old time were well said and sung; +and the saying about the Fates was one of them. + +CLEINIAS: What is it? + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: It will be no small matter if we can only discover how such a +nature can be implanted in anything. + +ATHENIAN: But it certainly can be; so much I clearly see. + +CLEINIAS: 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. + +ATHENIAN: I approve of your suggestion, and am quite of the same mind +with you. + +CLEINIAS: 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? + +ATHENIAN: 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? + +CLEINIAS: True. + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: What do you mean? + +ATHENIAN: Now is the time for me to speak the truth in all earnestness. + +CLEINIAS: Well said, and I hope that you will fulfil your intention. + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: Once more, what do you mean? + +ATHENIAN: The well-being of those two is obviously the preservation of +every living thing. + +CLEINIAS: How is that? + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: Yes, quite so. + +ATHENIAN: 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? + +CLEINIAS: Very true. + +ATHENIAN: 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? + +CLEINIAS: Very good. + +ATHENIAN: 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? + +CLEINIAS: Certainly. + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: They cannot. + +ATHENIAN: 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; and further, will he ever be +able to preserve that of which he does not even know the aim? + +CLEINIAS: Impossible. + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: Very true. + +ATHENIAN: In which, then, of the parts or institutions of the state is +any such guardian power to be found? Can we say? + +CLEINIAS: 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. + +ATHENIAN: You understand me perfectly, Cleinias; and we must assume, as +the argument implies, 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. + +CLEINIAS: Quite true. + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: 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. + +ATHENIAN: Yes. + +CLEINIAS: And we said that virtue was of four kinds? + +ATHENIAN: Quite true. + +CLEINIAS: 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? + +ATHENIAN: 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? + +CLEINIAS: We cannot, Stranger. + +ATHENIAN: Well, but ought we not to desire to see it, and to see where +it is to be found? + +CLEINIAS: For example, where? + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: Certainly. + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: Quite so. + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: How do you mean? + +ATHENIAN: I have no difficulty in explaining what I mean. Let us +distribute the subject into questions and answers. + +CLEINIAS: Once more, what do you mean? + +ATHENIAN: Ask me what is that one thing which I 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. + +CLEINIAS: That is true. + +ATHENIAN: 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? + +CLEINIAS: I suppose not. + +ATHENIAN: 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, than these very qualities +of which we are now speaking--courage, temperance, wisdom, justice? + +CLEINIAS: How can there be anything greater? + +ATHENIAN: 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? + +CLEINIAS: Wonder! no. + +ATHENIAN: 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? + +CLEINIAS: What, Stranger, is the drift of your comparison? + +ATHENIAN: 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? + +CLEINIAS: That they should be equal, my good sir, is impossible. + +ATHENIAN: Then we ought to proceed to some more exact training than any +which has preceded. + +CLEINIAS: Certainly. + +ATHENIAN: And must not that of which we are in need be the one to which +we were just now alluding? + +CLEINIAS: Very true. + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: True. + +ATHENIAN: 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? + +CLEINIAS: Perhaps not. + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: I bow to your authority, Stranger; let us proceed in the way +which you propose. + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: 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. + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: Certainly, it ought to be, if it can be. + +ATHENIAN: 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? + +CLEINIAS: They must consider also in what sense they are one. + +ATHENIAN: And are they to consider only, and to be unable to set forth +what they think? + +CLEINIAS: Certainly not; that would be the state of a slave. + +ATHENIAN: 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 of what is not well, according to nature? + +CLEINIAS: Certainly. + +ATHENIAN: 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? We 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. + +CLEINIAS: 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. + +ATHENIAN: Are we assured that there are two things which lead men to +believe in the Gods, as we have already stated? + +CLEINIAS: What are they? + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: But what is the fact? + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: How so? + +ATHENIAN: 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 connexion 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? + +CLEINIAS: Certainly, my good friend, we will if the thing is in any +degree possible. + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: 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. + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: What do you mean, and what new thing is this? + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +CLEINIAS: What then are we to do, Stranger, under these circumstances? + +ATHENIAN: 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. + +MEGILLUS: 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. + +CLEINIAS: Very true, Megillus; and you must join with me in detaining +him. + +MEGILLUS: I will. + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Laws, by Plato + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LAWS *** + +***** This file should be named 1750.txt or 1750.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/1/7/5/1750/ + +Produced by Sue Asscher + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. Project +Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you +charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. If you +do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the +rules is very easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose +such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and +research. They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do +practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks. Redistribution is +subject to the trademark license, especially commercial +redistribution. + + + +*** START: FULL LICENSE *** + +THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE +PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK + +To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free +distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work +(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project +Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project +Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at +http://gutenberg.org/license). + + +Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic works + +1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to +and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property +(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all +the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy +all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession. +If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the +terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or +entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8. + +1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be +used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who +agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few +things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works +even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See +paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement +and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. See paragraph 1.E below. + +1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation" +or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual works in the +collection are in the public domain in the United States. If an +individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are +located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from +copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative +works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg +are removed. Of course, we hope that you will support the Project +Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by +freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of +this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with +the work. You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by +keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project +Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others. + +1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern +what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are in +a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, check +the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement +before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or +creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project +Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no representations concerning +the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United +States. + +1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: + +1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate +access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently +whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the +phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project +Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed, +copied or distributed: + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + +1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived +from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is +posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied +and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees +or charges. If you are redistributing or providing access to a work +with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the +work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 +through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the +Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or +1.E.9. + +1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted +with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution +must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional +terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms will be linked +to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the +permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work. + +1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this +work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. + +1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this +electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without +prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with +active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project +Gutenberg-tm License. + +1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, +compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any +word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access to or +distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than +"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version +posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org), +you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a +copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon +request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other +form. Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. + +1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, +performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works +unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. + +1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing +access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided +that + +- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from + the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method + you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is + owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he + has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the + Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments + must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you + prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax + returns. Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and + sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the + address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to + the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation." + +- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies + you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he + does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm + License. You must require such a user to return or + destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium + and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of + Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any + money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the + electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days + of receipt of the work. + +- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free + distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set +forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from +both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael +Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark. Contact the +Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below. + +1.F. + +1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable +effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread +public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm +collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain +"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or +corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual +property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a +computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by +your equipment. + +1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right +of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project +Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all +liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal +fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT +LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE +PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH F3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE +TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE +LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR +INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH +DAMAGE. + +1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a +defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can +receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a +written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you +received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with +your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you with +the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a +refund. If you received the work electronically, the person or entity +providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to +receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If the second copy +is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further +opportunities to fix the problem. + +1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth +in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS' WITH NO OTHER +WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO +WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. + +1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied +warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages. +If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the +law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be +interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by +the applicable state law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any +provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions. + +1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the +trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone +providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance +with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production, +promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works, +harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees, +that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do +or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm +work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any +Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause. + + +Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm + +Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of +electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers +including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It exists +because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from +people in all walks of life. + +Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the +assistance they need, is critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's +goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will +remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure +and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations. +To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation +and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4 +and the Foundation web page at http://www.pglaf.org. + + +Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive +Foundation + +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit +501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the +state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal +Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification +number is 64-6221541. Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at +http://pglaf.org/fundraising. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent +permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. + +The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S. +Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered +throughout numerous locations. Its business office is located at +809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email +business@pglaf.org. Email contact links and up to date contact +information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official +page at http://pglaf.org + +For additional contact information: + Dr. Gregory B. Newby + Chief Executive and Director + gbnewby@pglaf.org + + +Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation + +Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide +spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of +increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be +freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest +array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations +($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt +status with the IRS. + +The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating +charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United +States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a +considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up +with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations +where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To +SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any +particular state visit http://pglaf.org + +While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we +have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition +against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who +approach us with offers to donate. + +International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make +any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from +outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. + +Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation +methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other +ways including checks, online payments and credit card donations. +To donate, please visit: http://pglaf.org/donate + + +Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. + +Professor Michael S. Hart is the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm +concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared +with anyone. For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project +Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support. + + +Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S. +unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not necessarily +keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. + + +Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: + + http://www.gutenberg.org + +This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, +including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to +subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. |