If a herald or an ambassador carry a false message from our city to any
other, or bring back a false message from the city to which he is sent,
or be proved to have brought back, whether from friends or enemies, in
his capacity of herald or ambassador, what they have never said, let him
be indicted for having violated, contrary to the law, the commands and
duties imposed upon him by Hermes and Zeus, and let there be a penalty
fixed, which he shall suffer or pay if he be convicted.
Theft is a mean, and robbery a shameless thing; and none of the sons of
Zeus delight in fraud and violence, or ever practised either. Wherefore
let no one be deluded by poets or mythologers into a mistaken belief
of such things, nor let him suppose, when he thieves or is guilty
of violence, that he is doing nothing base, but only what the Gods
themselves do. For such tales are untrue and improbable; and he who
steals or robs contrary to the law, is never either a God or the son of
a God; of this the legislator ought to be better informed than all the
poets put together. Happy is he and may he be for ever happy, who is
persuaded and listens to our words; but he who disobeys shall have to
contend against the following law: If a man steal anything belonging
to the public, whether that which he steals be much or little, he shall
have the same punishment. For he who steals a little steals with the
same wish as he who steals much, but with less power, and he who
takes up a greater amount, not having deposited it, is wholly unjust.
Wherefore the law is not disposed to inflict a less penalty on the one
than on the other because his theft is less, but on the ground that the
thief may possibly be in one case still curable, and may in another case
be incurable. If any one convict in a court of law a stranger or a slave
of a theft of public property, let the court determine what punishment
he shall suffer, or what penalty he shall pay, bearing in mind that he
is probably not incurable. But the citizen who has been brought up
as our citizens will have been, if he be found guilty of robbing his
country by fraud or violence, whether he be caught in the act or not,
shall be punished with death; for he is incurable.
Now for expeditions of war much consideration and many laws are
required; the great principle of all is that no one of either sex should
be without a commander; nor should the mind of any one be accustomed to
do anything, either in jest or earnest, of his own motion, but in war
and in peace he should look to and follow his leader, even in the least
things being under his guidance; for example, he should stand or move,
or exercise, or wash, or take his meals, or get up in the night to keep
guard and deliver messages when he is bidden; and in the hour of danger
he should not pursue and not retreat except by order of his superior;
and in a word, not teach the soul or accustom her to know or understand
how to do anything apart from others. Of all soldiers the life should
be always and in all things as far as possible in common and together;
there neither is nor ever will be a higher, or better, or more
scientific principle than this for the attainment of salvation and
victory in war. And we ought in time of peace from youth upwards to
practise this habit of commanding others, and of being commanded by
others; anarchy should have no place in the life of man or of the beasts
who are subject to man. I may add that all dances ought to be performed
with a view to military excellence; and agility and ease should be
cultivated for the same object, and also endurance of the want of meats
and drinks, and of winter cold and summer heat, and of hard couches;
and, above all, care should be taken not to destroy the peculiar
qualities of the head and the feet by surrounding them with extraneous
coverings, and so hindering their natural growth of hair and soles. For
these are the extremities, and of all the parts of the body, whether
they are preserved or not is of the greatest consequence; the one is
the servant of the whole body, and the other the master, in whom all the
ruling senses are by nature set. Let the young men imagine that he hears
in what has preceded the praises of the military life; the law shall
be as follows: He shall serve in war who is on the roll or appointed
to some special service, and if any one is absent from cowardice, and
without the leave of the generals, he shall be indicted before the
military commanders for failure of service when the army comes home; and
the soldiers shall be his judges; the heavy-armed, and the cavalry, and
the other arms of the service shall form separate courts; and they shall
bring the heavy-armed before the heavy-armed, and the horsemen before
the horsemen, and the others in like manner before their peers; and he
who is found guilty shall never be allowed to compete for any prize of
valour, or indict another for not serving on an expedition, or be
an accuser at all in any military matters. Moreover, the court shall
further determine what punishment he shall suffer, or what penalty he
shall pay. When the suits for failure of service are completed, the
leaders of the several kinds of troops shall again hold an assembly, and
they shall adjudge the prizes of valour; and he who likes searching
for judgment in his own branch of the service, saying nothing about any
former expedition, nor producing any proof or witnesses to confirm
his statement, but speaking only of the present occasion. The crown of
victory shall be an olive wreath which the victor shall offer up at
the temple of any war-god whom he likes, adding an inscription for a
testimony to last during life, that such an one has received the first,
the second, or the third prize. If any one goes on an expedition, and
returns home before the appointed time, when the generals have not
withdrawn the army, he shall be indicted for desertion before the same
persons who took cognizance of failure of service, and if he be found
guilty, the same punishment shall be inflicted on him. Now every man
who is engaged in any suit ought to be very careful of bringing false
witness against any one, either intentionally or unintentionally, if
he can help; for justice is truly said to be an honourable maiden, and
falsehood is naturally repugnant to honour and justice. A witness ought
to be very careful not to sin against justice, as for example in what
relates to the throwing away of arms--he must distinguish the throwing
them away when necessary, and not make that a reproach, or bring
an action against some innocent person on that account. To make the
distinction may be difficult; but still the law must attempt to define
the different kinds in some way. Let me endeavour to explain my meaning
by an ancient tale: If Patroclus had been brought to the tent still
alive but without his arms (and this has happened to innumerable
persons), the original arms, which the poet says were presented to
Peleus by the Gods as a nuptial gift when he married Thetis, remaining
in the hands of Hector, then the base spirits of that day might have
reproached the son of Menoetius with having cast away his arms. Again,
there is the case of those who have been thrown down precipices and lost
their arms; and of those who at sea, and in stormy places, have been
suddenly overwhelmed by floods of water; and there are numberless things
of this kind which one might adduce by way of extenuation, and with the
view of justifying a misfortune which is easily misrepresented. We must,
therefore, endeavour to divide to the best of our power the greater and
more serious evil from the lesser. And a distinction may be drawn in the
use of terms of reproach. A man does not always deserve to be called the
thrower away of his shield; he may be only the loser of his arms.
For there is a great or rather absolute difference between him who is
deprived of his arms by a sufficient force, and him who voluntarily lets
his shield go. Let the law then be as follows: If a person having arms
is overtaken by the enemy and does not turn round and defend himself,
but lets them go voluntarily or throws them away, choosing a base
life and a swift escape rather than a courageous and noble and blessed
death--in such a case of the throwing away of arms let justice be done,
but the judge need take no note of the case just now mentioned; for
the bad men ought always to be punished, in the hope that he may be
improved, but not the unfortunate, for there is no advantage in that.
And what shall be the punishment suited to him who has thrown away his
weapons of defence? Tradition says that Caeneus, the Thessalian, was
changed by a God from a woman into a man; but the converse miracle
cannot now be wrought, or no punishment would be more proper than that
the man who throws away his shield should be changed into a woman. This
however is impossible, and therefore let us make a law as nearly like
this as we can--that he who loves his life too well shall be in no
danger for the remainder of his days, but shall live for ever under the
stigma of cowardice. And let the law be in the following terms: When a
man is found guilty of disgracefully throwing away his arms in war, no
general or military officer shall allow him to serve as a soldier, or
give him any place at all in the ranks of soldiers; and the officer
who gives the coward any place, shall suffer a penalty which the public
examiner shall exact of him; and if he be of the highest class, he shall
pay a thousand drachmae; or if he be of the second class, five minae; or
if he be of the third, three minae; or if he be of the fourth class,
one mina. And he who is found guilty of cowardice, shall not only be
dismissed from manly dangers, which is a disgrace appropriate to his
nature, but he shall pay a thousand drachmae, if he be of the highest
class, and five minae if he be of the second class, and three if he
be of the third class, and a mina, like the preceding, if he be of the
fourth class.
What regulations will be proper about examiners, seeing that some of our
magistrates are elected by lot, and for a year, and some for a longer
time and from selected persons? Of such magistrates, who will be a
sufficient censor or examiner, if any of them, weighed down by the
pressure of office or his own inability to support the dignity of his
office, be guilty of any crooked practice? It is by no means easy to
find a magistrate who excels other magistrates in virtue, but still we
must endeavour to discover some censor or examiner who is more than
man. For the truth is, that there are many elements of dissolution in a
state, as there are also in a ship, or in an animal; they all have their
cords, and girders, and sinews--one nature diffused in many places, and
called by many names; and the office of examiner is a most important
element in the preservation and dissolution of states. For if the
examiners are better than the magistrates, and their duty is fulfilled
justly and without blame, then the whole state and country flourishes
and is happy; but if the examination of the magistrates is carried on
in a wrong way, then, by the relaxation of that justice which is the
uniting principle of all constitutions, every power in the state is rent
asunder from every other; they no longer incline in the same direction,
but fill the city with faction, and make many cities out of one, and
soon bring all to destruction. Wherefore the examiners ought to be
admirable in every sort of virtue. Let us invent a mode of creating
them, which shall be as follows: Every year, after the summer solstice,
the whole city shall meet in the common precincts of Helios and Apollo,
and shall present to the God three men out of their own number in the
manner following: Each citizen shall select, not himself, but some other
citizen whom he deems in every way the best, and who is not less
than fifty years of age. And out of the selected persons who have the
greatest number of votes, they shall make a further selection until they
reduce them to one-half, if they are an even number; but if they are not
an even number, they shall subtract the one who has the smallest number
of votes, and make them an even number, and then leave the half which
have the greater number of votes. And if two persons have an equal
number of votes, and thus increase the number beyond one-half, they
shall withdraw the younger of the two and do away the excess; and then
including all the rest they shall again vote, until there are left three
having an unequal number of votes. But if all the three, or two out of
the three, have equal votes, let them commit the election to good fate
and fortune, and separate off by lot the first, and the second, and the
third; these they shall crown with an olive wreath and give them the
prize of excellence, at the same time proclaiming to all the world
that the city of the Magnetes, by the providence of the Gods, is again
preserved, and presents to the Sun and to Apollo her three best men as
first-fruits, to be a common offering to them, according to the ancient
law, as long as their lives answer to the judgment formed of them. And
these shall appoint in their first year twelve examiners, to continue
until each has completed seventy-five years, to whom three shall
afterwards be added yearly; and let these divide all the magistracies
into twelve parts, and prove the holders of them by every sort of test
to which a freeman may be subjected; and let them live while they hold
office in the precinct of Helios and Apollo, in which they were chosen,
and let each one form a judgment of some things individually, and of
others in company with his colleagues; and let him place a writing in
the agora about each magistracy, and what the magistrate ought to suffer
or pay, according to the decision of the examiners. And if a magistrate
does not admit that he has been justly judged, let him bring the
examiners before the select judges, and if he be acquitted by their
decision, let him, if he will, accuse the examiners themselves; if,
however, he be convicted, and have been condemned to death by the
examiners, let him die (and of course he can only die once): but any
other penalties which admit of being doubled let him suffer twice over.
And now let us pass under review the examiners themselves; what will
their examination be, and how conducted? During the life of these men,
whom the whole state counts worthy of the rewards of virtue, they
shall have the first seat at all public assemblies, and at all Hellenic
sacrifices and sacred missions, and other public and holy ceremonies in
which they share. The chiefs of each sacred mission shall be selected
from them, and they only of all the citizens shall be adorned with a
crown of laurel; they shall all be priests of Apollo and Helios; and one
of them, who is judged first of the priests created in that year, shall
be high priest; and they shall write up his name in each year to be a
measure of time as long as the city lasts; and after their death they
shall be laid out and carried to the grave and entombed in a manner
different from the other citizens. They shall be decked in a robe all
of white, and there shall be no crying or lamentation over them; but a
chorus of fifteen maidens, and another of boys, shall stand around the
bier on either side, hymning the praises of the departed priests in
alternate responses, declaring their blessedness in song all day long;
and at dawn a hundred of the youths who practise gymnastic exercises,
and whom the relations of the departed shall choose, shall carry the
bier to the sepulchre, the young men marching first, dressed in the garb
of warriors--the cavalry with their horses, the heavy-armed with their
arms, and the others in like manner. And boys near the bier and in front
of it shall sing their national hymn, and maidens shall follow behind,
and with them the women who have passed the age of child-bearing;
next, although they are interdicted from other burials, let priests
and priestesses follow, unless the Pythian oracle forbid them; for this
burial is free from pollution. The place of burial shall be an oblong
vaulted chamber underground, constructed of tufa, which will last for
ever, having stone couches placed side by side. And here they will lay
the blessed person, and cover the sepulchre with a circular mound of
earth and plant a grove of trees around on every side but one; and on
that side the sepulchre shall be allowed to extend for ever, and a new
mound will not be required. Every year they shall have contests in music
and gymnastics, and in horsemanship, in honour of the dead. These are
the honours which shall be given to those who at the examination are
found blameless; but if any of them, trusting to the scrutiny being
over, should, after the judgment has been given, manifest the wickedness
of human nature, let the law ordain that he who pleases shall indict
him, and let the cause be tried in the following manner. In the first
place, the court shall be composed of the guardians of the law, and to
them the surviving examiners shall be added, as well as the court of
select judges; and let the pursuer lay his indictment in this form--he
shall say that so-and-so is unworthy of the prize of virtue and of his
office; and if the defendant be convicted let him be deprived of his
office, and of the burial, and of the other honours given him. But if
the prosecutor do not obtain the fifth part of the votes, let him, if
he be of the first-class, pay twelve minae, and eight if he be of the
second class, and six if he be of the third class, and two minae if he
be of the fourth class.
The so-called decision of Rhadamanthus is worthy of all admiration. He
knew that the men of his own time believed and had no doubt that there
were Gods, which was a reasonable belief in those days, because most men
were the sons of Gods, and according to tradition he was one himself. He
appears to have thought that he ought to commit judgment to no man, but
to the Gods only, and in this way suits were simply and speedily decided
by him. For he made the two parties take an oath respecting the points
in dispute, and so got rid of the matter speedily and safely. But now
that a certain portion of mankind do not believe at all in the existence
of the Gods, and others imagine that they have no care of us, and the
opinion of most men, and of the worst men, is that in return for a small
sacrifice and a few flattering words they will be their accomplices in
purloining large sums and save them from many terrible punishments, the
way of Rhadamanthus is no longer suited to the needs of justice; for as
the opinions of men about the Gods are changed, the laws should also
be changed--in the granting of suits a rational legislation ought to do
away with the oaths of the parties on either side--he who obtains leave
to bring an action should write down the charges, but should not add
an oath; and the defendant in like manner should give his denial to the
magistrates in writing, and not swear; for it is a dreadful thing to
know, when many lawsuits are going on in a state, that almost half the
people who meet one another quite unconcernedly at the public meals and
in other companies and relations of private life are perjured. Let the
law, then, be as follows: A judge who is about to give judgment shall
take an oath, and he who is choosing magistrates for the state shall
either vote on oath or with a voting tablet which he brings from
a temple; so too the judge of dances and of all music, and the
superintendents and umpires of gymnastic and equestrian contests, and
any matters in which, as far as men can judge, there is nothing to be
gained by a false oath; but all cases in which a denial confirmed by
an oath clearly results in a great advantage to the taker of the oath,
shall be decided without the oath of the parties to the suit, and the
presiding judges shall not permit either of them to use an oath for the
sake of persuading, nor to call down curses on himself and his race, nor
to use unseemly supplications or womanish laments. But they shall ever
be teaching and learning what is just in auspicious words; and he who
does otherwise shall be supposed to speak beside the point, and the
judges shall again bring him back to the question at issue. On the other
hand, strangers in their dealings with strangers shall as at present
have power to give and receive oaths, for they will not often grow old
in the city or leave a fry of young ones like themselves to be the sons
and heirs of the land.
As to the initiation of private suits, let the manner of deciding causes
between all citizens be the same as in cases in which any freeman is
disobedient to the state in minor matters, of which the penalty is not
stripes, imprisonment, or death. But as regards attendance at choruses
or processions or other shows, and as regards public services, whether
the celebration of sacrifice in peace, or the payment of contributions
in war--in all these cases, first comes the necessity of providing a
remedy for the loss; and by those who will not obey, there shall be
security given to the officers whom the city and the law empower to
exact the sum due; and if they forfeit their security, let the goods
which they have pledged be sold and the money given to the city; but
if they ought to pay a larger sum, the several magistrates shall impose
upon the disobedient a suitable penalty, and bring them before the
court, until they are willing to do what they are ordered.
Now a state which makes money from the cultivation of the soil only, and
has no foreign trade, must consider what it will do about the emigration
of its own people to other countries, and the reception of strangers
from elsewhere. About these matters the legislator has to consider,
and he will begin by trying to persuade men as far as he can. The
intercourse of cities with one another is apt to create a confusion of
manners; strangers are always suggesting novelties to strangers. When
states are well governed by good laws the mixture causes the greatest
possible injury; but seeing that most cities are the reverse of
well-ordered, the confusion which arises in them from the reception
of strangers, and from the citizens themselves rushing off into other
cities, when any one either young or old desires to travel anywhere
abroad at whatever time, is of no consequence. On the other hand, the
refusal of states to receive others, and for their own citizens never
to go to other places, is an utter impossibility, and to the rest of
the world is likely to appear ruthless and uncivilised; it is a practice
adopted by people who use harsh words, such as xenelasia or banishment
of strangers, and who have harsh and morose ways, as men think. And to
be thought or not to be thought well of by the rest of the world is no
light matter; for the many are not so far wrong in their judgment of who
are bad and who are good, as they are removed from the nature of
virtue in themselves. Even bad men have a divine instinct which guesses
rightly, and very many who are utterly depraved form correct notions
and judgments of the differences between the good and bad. And the
generality of cities are quite right in exhorting us to value a
good reputation in the world, for there is no truth greater and more
important than this--that he who is really good (I am speaking of the
men who would be perfect) seeks for reputation with, but not without,
the reality of goodness. And our Cretan colony ought also to acquire the
fairest and noblest reputation for virtue from other men; and there is
every reason to expect that, if the reality answers to the idea, she
will be one of the few well-ordered cities which the sun and the other
Gods behold. Wherefore, in the matter of journeys to other countries and
the reception of strangers, we enact as follows: In the first place, let
no one be allowed to go anywhere at all into a foreign country who is
less than forty years of age; and no one shall go in a private capacity,
but only in some public one, as a herald, or on an embassy, or on a
sacred mission. Going abroad on an expedition or in war is not to be
included among travels of the class authorised by the state. To Apollo
at Delphi and to Zeus at Olympia and to Nemea and to the Isthmus,
citizens should be sent to take part in the sacrifices and games there
dedicated to the Gods; and they should send as many as possible, and the
best and fairest that can be found, and they will make the city renowned
at holy meetings in time of peace, procuring a glory which shall be the
converse of that which is gained in war; and when they come home they
shall teach the young that the institutions of other states are inferior
to their own. And they shall send spectators of another sort, if they
have the consent of the guardians, being such citizens as desire to look
a little more at leisure at the doings of other men; and these no law
shall hinder. For a city which has no experience of good and bad men or
intercourse with them, can never be thoroughly and perfectly civilised,
nor, again, can the citizens of a city properly observe the laws by
habit only, and without an intelligent understanding of them. And there
always are in the world a few inspired men whose acquaintance is beyond
price, and who spring up quite as much in ill-ordered as in well-ordered
cities. These are they whom the citizens of a well-ordered city should
be ever seeking out, going forth over sea and over land to find him who
is incorruptible--that he may establish more firmly institutions in
his own state which are good already, and amend what is deficient; for
without this examination and enquiry a city will never continue perfect
any more than if the examination is ill-conducted.
CLEINIAS: How can we have an examination and also a good one?
ATHENIAN: In this way: In the first place, our spectator shall be of not
less than fifty years of age; he must be a man of reputation, especially
in war, if he is to exhibit to other cities a model of the guardians of
the law, but when he is more than sixty years of age he shall no longer
continue in his office of spectator. And when he has carried on his
inspection during as many out of the ten years of his office as he
pleases, on his return home let him go to the assembly of those who
review the laws. This shall be a mixed body of young and old men, who
shall be required to meet daily between the hour of dawn and the rising
of the sun. They shall consist, in the first place, of the priests
who have obtained the rewards of virtue; and, in the second place,
of guardians of the law, the ten eldest being chosen; the general
superintendent of education shall also be a member, as well as the last
appointed as those who have been released from the office; and each of
them shall take with him as his companion a young man, whomsoever he
chooses, between the ages of thirty and forty. These shall be always
holding conversation and discourse about the laws of their own city
or about any specially good ones which they may hear to be existing
elsewhere; also about kinds of knowledge which may appear to be of use
and will throw light upon the examination, or of which the want will
make the subject of laws dark and uncertain to them. Any knowledge of
this sort which the elders approve, the younger men shall learn with all
diligence; and if any one of those who have been invited appear to be
unworthy, the whole assembly shall blame him who invited him. The rest
of the city shall watch over those among the young men who distinguish
themselves, having an eye upon them, and especially honouring them if
they succeed, but dishonouring them above the rest if they turn out
to be inferior. This is the assembly to which he who has visited the
institutions of other men, on his return home shall straightway go,
and if he have discovered any one who has anything to say about the
enactment of laws or education or nurture, or if he have himself made
any observations, let him communicate his discoveries to the whole
assembly. And if he be seen to have come home neither better nor worse,
let him be praised at any rate for his enthusiasm; and if he be much
better, let him be praised so much the more; and not only while he lives
but after his death let the assembly honour him with fitting honours.
But if on his return home he appear to have been corrupted, pretending
to be wise when he is not, let him hold no communication with any one,
whether young or old; and if he will hearken to the rulers, then he
shall be permitted to live as a private individual; but if he will not,
let him die, if he be convicted in a court of law of interfering about
education and the laws. And if he deserve to be indicted, and none of
the magistrates indict him, let that be counted as a disgrace to them
when the rewards of virtue are decided.
Let such be the character of the person who goes abroad, and let him go
abroad under these conditions. In the next place, the stranger who comes
from abroad should be received in a friendly spirit. Now there are four
kinds of strangers, of whom we must make some mention--the first is he
who comes and stays throughout the summer; this class are like birds of
passage, taking wing in pursuit of commerce, and flying over the sea
to other cities, while the season lasts; he shall be received in
market-places and harbours and public buildings, near the city but
outside, by those magistrates who are appointed to superintend these
matters; and they shall take care that a stranger, whoever he be, duly
receives justice; but he shall not be allowed to make any innovation.
They shall hold the intercourse with him which is necessary, and this
shall be as little as possible. The second kind is just a spectator who
comes to see with his eyes and hear with his ears the festivals of the
Muses; such ought to have entertainment provided them at the temples by
hospitable persons, and the priests and ministers of the temples
should see and attend to them. But they should not remain more than a
reasonable time; let them see and hear that for the sake of which they
came, and then go away, neither having suffered nor done any harm. The
priests shall be their judges, if any of them receive or do any wrong up
to the sum of fifty drachmae, but if any greater charge be brought,
in such cases the suit shall come before the wardens of the agora. The
third kind of stranger is he who comes on some public business from
another land, and is to be received with public honours. He is to be
received only by the generals and commanders of horse and foot, and the
host by whom he is entertained, in conjunction with the Prytanes, shall
have the sole charge of what concerns him. There is a fourth class of
persons answering to our spectators, who come from another land to look
at ours. In the first place, such visits will be rare, and the visitor
should be at least fifty years of age; he may possibly be wanting to
see something that is rich and rare in other states, or himself to show
something in like manner to another city. Let such an one, then, go
unbidden to the doors of the wise and rich, being one of them himself:
let him go, for example, to the house of the superintendent of
education, confident that he is a fitting guest of such a host, or let
him go to the house of some of those who have gained the prize of virtue
and hold discourse with them, both learning from them, and also teaching
them; and when he has seen and heard all, he shall depart, as a friend
taking leave of friends, and be honoured by them with gifts and suitable
tributes of respect. These are the customs, according to which our
city should receive all strangers of either sex who come from other
countries, and should send forth her own citizens, showing respect to
Zeus, the God of hospitality, not forbidding strangers at meals and
sacrifices, as is the manner which prevails among the children of the
Nile, nor driving them away by savage proclamations.
When a man becomes surety, let him give the security in a distinct form,
acknowledging the whole transaction in a written document, and in the
presence of not less than three witnesses if the sum be under a thousand
drachmae, and of not less than five witnesses if the sum be above a
thousand drachmae. The agent of a dishonest or untrustworthy seller
shall himself be responsible; both the agent and the principal shall
be equally liable. If a person wishes to find anything in the house of
another, he shall enter naked, or wearing only a short tunic and without
a girdle, having first taken an oath by the customary Gods that he
expects to find it there; he shall then make his search, and the other
shall throw open his house and allow him to search things both sealed
and unsealed. And if a person will not allow the searcher to make his
search, he who is prevented shall go to law with him, estimating the
value of the goods after which he is searching, and if the other be
convicted he shall pay twice the value of the article. If the master
be absent from home, the dwellers in the house shall let him search the
unsealed property, and on the sealed property the searcher shall set
another seal, and shall appoint any one whom he likes to guard them
during five days; and if the master of the house be absent during a
longer time, he shall take with him the wardens of the city, and so make
his search, opening the sealed property as well as the unsealed, and
then, together with the members of the family and the wardens of the
city, he shall seal them up again as they were before. There shall be
a limit of time in the case of disputed things, and he who has had
possession of them during a certain time shall no longer be liable to be
disturbed. As to houses and lands there can be no dispute in this state
of ours; but if a man has any other possessions which he has used and
openly shown in the city and in the agora and in the temples, and no one
has put in a claim to them, and some one says that he was looking for
them during this time, and the possessor is proved to have made no
concealment, if they have continued for a year, the one having the goods
and the other looking for them, the claim of the seeker shall not be
allowed after the expiration of the year; or if he does not use or show
the lost property in the market or in the city, but only in the country,
and no one offers himself as the owner during five years, at the
expiration of the five years the claim shall be barred for ever after;
or if he uses them in the city but within the house, then the appointed
time of claiming the goods shall be three years, or ten years if he
has them in the country in private. And if he has them in another land,
there shall be no limit of time or prescription, but whenever the owner
finds them he may claim them.
If any one prevents another by force from being present at a trial,
whether a principal party or his witnesses; if the person prevented be
a slave, whether his own or belonging to another, the suit shall be
incomplete and invalid; but if he who is prevented be a freeman, besides
the suit being incomplete, the other who has prevented him shall be
imprisoned for a year, and shall be prosecuted for kidnapping by any
one who pleases. And if any one hinders by force a rival competitor in
gymnastic or music, or any other sort of contest, from being present
at the contest, let him who has a mind inform the presiding judges, and
they shall liberate him who is desirous of competing; and if they are
not able, and he who hinders the other from competing wins the prize,
then they shall give the prize of victory to him who is prevented, and
inscribe him as the conqueror in any temples which he pleases; and he
who hinders the other shall not be permitted to make any offering or
inscription having reference to that contest, and in any case he shall
be liable for damages, whether he be defeated or whether he conquer.
If any one knowingly receives anything which has been stolen, he shall
undergo the same punishment as the thief, and if a man receives an exile
he shall be punished with death. Every man should regard the friend and
enemy of the state as his own friend and enemy; and if any one makes
peace or war with another on his own account, and without the authority
of the state, he, like the receiver of the exile, shall undergo the
penalty of death. And if any fraction of the city declare war or peace
against any, the generals shall indict the authors of this proceeding,
and if they are convicted death shall be the penalty. Those who serve
their country ought to serve without receiving gifts, and there ought to
be no excusing or approving the saying, 'Men should receive gifts as the
reward of good, but not of evil deeds'; for to know which we are doing,
and to stand fast by our knowledge, is no easy matter. The safest course
is to obey the law which says, 'Do no service for a bribe,' and let him
who disobeys, if he be convicted, simply die. With a view to taxation,
for various reasons, every man ought to have had his property valued:
and the tribesmen should likewise bring a register of the yearly
produce to the wardens of the country, that in this way there may be
two valuations; and the public officers may use annually whichever on
consideration they deem the best, whether they prefer to take a certain
portion of the whole value, or of the annual revenue, after subtracting
what is paid to the common tables.
Touching offerings to the Gods, a moderate man should observe moderation
in what he offers. Now the land and the hearth of the house of all men
is sacred to all Gods; wherefore let no man dedicate them a second time
to the Gods. Gold and silver, whether possessed by private persons or in
temples, are in other cities provocative of envy, and ivory, the product
of a dead body, is not a proper offering; brass and iron, again, are
instruments of war; but of wood let a man bring what offering he likes,
provided it be a single block, and in like manner of stone, to the
public temples; of woven work let him not offer more than one woman can
execute in a month. White is a colour suitable to the Gods, especially
in woven works, but dyes should only be used for the adornments of war.
The most divine of gifts are birds and images, and they should be such
as one painter can execute in a single day. And let all other offerings
follow a similar rule.
Now that the whole city has been divided into parts of which the nature
and number have been described, and laws have been given about all the
most important contracts as far as this was possible, the next thing
will be to have justice done. The first of the courts shall consist of
elected judges, who shall be chosen by the plaintiff and the defendant
in common: these shall be called arbiters rather than judges. And in
the second court there shall be judges of the villages and tribes
corresponding to the twelvefold division of the land, and before these
the litigants shall go to contend for greater damages, if the suit be
not decided before the first judges; the defendant, if he be defeated
the second time, shall pay a fifth more than the damages mentioned in
the indictment; and if he find fault with his judges and would try a
third time, let him carry the suit before the select judges, and if he
be again defeated, let him pay the whole of the damages and half as much
again. And the plaintiff, if when defeated before the first judges he
persist in going on to the second, shall if he wins receive in addition
to the damages a fifth part more, and if defeated he shall pay a like
sum; but if he is not satisfied with the previous decision, and will
insist on proceeding to a third court, then if he win he shall receive
from the defendant the amount of the damages and, as I said before,
half as much again, and the plaintiff, if he lose, shall pay half of the
damages claimed. Now the assignment by lot of judges to courts and the
completion of the number of them, and the appointment of servants to the
different magistrates, and the times at which the several causes
should be heard, and the votings and delays, and all the things that
necessarily concern suits, and the order of causes, and the time in
which answers have to be put in and parties are to appear--of these and
other things akin to these we have indeed already spoken, but there
is no harm in repeating what is right twice or thrice: All lesser and
easier matters which the elder legislator has omitted may be supplied by
the younger one. Private courts will be sufficiently regulated in this
way, and the public and state courts, and those which the magistrates
must use in the administration of their several offices, exist in many
other states. Many very respectable institutions of this sort have
been framed by good men, and from them the guardians of the law may
by reflection derive what is necessary for the order of our new state,
considering and correcting them, and bringing them to the test of
experience, until every detail appears to be satisfactorily determined;
and then putting the final seal upon them, and making them irreversible,
they shall use them for ever afterwards. As to what relates to the
silence of judges and the abstinence from words of evil omen and the
reverse, and the different notions of the just and good and honourable
which exist in our own as compared with other states, they have been
partly mentioned already, and another part of them will be mentioned
hereafter as we draw near the end. To all these matters he who would be
an equal judge shall justly look, and he shall possess writings about
them that he may learn them. For of all kinds of knowledge the knowledge
of good laws has the greatest power of improving the learner; otherwise
there would be no meaning in the divine and admirable law possessing
a name akin to mind (nous, nomos). And of all other words, such as the
praises and censures of individuals which occur in poetry and also in
prose, whether written down or uttered in daily conversation, whether
men dispute about them in the spirit of contention or weakly assent
to them, as is often the case--of all these the one sure test is the
writings of the legislator, which the righteous judge ought to have in
his mind as the antidote of all other words, and thus make himself
and the city stand upright, procuring for the good the continuance and
increase of justice, and for the bad, on the other hand, a
conversion from ignorance and intemperance, and in general from all
unrighteousness, as far as their evil minds can be healed, but to those
whose web of life is in reality finished, giving death, which is the
only remedy for souls in their condition, as I may say truly again and
again. And such judges and chiefs of judges will be worthy of receiving
praise from the whole city.
When the suits of the year are completed the following laws shall
regulate their execution: In the first place, the judge shall assign to
the party who wins the suit the whole property of him who loses, with
the exception of mere necessaries, and the assignment shall be made
through the herald immediately after each decision in the hearing of
the judges; and when the month arrives following the month in which the
courts are sitting, (unless the gainer of the suit has been previously
satisfied) the court shall follow up the case, and hand over to the
winner the goods of the loser; but if they find that he has not the
means of paying, and the sum deficient is not less than a drachma, the
insolvent person shall not have any right of going to law with any other
man until he have satisfied the debt of the winning party; but other
persons shall still have the right of bringing suits against him. And if
any one after he is condemned refuses to acknowledge the authority
which condemned him, let the magistrates who are thus deprived of their
authority bring him before the court of the guardians of the law, and if
he be cast, let him be punished with death, as a subverter of the whole
state and of the laws.
Thus a man is born and brought up, and after this manner he begets and
brings up his own children, and has his share of dealings with
other men, and suffers if he has done wrong to any one, and receives
satisfaction if he has been wronged, and so at length in due time he
grows old under the protection of the laws, and his end comes in the
order of nature. Concerning the dead of either sex, the religious
ceremonies which may fittingly be performed, whether appertaining to the
Gods of the under-world or of this, shall be decided by the interpreters
with absolute authority. Their sepulchres are not to be in places which
are fit for cultivation, and there shall be no monuments in such spots,
either large or small, but they shall occupy that part of the country
which is naturally adapted for receiving and concealing the bodies of
the dead with as little hurt as possible to the living. No man, living
or dead, shall deprive the living of the sustenance which the earth,
their foster-parent, is naturally inclined to provide for them. And
let not the mound be piled higher than would be the work of five men
completed in five days; nor shall the stone which is placed over the
spot be larger than would be sufficient to receive the praises of the
dead included in four heroic lines. Nor shall the laying out of the
dead in the house continue for a longer time than is sufficient to
distinguish between him who is in a trance only and him who is really
dead, and speaking generally, the third day after death will be a fair
time for carrying out the body to the sepulchre. Now we must believe the
legislator when he tells us that the soul is in all respects superior to
the body, and that even in life what makes each one of us to be what we
are is only the soul; and that the body follows us about in the likeness
of each of us, and therefore, when we are dead, the bodies of the dead
are quite rightly said to be our shades or images; for the true and
immortal being of each one of us which is called the soul goes on her
way to other Gods, before them to give an account--which is an inspiring
hope to the good, but very terrible to the bad, as the laws of our
fathers tell us; and they also say that not much can be done in the way
of helping a man after he is dead. But the living--he should be helped
by all his kindred, that while in life he may be the holiest and justest
of men, and after death may have no great sins to be punished in the
world below. If this be true, a man ought not to waste his substance
under the idea that all this lifeless mass of flesh which is in process
of burial is connected with him; he should consider that the son, or
brother, or the beloved one, whoever he may be, whom he thinks he
is laying in the earth, has gone away to complete and fulfil his own
destiny, and that his duty is rightly to order the present, and to spend
moderately on the lifeless altar of the Gods below. But the legislator
does not intend moderation to be taken in the sense of meanness. Let the
law, then, be as follows: The expenditure on the entire funeral of him
who is of the highest class, shall not exceed five minae; and for him
who is of the second class, three minae, and for him who is of the third
class, two minae, and for him who is of the fourth class, one mina,
will be a fair limit of expense. The guardians of the law ought to
take especial care of the different ages of life, whether childhood, or
manhood, or any other age. And at the end of all, let there be some one
guardian of the law presiding, who shall be chosen by the friends of
the deceased to superintend, and let it be glory to him to manage with
fairness and moderation what relates to the dead, and a discredit to him
if they are not well managed. Let the laying out and other ceremonies be
in accordance with custom, but to the statesman who adopts custom as his
law we must give way in certain particulars. It would be monstrous for
example that he should command any man to weep or abstain from weeping
over the dead; but he may forbid cries of lamentation, and not allow the
voice of the mourner to be heard outside the house; also, he may forbid
the bringing of the dead body into the open streets, or the processions
of mourners in the streets, and may require that before daybreak they
should be outside the city. Let these, then, be our laws relating to
such matters, and let him who obeys be free from penalty; but he who
disobeys even a single guardian of the law shall be punished by them all
with a fitting penalty. Other modes of burial, or again the denial of
burial, which is to be refused in the case of robbers of temples and
parricides and the like, have been devised and are embodied in the
preceding laws, so that now our work of legislation is pretty nearly at
an end; but in all cases the end does not consist in doing something or
acquiring something or establishing something--the end will be attained
and finally accomplished, when we have provided for the perfect and
lasting continuance of our institutions; until then our creation is
incomplete.
CLEINIAS: That is very good, Stranger; but I wish you would tell me more
clearly what you mean.
ATHENIAN: O Cleinias, many things of old time were well said and sung;
and the saying about the Fates was one of them.
CLEINIAS: What is it?
ATHENIAN: The saying that Lachesis or the giver of the lots is the first
of them, and that Clotho or the spinster is the second of them, and that
Atropos or the unchanging one is the third of them; and that she is
the preserver of the things which we have spoken, and which have been
compared in a figure to things woven by fire, they both (i.e. Atropos
and the fire) producing the quality of unchangeableness. I am speaking
of the things which in a state and government give not only health and
salvation to the body, but law, or rather preservation of the law, in
the soul; and, if I am not mistaken, this seems to be still wanting
in our laws: we have still to see how we can implant in them this
irreversible nature.
CLEINIAS: It will be no small matter if we can only discover how such a
nature can be implanted in anything.
ATHENIAN: But it certainly can be; so much I clearly see.
CLEINIAS: Then let us not think of desisting until we have imparted this
quality to our laws; for it is ridiculous, after a great deal of labour
has been spent, to place a thing at last on an insecure foundation.
ATHENIAN: I approve of your suggestion, and am quite of the same mind
with you.
CLEINIAS: Very good: And now what, according to you, is to be the
salvation of our government and of our laws, and how is it to be
effected?
ATHENIAN: Were we not saying that there must be in our city a council
which was to be of this sort: The ten oldest guardians of the law, and
all those who have obtained prizes of virtue, were to meet in the same
assembly, and the council was also to include those who had visited
foreign countries in the hope of hearing something that might be of use
in the preservation of the laws, and who, having come safely home, and
having been tested in these same matters, had proved themselves to be
worthy to take part in the assembly--each of the members was to select
some young man of not less than thirty years of age, he himself judging
in the first instance whether the young man was worthy by nature and
education, and then suggesting him to the others, and if he seemed to
them also to be worthy they were to adopt him; but if not, the decision
at which they arrived was to be kept a secret from the citizens at
large, and, more especially, from the rejected candidate. The meeting of
the council was to be held early in the morning, when everybody was most
at leisure from all other business, whether public or private--was not
something of this sort said by us before?
CLEINIAS: True.
ATHENIAN: Then, returning to the council, I would say further, that
if we let it down to be the anchor of the state, our city, having
everything which is suitable to her, will preserve all that we wish to
preserve.
CLEINIAS: What do you mean?
ATHENIAN: Now is the time for me to speak the truth in all earnestness.
CLEINIAS: Well said, and I hope that you will fulfil your intention.
ATHENIAN: Know, Cleinias, that everything, in all that it does, has a
natural saviour, as of an animal the soul and the head are the chief
saviours.
CLEINIAS: Once more, what do you mean?
ATHENIAN: The well-being of those two is obviously the preservation of
every living thing.
CLEINIAS: How is that?
ATHENIAN: The soul, besides other things, contains mind, and the head,
besides other things, contains sight and hearing; and the mind, mingling
with the noblest of the senses, and becoming one with them, may be truly
called the salvation of all.
CLEINIAS: Yes, quite so.
ATHENIAN: Yes, indeed; but with what is that intellect concerned which,
mingling with the senses, is the salvation of ships in storms as well as
in fair weather? In a ship, when the pilot and the sailors unite their
perceptions with the piloting mind, do they not save both themselves and
their craft?
CLEINIAS: Very true.
ATHENIAN: We do not want many illustrations about such matters: What aim
would the general of an army, or what aim would a physician propose to
himself, if he were seeking to attain salvation?
CLEINIAS: Very good.
ATHENIAN: Does not the general aim at victory and superiority in war,
and do not the physician and his assistants aim at producing health in
the body?
CLEINIAS: Certainly.
ATHENIAN: And a physician who is ignorant about the body, that is to
say, who knows not that which we just now called health, or a general
who knows not victory, or any others who are ignorant of the particulars
of the arts which we mentioned, cannot be said to have understanding
about any of these matters.
CLEINIAS: They cannot.
ATHENIAN: And what would you say of the state? If a person proves to be
ignorant of the aim to which the statesman should look, ought he, in the
first place, to be called a ruler at all; and further, will he ever be
able to preserve that of which he does not even know the aim?
CLEINIAS: Impossible.
ATHENIAN: And therefore, if our settlement of the country is to be
perfect, we ought to have some institution, which, as I was saying,
will tell what is the aim of the state, and will inform us how we are
to attain this, and what law or what man will advise us to that end. Any
state which has no such institution is likely to be devoid of mind and
sense, and in all her actions will proceed by mere chance.
CLEINIAS: Very true.
ATHENIAN: In which, then, of the parts or institutions of the state is
any such guardian power to be found? Can we say?
CLEINIAS: I am not quite certain, Stranger; but I have a suspicion that
you are referring to the assembly which you just now said was to meet at
night.
ATHENIAN: You understand me perfectly, Cleinias; and we must assume, as
the argument implies, that this council possesses all virtue; and the
beginning of virtue is not to make mistakes by guessing many things, but
to look steadily at one thing, and on this to fix all our aims.
CLEINIAS: Quite true.
ATHENIAN: Then now we shall see why there is nothing wonderful in states
going astray--the reason is that their legislators have such different
aims; nor is there anything wonderful in some laying down as their rule
of justice, that certain individuals should bear rule in the state,
whether they be good or bad, and others that the citizens should be
rich, not caring whether they are the slaves of other men or not. The
tendency of others, again, is towards freedom; and some legislate with
a view to two things at once--they want to be at the same time free and
the lords of other states; but the wisest men, as they deem themselves
to be, look to all these and similar aims, and there is no one of them
which they exclusively honour, and to which they would have all things
look.
CLEINIAS: Then, Stranger, our former assertion will hold; for we were
saying that laws generally should look to one thing only; and this, as
we admitted, was rightly said to be virtue.
ATHENIAN: Yes.
CLEINIAS: And we said that virtue was of four kinds?
ATHENIAN: Quite true.
CLEINIAS: And that mind was the leader of the four, and that to her the
three other virtues and all other things ought to have regard?
ATHENIAN: You follow me capitally, Cleinias, and I would ask you to
follow me to the end, for we have already said that the mind of the
pilot, the mind of the physician and of the general look to that
one thing to which they ought to look; and now we may turn to mind
political, of which, as of a human creature, we will ask a question: O
wonderful being, and to what are you looking? The physician is able
to tell his single aim in life, but you, the superior, as you declare
yourself to be, of all intelligent beings, when you are asked are not
able to tell. Can you, Megillus, and you, Cleinias, say distinctly what
is the aim of mind political, in return for the many explanations of
things which I have given you?
CLEINIAS: We cannot, Stranger.
ATHENIAN: Well, but ought we not to desire to see it, and to see where
it is to be found?
CLEINIAS: For example, where?
ATHENIAN: For example, we were saying that there are four kinds of
virtue, and as there are four of them, each of them must be one.
CLEINIAS: Certainly.
ATHENIAN: And further, all four of them we call one; for we say that
courage is virtue, and that prudence is virtue, and the same of the two
others, as if they were in reality not many but one, that is, virtue.
CLEINIAS: Quite so.
ATHENIAN: There is no difficulty in seeing in what way the two differ
from one another, and have received two names, and so of the rest. But
there is more difficulty in explaining why we call these two and the
rest of them by the single name of virtue.
CLEINIAS: How do you mean?
ATHENIAN: I have no difficulty in explaining what I mean. Let us
distribute the subject into questions and answers.
CLEINIAS: Once more, what do you mean?
ATHENIAN: Ask me what is that one thing which I call virtue, and then
again speak of as two, one part being courage and the other wisdom. I
will tell you how that occurs: One of them has to do with fear; in this
the beasts also participate, and quite young children--I mean courage;
for a courageous temper is a gift of nature and not of reason. But
without reason there never has been, or is, or will be a wise and
understanding soul; it is of a different nature.
CLEINIAS: That is true.
ATHENIAN: I have now told you in what way the two are different, and
do you in return tell me in what way they are one and the same. Suppose
that I ask you in what way the four are one, and when you have answered
me, you will have a right to ask of me in return in what way they are
four; and then let us proceed to enquire whether in the case of things
which have a name and also a definition to them, true knowledge consists
in knowing the name only and not the definition. Can he who is good
for anything be ignorant of all this without discredit where great and
glorious truths are concerned?
CLEINIAS: I suppose not.
ATHENIAN: And is there anything greater to the legislator and the
guardian of the law, and to him who thinks that he excels all other men
in virtue, and has won the palm of excellence, than these very qualities
of which we are now speaking--courage, temperance, wisdom, justice?
CLEINIAS: How can there be anything greater?
ATHENIAN: And ought not the interpreters, the teachers, the lawgivers,
the guardians of the other citizens, to excel the rest of mankind,
and perfectly to show him who desires to learn and know or whose evil
actions require to be punished and reproved, what is the nature of
virtue and vice? Or shall some poet who has found his way into the city,
or some chance person who pretends to be an instructor of youth, show
himself to be better than him who has won the prize for every virtue?
And can we wonder that when the guardians are not adequate in speech
or action, and have no adequate knowledge of virtue, the city being
unguarded should experience the common fate of cities in our day?
CLEINIAS: Wonder! no.
ATHENIAN: Well, then, must we do as we said? Or can we give our
guardians a more precise knowledge of virtue in speech and action than
the many have? or is there any way in which our city can be made to
resemble the head and senses of rational beings because possessing such
a guardian power?
CLEINIAS: What, Stranger, is the drift of your comparison?
ATHENIAN: Do we not see that the city is the trunk, and are not the
younger guardians, who are chosen for their natural gifts, placed in the
head of the state, having their souls all full of eyes, with which
they look about the whole city? They keep watch and hand over their
perceptions to the memory, and inform the elders of all that happens in
the city; and those whom we compared to the mind, because they have many
wise thoughts--that is to say, the old men--take counsel, and making use
of the younger men as their ministers, and advising with them--in this
way both together truly preserve the whole state: Shall this or some
other be the order of our state? Are all our citizens to be equal in
acquirements, or shall there be special persons among them who have
received a more careful training and education?
CLEINIAS: That they should be equal, my good sir, is impossible.
ATHENIAN: Then we ought to proceed to some more exact training than any
which has preceded.
CLEINIAS: Certainly.
ATHENIAN: And must not that of which we are in need be the one to which
we were just now alluding?
CLEINIAS: Very true.
ATHENIAN: Did we not say that the workman or guardian, if he be perfect
in every respect, ought not only to be able to see the many aims, but he
should press onward to the one? This he should know, and knowing, order
all things with a view to it.
CLEINIAS: True.
ATHENIAN: And can any one have a more exact way of considering or
contemplating anything, than the being able to look at one idea gathered
from many different things?
CLEINIAS: Perhaps not.
ATHENIAN: Not 'Perhaps not,' but 'Certainly not,' my good sir, is the
right answer. There never has been a truer method than this discovered
by any man.
CLEINIAS: I bow to your authority, Stranger; let us proceed in the way
which you propose.
ATHENIAN: Then, as would appear, we must compel the guardians of our
divine state to perceive, in the first place, what that principle is
which is the same in all the four--the same, as we affirm, in courage
and in temperance, and in justice and in prudence, and which, being one,
we call as we ought, by the single name of virtue. To this, my friends,
we will, if you please, hold fast, and not let go until we have
sufficiently explained what that is to which we are to look, whether to
be regarded as one, or as a whole, or as both, or in whatever way. Are
we likely ever to be in a virtuous condition, if we cannot tell whether
virtue is many, or four, or one? Certainly, if we take counsel among
ourselves, we shall in some way contrive that this principle has a place
amongst us; but if you have made up your mind that we should let the
matter alone, we will.
CLEINIAS: We must not, Stranger, by the God of strangers I swear that we
must not, for in our opinion you speak most truly; but we should like to
know how you will accomplish your purpose.
ATHENIAN: Wait a little before you ask; and let us, first of all, be
quite agreed with one another that the purpose has to be accomplished.
CLEINIAS: Certainly, it ought to be, if it can be.
ATHENIAN: Well, and about the good and the honourable, are we to take
the same view? Are our guardians only to know that each of them is many,
or also how and in what way they are one?
CLEINIAS: They must consider also in what sense they are one.
ATHENIAN: And are they to consider only, and to be unable to set forth
what they think?
CLEINIAS: Certainly not; that would be the state of a slave.
ATHENIAN: And may not the same be said of all good things--that the true
guardians of the laws ought to know the truth about them, and to be able
to interpret them in words, and carry them out in action, judging of
what is and of what is not well, according to nature?
CLEINIAS: Certainly.
ATHENIAN: Is not the knowledge of the Gods which we have set forth with
so much zeal one of the noblest sorts of knowledge--to know that they
are, and know how great is their power, as far as in man lies? We do
indeed excuse the mass of the citizens, who only follow the voice of
the laws, but we refuse to admit as guardians any who do not labour to
obtain every possible evidence that there is respecting the Gods; our
city is forbidden and not allowed to choose as a guardian of the law, or
to place in the select order of virtue, him who is not an inspired man,
and has not laboured at these things.
CLEINIAS: It is certainly just, as you say, that he who is indolent
about such matters or incapable should be rejected, and that things
honourable should be put away from him.
ATHENIAN: Are we assured that there are two things which lead men to
believe in the Gods, as we have already stated?
CLEINIAS: What are they?
ATHENIAN: One is the argument about the soul, which has been already
mentioned--that it is the eldest and most divine of all things, to which
motion attaining generation gives perpetual existence; the other was an
argument from the order of the motion of the stars, and of all things
under the dominion of the mind which ordered the universe. If a man look
upon the world not lightly or ignorantly, there was never any one so
godless who did not experience an effect opposite to that which the many
imagine. For they think that those who handle these matters by the help
of astronomy, and the accompanying arts of demonstration, may become
godless, because they see, as far as they can see, things happening by
necessity, and not by an intelligent will accomplishing good.
CLEINIAS: But what is the fact?
ATHENIAN: Just the opposite, as I said, of the opinion which once
prevailed among men, that the sun and stars are without soul. Even in
those days men wondered about them, and that which is now ascertained
was then conjectured by some who had a more exact knowledge of
them--that if they had been things without soul, and had no mind, they
could never have moved with numerical exactness so wonderful; and even
at that time some ventured to hazard the conjecture that mind was the
orderer of the universe. But these same persons again mistaking the
nature of the soul, which they conceived to be younger and not older
than the body, once more overturned the world, or rather, I should say,
themselves; for the bodies which they saw moving in heaven all appeared
to be full of stones, and earth, and many other lifeless substances, and
to these they assigned the causes of all things. Such studies gave
rise to much atheism and perplexity, and the poets took occasion to be
abusive--comparing the philosophers to she-dogs uttering vain howlings,
and talking other nonsense of the same sort. But now, as I said, the
case is reversed.
CLEINIAS: How so?
ATHENIAN: No man can be a true worshipper of the Gods who does not know
these two principles--that the soul is the eldest of all things which
are born, and is immortal and rules over all bodies; moreover, as I have
now said several times, he who has not contemplated the mind of nature
which is said to exist in the stars, and gone through the previous
training, and seen the connexion of music with these things, and
harmonized them all with laws and institutions, is not able to give a
reason of such things as have a reason. And he who is unable to acquire
this in addition to the ordinary virtues of a citizen, can hardly be a
good ruler of a whole state; but he should be the subordinate of other
rulers. Wherefore, Cleinias and Megillus, let us consider whether we
may not add to all the other laws which we have discussed this further
one--that the nocturnal assembly of the magistrates, which has also
shared in the whole scheme of education proposed by us, shall be a guard
set according to law for the salvation of the state. Shall we propose
this?
CLEINIAS: Certainly, my good friend, we will if the thing is in any
degree possible.
ATHENIAN: Let us make a common effort to gain such an object; for I
too will gladly share in the attempt. Of these matters I have had much
experience, and have often considered them, and I dare say that I shall
be able to find others who will also help.
CLEINIAS: I agree, Stranger, that we should proceed along the road in
which God is guiding us; and how we can proceed rightly has now to be
investigated and explained.
ATHENIAN: O Megillus and Cleinias, about these matters we cannot
legislate further until the council is constituted; when that is done,
then we will determine what authority they shall have of their own; but
the explanation of how this is all to be ordered would only be given
rightly in a long discourse.
CLEINIAS: What do you mean, and what new thing is this?
ATHENIAN: In the first place, a list would have to be made out of those
who by their ages and studies and dispositions and habits are well
fitted for the duty of a guardian. In the next place, it will not be
easy for them to discover themselves what they ought to learn, or become
the disciple of one who has already made the discovery. Furthermore, to
write down the times at which, and during which, they ought to receive
the several kinds of instruction, would be a vain thing; for the
learners themselves do not know what is learned to advantage until the
knowledge which is the result of learning has found a place in the soul
of each. And so these details, although they could not be truly said
to be secret, might be said to be incapable of being stated beforehand,
because when stated they would have no meaning.
CLEINIAS: What then are we to do, Stranger, under these circumstances?
ATHENIAN: As the proverb says, the answer is no secret, but open to all
of us: We must risk the whole on the chance of throwing, as they say,
thrice six or thrice ace, and I am willing to share with you the danger
by stating and explaining to you my views about education and nurture,
which is the question coming to the surface again. The danger is not a
slight or ordinary one, and I would advise you, Cleinias, in particular,
to see to the matter; for if you order rightly the city of the Magnetes,
or whatever name God may give it, you will obtain the greatest glory;
or at any rate you will be thought the most courageous of men in the
estimation of posterity. Dear companions, if this our divine assembly
can only be established, to them we will hand over the city; none of the
present company of legislators, as I may call them, would hesitate about
that. And the state will be perfected and become a waking reality, which
a little while ago we attempted to create as a dream and in idea only,
mingling together reason and mind in one image, in the hope that our
citizens might be duly mingled and rightly educated; and being educated,
and dwelling in the citadel of the land, might become perfect guardians,
such as we have never seen in all our previous life, by reason of the
saving virtue which is in them.
MEGILLUS: Dear Cleinias, after all that has been said, either we must
detain the Stranger, and by supplications and in all manner of ways
make him share in the foundation of the city, or we must give up the
undertaking.
CLEINIAS: Very true, Megillus; and you must join with me in detaining
him.
MEGILLUS: I will.