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diff --git a/old/plaws10.txt b/old/plaws10.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..8916260 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/plaws10.txt @@ -0,0 +1,15127 @@ +**********The Project Gutenberg Etext of Laws, by Plato********* +#29 in our series by Plato + +Copyright laws are changing all over the world, be sure to check +the copyright laws for your country before posting these files!! + +Please take a look at the important information in this header. +We encourage you to keep this file on your own disk, keeping an +electronic path open for the next readers. Do not remove this. + + +**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts** + +**Etexts Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971** + +*These Etexts Prepared By Hundreds of Volunteers and Donations* + +Information on contacting Project Gutenberg to get Etexts, and +further information is included below. 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FOR PUBLIC DOMAIN ETEXTS*Ver.04.29.93*END* + + + + + +This etext was prepared by Sue Asscher <asschers@aia.net.au> + + + + + +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 + +by + +Plato + +Translated by Benjamin Jowett + + +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 previousl
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