Athenian Stranger. And now having made an end of the
preliminaries we will proceed to the appointment of magistracies.
Cleinias. Very good.
Ath. In the ordering of a state there are two parts: first, the
number of the magistracies, and the mode of establishing them; and,
secondly, when they have been established, laws again will have to be
provided for each of them, suitable in nature and number. But before
electing the magistrates let us stop a little and say a word in season about
the election of them.
Cle. What have you got to say?
Ath. This is what I have to say; every one can see, that although the
work of legislation is a most important matter, yet if a well-ordered city
superadd to good laws unsuitable offices, not only will there be no use in
having the good laws-not only will they be ridiculous and useless, but the
greatest political injury and evil will accrue from them.
Cle. Of course.
Ath. Then now, my friend, let us observe what will happen in the
constitution of out intended state. In the first place, you will acknowledge
that those who are duly appointed to magisterial power, and their families,
should severally have given satisfactory proof of what they are, from youth
upward until the time of election; in the next place, those who are to elect
should have been trained in habits of law, and be well educated, that they
may have a right judgment, and may be able to select or reject men whom they
approve or disapprove, as they are worthy of either. But how can we imagine
that those who are brought together for the first time, and are strangers to
one another, and also uneducated, will avoid making mistakes in the choice
of magistrates?
Cle. Impossible.
Ath. The matter is serious, and excuses will not serve the turn. I
will tell you, then, what you and I will have to do, since you, as you tell
me, with nine others, have offered to settle the new state on behalf of the
people of Crete, and I am to help you by the invention of the present
romance. I certainly should not like to leave the tale wandering all over
the world without a head;-a headless monster is such a hideous thing.
Cle. Excellent, Stranger.
Ath. Yes; and I will be as good as my word.
Cle. Let us by all means do as you propose.
Ath. That we will, by the grace of God, if old age will only permit
us.
Cle. But God will be gracious.
Ath. Yes; and under his guidance let us consider further point.
Cle. What is it?
Ath. Let us remember what a courageously mad and daring creation this
our city is.
Cle. What had you in your mind when you said that?
Ath. I had in my mind the free and easy manner in which we are
ordaining that the inexperienced colonists shall receive our laws. Now a man
need not be very wise, Cleinias, in order to see that no one can easily
receive laws at their first imposition. But if we could anyhow wait until
those who have been imbued with them from childhood, and have been nurtured
in them, and become habituated to them, take their part in the public
elections of the state; I say, if this could be accomplished, and rightly
accomplished by any way or contrivance-then, I think that there would be
very little danger, at the end of the time, of a state thus trained not
being permanent.
Cle. A reasonable supposition.
Ath. Then let us consider if we can find any way out of the
difficulty; for I maintain, Cleinias, that the Cnosians, above all the other
Cretans, should not be satisfied with barely discharging their duty to the
colony, but they ought to take the utmost pains to establish the offices
which are first created by them in the best and surest manner. Above all,
this applies to the selection of the guardians of the law, who must be
chosen first of all, and with the greatest care; the others are of less
importance.
Cle. What method can we devise of electing them?
Ath. This will be the method:-Sons of the Cretans, I shall say to
them, inasmuch as the Cnosians have precedence over the other states, they
should, in common with those who join this settlement, choose a body of
thirty-seven in all, nineteen of them being taken from the settlers, and the
remainder from the citizens of Cnosus. Of those latter the Cnosians shall
make a present to your colony, and you yourself shall be one of the
eighteen, and shall become a citizen of the new state; and if you and they
cannot be persuaded to go, the Cnosians may fairly use a little violence in
order to make you.
Cle. But why, Stranger, do not you and Megillus take a part in our
new city?
Ath. O, Cleinias, Athens is proud, and Sparta too; and they are both a long
way off. But you and likewise the other colonists are conveniently situated
as you describe. I have been speaking of the way in which the new citizens
may be best managed under present circumstances; but in after-ages, if the
city continues to exist, let the election be on this wise. All who are horse
or foot soldiers, or have seen military service at the proper ages when they
were severally fitted for it, shall share in the election of magistrates;
and the election shall be held in whatever temple the state deems most
venerable, and every one shall carry his vote to the altar of the God,
writing down on a tablet the name of the person for whom he votes, and his
father's name, and his tribe, and ward; and at the side he shall write his
own name in like manner. Any one who pleases may take away any tablet which
he does not think properly filled up, and exhibit it in the Agara for a
period of not less than thirty days. The tablets which are judged to be
first, to the number of 300, shall be shown by the magistrates to the whole
city, and the citizens shall in like manner select from these the candidates
whom they prefer; and this second selection, to the number of 100, shall be
again exhibited to the citizens; in the third, let any one who pleases
select whom pleases out of the 100, walking through the parts of victims,
and let them choose for magistrates and proclaim the seven and thirty who
have the greatest number of votes. But who, Cleinias and Megillus, will
order for us in the colony all this matter of the magistrates, and the
scrutinies of them? If we reflect, we shall see that cities which are in
process of construction like ours must have some such persons, who cannot
possibly be elected before there are any magistrates; and yet they must be
elected in some way, and they are not to be inferior men, but the best
possible. For as the proverb says, "a good beginning is half the business";
and "to have begun well" is praised by all, and in my opinion is a great
deal more than half the business, and has never been praised by any one
enough.
Cle. That is very true.
Ath. Then let us recognize the difficulty, and make clear to our own
minds how the beginning is to be accomplished. There is only one proposal
which I have to offer, and that is one which, under our circumstances, is
both necessary and expedient.
Cle. What is it?
Ath. I maintain that this colony of ours has a father and mother, who
are no other than the colonizing state. Well I know that many colonies have
been, and will be, at enmity with their parents. But in early days the
child, as in a family, loves and is beloved; even if there come a time later
when the tie is broken, still, while he is in want of education, he
naturally loves his parents and is beloved by them, and flies to his
relatives for protection, and finds in them his only natural allies in time
of need; and this parental feeling already exists in the Cnosians, as is
shown by their care of the new city; and there is a similar feeling on the
part of the young city towards Cnosus. And I repeat what I was saying-for
there is no harm in repeating a good thing-that the Cnosians should take a
common interest in all these matters, and choose, as far as they can, the
eldest and best of the colonists, to the number of not less than a hundred;
and let there be another hundred of the Cnosians themselves. These, I say,
on their arrival, should have a joint care that the magistrates should be
appointed according to law, and that when they are appointed they should
undergo a scrutiny. When this has been effected, the Cnosians shall return
home, and the new city do the best she can for her own preservation and
happiness. I would have the seven-and-thirty now, and in all future time,
chosen to fulfil the following duties:-Let them, in the first place, be the
guardians of the law; and, secondly, of the registers in which each one
registers before the magistrate the amount of his property, excepting four
minae which are allowed to citizens of the first class, three allowed to the
second, two to the third, and a single mina to the fourth. And if any one,
despising the laws for the sake of gain, be found to possess anything more
which has not been registered, let all that he has in excess be confiscated,
and let him be liable to a suit which shall be the reverse of honourable or
fortunate. And let any one who will, indict him on the charge of loving base
gains, and proceed against him before the guardians of the law. And if he be
cast, let him lose his share of the public possessions, and when there is
any public distribution, let him have nothing but his original lot; and let
him be written down a condemned man as long as he lives, in some place in
which any one who pleases can read about his onces. The guardian of the law
shall not hold office longer than twenty years, and shall not be less than
fifty years of age when he is elected; or if he is elected when he is sixty
years of age, he shall hold office for ten years only; and upon the same
principle, he must not imagine that he will be permitted to hold such an
important office as that of guardian of the laws after he is seventy years
of age, if he live so long.
These are the three first ordinances about the guardians of the law; as the
work of legislation progresses, each law in turn will assign to them their
further duties. And now we may proceed in order to speak of the election of
other officers; for generals have to be elected, and these again must have
their ministers, commanders, and colonels of horse, and commanders of
brigades of foot, who would be more rightly called by their popular name of
brigadiers. The guardians of the law shall propose as generals men who are
natives of the city, and a selection from the candidates proposed shall be
made by those who are or have been of the age for military service. And if
one who is not proposed is thought by somebody to be better than one who is,
let him name whom he prefers in the place of whom, and make oath that he is
better, and propose him; and whichever of them is approved by vote shall be
admitted to the final selection; and the three who have the greatest number
of votes shall be appointed generals, and superintendents of military
affairs, after previously undergoing a scrutiny, like the guardians of the
law. And let the generals thus elected propose twelve brigadiers, one for
each tribe; and there shall be a right of counterproposal as in the case of
the generals, and the voting and decision shall take place in the same way.
Until the prytanes and council are elected, the guardians of the law shall
convene the assembly in some holy spot which is suitable to the purpose,
placing the hoplites by themselves, and the cavalry by themselves, and in a
third division all the rest of the army. All are to vote for the generals
[and for the colonels of horse], but the brigadiers are to be voted for only
by those who carry shields [i.e. the hoplites]. Let the body of cavalry
choose phylarchs for the generals; but captains of light troops, or archers,
or any other division of the army, shall be appointed by the generals for
themselves. There only remains the appointment of officers of cavalry: these
shall be proposed by the same persons who proposed the generals, and the
election and the counter-proposal of other candidates shall be arranged in
the same way as in the case of the generals, and let the cavalry vote and
the infantry look on at the election; the two who have the greatest number
of votes shall be the leaders of all the horse. Disputes about the voting
may be raised once or twice; but if the dispute be raised a third time, the
officers who preside at the several elections shall decide.
The council shall consist of 30 x 12 members-360 will be a convenient number
for sub-division. If we divide the whole number into four parts of ninety
each, we get ninety counsellors for each class. First, all the citizens
shall select candidates from the first class; they shall be compelled to
vote, and, if they do not, shall be duly fined. When the candidates have
been selected, some one shall mark them down; this shall be the business of
the first day. And on the following day, candidates shall be selected from
the second class in the same manner and under the same conditions as on the
previous day; and on the third day a selection shall be made from the third
class, at which every one may, if he likes, vote, and the three first
classes shall be compelled to vote; but the fourth and lowest class shall be
under no compulsion, and any member of this class who does not vote shall
not be punished. On the fourth day candidates shall be selected from the
fourth and smallest class; they shall be selected by all, but he who is of
the fourth class shall suffer no penalty, nor he who is of the third, if he
be not willing to vote; but he who is of the first or second class, if he
does not vote shall be punished;-he who is of the second class shall pay a
fine of triple the amount which was exacted at first, and he who is of the
first class quadruple. On the fifth day the rulers shall bring out the names
noted down, for all the citizens to see, and every man shall choose out of
them, under pain, if he do not, of suffering the first penalty; and when
they have chosen out of each of the classes, they shall choose one-half of
them by lot, who shall undergo a scrutiny:-These are to form the council for
the year.
The mode of election which has been described is in a mean between monarchy
and democracy, and such a mean the state ought always to observe; for
servants and masters never can be friends, nor good and bad, merely because
they are declared to have equal privileges. For to unequals equals become
unequal, if they are not harmonized by measure; and both by reason of
equality, and by reason of inequality, cities are filled with seditions. The
old saying, that "equality makes friendship," is happy and also true; but
there is obscurity and confusion as to what sort of equality is meant. For
there are two equalities which are called by the same name, but are in
reality in many ways almost the opposite of one another; one of them may be
introduced without difficulty, by any state or any legislator in the
distribution of honours: this is the rule of measure, weight, and number,
which regulates and apportions them. But there is another equality, of a
better and higher kind, which is not so easily recognized. This is the
judgment of Zeus; among men it avails but little; that little, however, is
the source of the greatest good to individuals and states. For it gives to
the greater more, and to the inferior less and in proportion to the nature
of each; and, above all, greater honour always to the greater virtue, and to
the less less; and to either in proportion to their respective measure of
virtue and education. And this is justice, and is ever the true principle of
states, at which we ought to aim, and according to this rule order the new
city which is now being founded, and any other city which may be hereafter
founded. To this the legislator should look-not to the interests of tyrants
one or more, or to the power of the people, but to justice always; which, as
I was saying, the distribution of natural equality among unequals in each
case. But there are times at which every state is compelled to use the
words, "just," "equal," in a secondary sense, in the hope of escaping in
some degree from factions. For equity and indulgence are infractions of the
perfect and strict rule of justice. And this is the reason why we are
obliged to use the equality of the lot, in order to avoid the discontent of
the people; and so we invoke God and fortune in our prayers, and beg that
they themselves will direct the lot with a view to supreme justice. And
therefore, although we are compelled to use both equalities, we should use
that into which the element of chance enters as seldom as possible.
Thus, O my friends, and for the reasons given, should a state act which
would endure and be saved. But as a ship sailing on the sea has to be
watched night and day, in like manner a city also is sailing on a sea of
politics, and is liable to all sorts of insidious assaults; and therefore
from morning to night, and from night to morning, rulers must join hands
with rulers, and watchers with watchers, receiving and giving up their trust
in a perpetual succession. Now a multitude can never fulfil a duty of this
sort with anything like energy. Moreover, the greater number of the senators
will have to be left during the greater part of the year to order their
concerns at their own homes. They will therefore have to be arranged in
twelve portions, answering to the twelve months, and furnish guardians of
the state, each portion for a single month. Their business is to be at hand
and receive any foreigner or citizen who comes to them, whether to give
information, or to put one of those questions, to which, when asked by other
cities, a city should give an answer, and to which, if she ask them herself,
she should receive an answer; or again, when there is a likelihood of
internal commotions, which are always liable to happen in some form or
other, they will, if they can, prevent their occurring; or if they have
already occurred, will lose time in making them known to the city, and
healing the evil. Wherefore, also, this which is the presiding body of the
state ought always to have the control of their assemblies, and of the
dissolutions of them, ordinary as well as extraordinary. All this is to be
ordered by the twelfth part of the council, which is always to keep watch
together with the other officers of the state during one portion of the
year, and to rest during the remaining eleven portions.
Thus will the city be fairly ordered. And now, who is to have, the
superintendence of the country, and what shall be the arrangement? Seeing
that the whole city and the entire country have been both of them divided
into twelve portions, ought there not to be appointed superintendents of the
streets of the city, and of the houses, and buildings, and harbours, and the
agora, and fountains, and sacred domains, and temples, and the like?
Cle. To be sure there ought.
Ath. Let us assume, then, that there ought to be servants of the
temples, and priests and priestesses. There must also be superintendents of
roads and buddings, who will have a care of men, that they may do no harm,
and also of beasts, both within the enclosure and in the suburbs. Three
kinds of officers will thus have to be appointed, in order that the city may
be suitably provided according to her needs. Those who have the care of the
city shall be called wardens of the city; and those who have the care of the
agora shall be called wardens of the agora; and those who have the care of
the temples shall be called priests. Those who hold hereditary offices as
priests or priestesses, shall not be disturbed; but if there be few or none
such, as is probable at the foundation of a new city, priests and
priestesses shall be appointed to be servants of the Gods who have no
servants. Some of our officers shall be elected, and others appointed by
lot, those who are of the people and those who are not of the people
mingling in a friendly manner in every place and city, that the state may be
as far as possible of one mind. The officers of the temples shall be
appointed by lot; in this way their election will be committed to God, that
he may do what is agreeable to him. And he who obtains a lot shall undergo a
scrutiny, first, as to whether he is sound of body and of legitimate birth;
and in the second place, in order to show that he is of a perfectly pure
family, not stained with homicide or any similar impiety in his own person,
and also that his father and mother have led a similar unstained life. Now
the laws about all divine things should be brought from Delphi, and
interpreters appointed, under whose direction they should be used. The
tenure of the priesthood should always be for a year and no longer; and he
who will duly execute the sacred office, according to the laws of religion,
must be not less than sixty years of age-the laws shall be the same about
priestesses. As for the interpreters, they shall be appointed thus:-Let the
twelve tribes be distributed into groups of four, and let each group select
four, one out of each tribe within the group, three times; and let the three
who have the greatest number of votes [out of the twelve appointed by each
group], after undergoing a scrutiny, nine in all, be sent to Delphi, in
order that the God may return one out of each triad; their age shall be the
same as that of the priests, and the scrutiny of them shall be conducted in
the same manner; let them be interpreters for life, and when any one dies
let the four tribes select another from the tribe of the deceased. Moreover,
besides priests and interpreters, there must be treasurers, who will take
charge of the property of the several temples, and of the sacred domains,
and shall have authority over the produce and the letting of them; and three
of them shall be chosen from the highest classes for the greater temples,
and two for the lesser, and one for the least of all; the manner of their
election and the scrutiny of them shall be the same as that of the generals.
This shall be the order of the temples.
Let everything have a guard as far as possible. Let the defence of the city
be commited to the generals, and taxiarchs, and hipparchs, and phylarchs,
and prytanes, and the wardens of the city, and of the agora, when the
election of them has been completed. The defence of the country shall be
provided for as follows:-The entire land has been already distributed into
twelve as nearly as possible equal parts, and let the tribe allotted to a
division provide annually for it five wardens of the country and commanders
of the watch; and let each body of five have the power of selecting twelve
others out of the youth of their own tribe-these shall be not less than
twenty-five years of age, and not more than thirty. And let there be
allotted to them severally every month the various districts, in order that
they may all acquire knowledge and experience of the whole country. The term
of service for commanders and for watchers shall continue during two years.
After having had their stations allotted to them, they will go from place to
place in regular order, making their round from left to right as their
commanders direct them; (when I speak of going to the right, I mean that
they are to go to the east). And at the commencement of the second year, in
order that as many as possible of the guards may not only get a knowledge of
the country at any one season of the year, but may also have experience of
the manner in which different places are affected at different seasons of
the year, their then commanders shall lead them again towards the left, from
place to place in succession, until they have completed the second year. In
the third year other wardens of the country shall be chosen and commanders
of the watch, five for each division, who are to be the superintendents of
the bands of twelve. While on service at each station, their attention shall
be directed to the following points:-In the first place, they shall see that
the country is well protected against enemies; they shall trench and dig
wherever this is required, and, as far as they can, they shall by
fortifications keep off the evil-disposed, in order to prevent them from
doing any harm to the country or the property; they shall use the beasts of
burden and the labourers whom they find on the spot: these will be their
instruments whom they will superintend, taking them, as far as possible, at
the times when they are not engaged in their regular business. They shall
make every part of the country inaccessible to enemies, and as accessible as
possible to friends; there shall be ways for man and beasts of burden and
for cattle, and they shall take care to have them always as smooth as they
can; and shall provide against the rains doing harm instead of good to the
land, when they come down from the mountains into the hollow dells; and
shall keep in the overflow by the help of works and ditches, in order that
the valleys, receiving and drinking up the rain from heaven, and providing
fountains and streams in the fields and regions which lie underneath, may
furnish even to the dry places plenty of good water. The fountains of water,
whether of rivers or of springs, shall be ornamented with plantations and
buildings for beauty; and let them bring together the streams in
subterraneous channels, and make all things plenteous; and if there be a
sacred grove or dedicated precinct in the neighbourhood, they shall conduct
the water to the actual temples of the Gods, and so beautify them at all
seasons of the year. Everywhere in such places the youth shall make gymnasia
for themselves, and warm baths for the aged, placing by them abundance of
dry wood, for the benefit of those labouring under disease-there the weary
frame of the rustic, worn with toil, will receive a kindly welcome, far
better than he would at the hands of a not over-wise doctor.
The building of these and the like works will be useful and ornamental; they
will provide a pleasing amusement, but they will be a serious employment
too; for the sixty wardens will have to guard their several divisions, not
only with a view to enemies, but also with an eye to professing friends.
When a quarrel arises among neighbours or citizens, and any one, whether
slave or freeman wrongs another, let the five wardens decide small matters
on their own authority; but where the charge against another relates to
greater matters, the seventeen composed of the fives and twelves, shall
determine any charges which one man brings against another, not involving
more than three minae. Every judge and magistrate shall be liable to give an
account of his conduct in office, except those who, like kings, have the
final decision. Moreover, as regards the aforesaid wardens of the country,
if they do any wrong to those of whom they have the care, whether by
imposing upon them unequal tasks, or by taking the produce of the soil or
implements of husbandry without their consent; also if they receive anything
in the way of a bribe, or decide suits unjustly, or if they yield to the
influences of flattery, let them be publicly dishonoured; and in regard to
any other wrong which they do to the inhabitants of the country, if the
question be of a mina, let them submit to the decision of the villagers in
the neighbourhood; but in suits of greater amount, or in case of lesser, if
they refuse to submit, trusting that their monthly removal into another part
of the country will enable them to escape-in such cases the injured party
may bring his suit in the common court, and if he obtain a verdict he may
exact from the defendant, who refused to submit, a double penalty.
The wardens and the overseers of the country, while on their two years
service, shall have common meals at their several stations, and shall all
live together; and he who is absent from the common meal, or sleeps out, if
only for one day or night, unless by order of his commanders, or by reason
of absolute necessity, if the five denounce him and inscribe his name the
agora as not having kept his guard, let him be deemed to have betrayed the
city, as far as lay in his power, and let him be disgraced and beaten with
impunity by any one who meets him and is willing to punish him. If any of
the commanders is guilty of such an irregularity, the whole company of sixty
shall see to it, and he who is cognizant of the offence, and does not bring
the offender to trial, shall be amenable to the same laws as the younger
offender himself, and shall pay a heavier fine, and be incapable of ever
commanding the young. The guardians of the law are to be careful inspectors
of these matters, and shall either prevent or punish offenders. Every man
should remember the universal rule, that he who is not a good servant will
not be a good master; a man should pride himself more upon serving well than
upon commanding well: first upon serving the laws, which is also the service
of the Gods; in the second place, upon having. served ancient and honourable
men in the days of his youth. Furthermore, during the two years in which any
one is a warden of the country, his daily food ought to be of a simple and
humble kind. When the twelve have been chosen, let them and the five meet
together, and determine that they will be their own servants, and, like
servants, will not have other slaves and servants for their own use, neither
will they use those of the villagers and husbandmen for their private
advantage, but for the public service only; and in general they should make
up their minds to live independently by themselves, servants of each other
and of themselves. Further, at all seasons of the year, summer and winter
alike, let them be under arms and survey minutely the whole country; thus
they will at once keep guard, and at the same time acquire a perfect
knowledge of every locality. There can be no more important kind of
information than the exact knowledge of a man's own country; and for this as
well as for more general reasons of pleasure and advantage, hunting with
dogs and other kinds of sports should be pursued by the young. The service
to whom this is committed may be called the secret police, or wardens of the
country; the name does not much signify, but every one who has the safety of
the state at heart will use his utmost diligence in this service.
After the wardens of the country, we have to speak of the election of
wardens of the agora and of the city. The wardens of the country were sixty
in number, and the wardens of the city will be three, and will divide the
twelve parts of the city into three; like the former, they shall have care
of the ways, and of the different high roads which lead out of the country
into the city, and of the buildings, that they may be all made according to
law;-also of the waters, which the guardians of the supply preserve and
convey to them, care being taken that they may reach the fountains pure and
abundant, and be both an ornament and a benefit to the city. These also
should be men of influence, and at leisure to take care of the public
interest. Let every man propose as warden of the city any one whom he likes
out of the highest class, and when the vote has been given on them, and the
number is reduced to the six who have the greatest number of votes, let the
electing officers choose by lot three out of the six, and when they have
undergone a scrutiny let them hold office according to the laws laid down
for them. Next, let the wardens of the agora be elected in like manner, out
of the first and second class, five in number: ten are to be first elected,
and out of the ten five are to be chosen by lot, as in the election of the
wardens of the city:-these when they have undergone a scrutiny are to be
declared magistrates. Every one shall vote for every one, and he who will
not vote, if he be informed against before the magistrates, shall be fined
fifty drachmae, and shall also be deemed a bad citizen. Let any one who
likes go to the assembly and to the general council; it shall be compulsory
to go on citizens of the first and second class, and they shall pay a fine
of ten drachmae if they be found not answering to their names at the
assembly. the third and fourth class shall be under no compulsion, and shall
be let off without a fine, unless the magistrates have commanded all to be
present, in consequence of some urgent necessity. The wardens of the agora
shall observe the order appointed by law for the agora, and shall have the
charge of the temples and fountains which are in the agora; and they shall
see that no one injures anything, and punish him who does, with stripes and
bonds, if he be a slave or stranger; but if he be a citizen who misbehaves
in this way, they shall have the power themselves of inflicting a fine upon
him to the amount of a hundred drachmae, or with the consent of the wardens
of the city up to double that amount. And let the wardens of the city have a
similar power of imposing punishments and fines in their own department; and
let them impose fines by their own department; and let them impose fines by
their own authority, up to a mina, or up to two minae with the consent of
the wardens of the agora.
In the next place, it will be proper to appoint directors of music and
gymnastic, two kinds of each-of the one kind the business will be education,
of the other, the superintendence of contests. In speaking of education, the
law means to speak of those who have the care of order and instruction in
gymnasia and schools, and of the going to school, and of school buildings
for boys and girls; and in speaking of contests, the law refers to the
judges of gymnastics and of music; these again are divided into two classes,
the one having to do with music, the other with gymnastics; and the same who
judge of the gymnastic contests of men, shall judge of horses; but in music
there shall be one set of judges of solo singing, and of imitation-I mean of
rhapsodists, players on the harp, the flute and the like, and another who
shall judge of choral song. First of all, we must choose directors for the
choruses of boys, and men, and maidens, whom they shall follow in the
amusement of the dance, and for our other musical arrangements; -one
director will be enough for the choruses, and he should be not less than
forty years of age. One director will also be enough to introduce the solo
singers, and to give judgment on the competitors, and he ought not to be
less than thirty years of age. The director and manager of the choruses
shall be elected after the following manner:-Let any persons who commonly
take an interest in such matters go to the meeting, and be fined if they do
not go (the guardians of the law shall judge of their fault), but those who
have no interest shall not be compelled. The elector shall propose as
director some one who understands music, and he in the scrutiny may be
challenged on the one part by those who say he has no skill, and defended on
the other hand by those who say that he has. Ten are to be elected by vote,
and he of the ten who is chosen by lot shall undergo a scrutiny, and lead
the choruses for a year according to law. And in like manner the competitor
who wins the lot shall be leader of the solo and concert music for that
year; and he who is thus elected shall deliver the award to the judges. In
the next place, we have to choose judges in the contests of horses and of
men; these shall be selected from the third and also from the second class
of citizens, and three first classes shall be compelled to go to the
election, but the lowest may stay away with impunity; and let there be three
elected by lot out of the twenty who have been chosen previously, and they
must also have the vote and approval of the examiners. But if any one is
rejected in the scrutiny at any ballot or decision, others shall be chosen
in the same manner, and undergo a similar scrutiny.
There remains the minister of the education of youth, male and female; he
too will rule according to law; one such minister will be sufficient, and he
must be fifty years old, and have children lawfully begotten, both boys and
girls by preference, at any rate, one or the other. He who is elected, and
he who is the elector, should consider that of all the great offices of
state, this is the greatest; for the first shoot of any plant, if it makes a
good start towards the attainment of its natural excellence, has the
greatest effect on its maturity; and this is not only true of plants, but of
animals wild and tame, and also of men. Man, as we say, is a tame or
civilized animal; nevertheless, he requires proper instruction and a
fortunate nature, and then of all animals he becomes the most divine and
most civilized; but if he be insufficiently or ill educated he is the most
savage of earthly creatures. Wherefore the legislator ought not to allow the
education of children to become a secondary or accidental matter. In the
first place, he who would be rightly provident about them, should begin by
taking care that he is elected, who of all the citizens is in every way
best; him the legislator shall do his utmost to appoint guardian and
superintendent. To this end all the magistrates, with the exception of the
council and prytanes, shall go to the temple of Apollo, and elect by ballot
him of the guardians of the law whom they severally think will be the best
superintendent of education. And he who has the greatest number of votes,
after he has undergone a scrutiny at the hands of all the magistrates who
have been his electors, with the exception of the guardians of the law-shall
hold office for five years; and in the sixth year let another be chosen in
like manner to fill his office.
If any one dies while he is holding a public office, and more than thirty
days before his term of office expires, let those whose business it is elect
another to the office in the same manner as before. And if any one who is
entrusted with orphans dies, let the relations both on the father's and
mother's side, who are residing at home, including cousins, appoint another
guardian within ten days, or be fined a drachma a day for neglect to do so.
A city which has no regular courts of law ceases to be a city; and again, if
a judge is silent and says no more in preliminary proceedings than the
litigants, as is the case in arbitrations, he will never be able to decide
justly; wherefore a multitude of judges will not easily judge well, nor a
few if they are bad. The point in dispute between the parties should be made
clear; and time, and deliberation, and repeated examination, greatly tend to
clear up doubts. For this reason, he who goes to law with another should go
first of all to his neighbours and friends who know best the questions at
issue. And if he be unable to obtain from them a satisfactory decision, let
him have recourse to another court; and if the two courts cannot settle the
matter, let a third put an end to the suit.
Now the establishment of courts of justice may be regarded as a choice of
magistrates, for every magistrate must also be a judge of some things; and
the judge, though he be not a magistrate, yet in certain respects is a very
important magistrate on the day on which he is determining a suit. Regarding
then the judges also as magistrates, let us say who are fit to be judges,
and of what they are to be judges, and how many of them are to judge in each
suit. Let that be the supreme tribunal which the litigants appoint in common
for themselves, choosing certain persons by agreement. And let there be two
other tribunals: one for private causes, when a citizen accuses another of
wronging him and wishes to get a decision; the other for public causes, in
which some citizen is of opinion that the public has been wronged by an
individual, and is willing to vindicate the common interests. And we must
not forget to mention how the judges are to be qualified, and who they are
to be. In the first place, let there be a tribunal open to all private
persons who are trying causes one against another for the third time, and
let this be composed as follows:-All the officers of state, as well annual
as those holding office for a longer period, when the new year is about to
commence, in the month following after the summer solstice, on the last day
but one of the year, shall meet in some temple, and calling God to witness,
shall dedicate one judge from every magistracy to be their first-fruits,
choosing in each office him who seems to them to be the best, and whom they
deem likely to decide the causes of his fellow-citizens during the ensuing
year in the best and holiest manner. And when the election is completed, a
scrutiny shall be held in the presence of the electors themselves, and if
any one be rejected another shall be chosen in the same manner. Those who
have undergone the scrutiny shall judge the causes of those who have
declined the inferior courts, and shall give their vote openly. The
councillors and other magistrates who have elected them shall be required to
be hearers and spectators of the causes; and any one else may be present who
pleases. If one man charges another with having intentionally decided wrong,
let him go to the guardians of the law and lay his accusation before them,
and he who is found guilty in such a case shall pay damages to the injured
party equal to half the injury; but if he shall appear to deserve a greater
penalty, the judges shall determine what additional punishment he shall
suffer, and how much more he ought to pay to the public treasury, and to the
party who brought the suit.
In the judgment of offences against the state, the people ought to
participate, for when any one wrongs the state all are wronged, and may
reasonably complain if they are not allowed to share in the decision. Such
causes ought to originate with the people, and the ought also to have the
final decision of them, but the trial of them shall take place before three
of the highest magistrates, upon whom the plaintiff and the defendant shall
agree; and if they are not able to come to an agreement themselves, the
council shall choose one of the two proposed. And in private suits, too, as
far as is possible, all should have a share; for he who has no share in the
administration of justice, is apt to imagine that he has no share in the
state at all. And for this reason there shall be a court of law in every
tribe, and the judges shall be chosen by lot;-they shall give their
decisions at once, and shall be inaccessible to entreaties. The final
judgment shall rest with that court which, as we maintain, has been
established in the most incorruptible form of which human things admit: this
shall be the court established for those who are unable to get rid of their
suits either in the courts of neighbours or of the tribes.
Thus much of the courts of law, which, as I was saying, cannot be precisely
defined either as being or not being offices; a superficial sketch has been
given of them, in which some things have been told and others omitted. For
the right place of an exact statement of the laws respecting suits, under
their several heads, will be at the end of the body of legislation;-let us
then expect them at the end. Hitherto our legislation has been chiefly
occupied with the appointment of offices. Perfect unity and exactness,
extending to the whole and every particular of political administration,
cannot be attained to the full, until the discussion shall have a beginning,
middle, and end, and is complete in every part. At present we have reached
the election of magistrates, and this may be regarded as a sufficient
termination of what preceded. And now there need no longer be any delay or
hesitation in beginning the work of legislation.
Cle. I like what you have said, Stranger-and I particularly like your
manner of tacking on the beginning of your new discourse to the end of the
former one.
Ath. Thus far, then, the old men's rational pastime has gone off
well.
Cle. You mean, I suppose, their serious and noble pursuit?
Ath. Perhaps; but I should like to know whether you and I are agreed
about a certain thing.
Cle. About what thing?
Ath. You know. the endless labour which painters expend upon their
pictures-they are always putting in or taking out colours, or whatever be
the term which artists employ; they seem as if they would never cease
touching up their works, which are always being made brighter and more
beautiful.
Cle. I know something of these matters from report, although I have
never had any great acquaintance with the art.
Ath. No matter; we may make use of the illustration
notwithstanding:-Suppose that some one had a mind to paint a figure in the
most beautiful manner, in the hope that his work instead of losing would
always improve as time went on-do you not see that being a mortal, unless he
leaves some one to succeed him who will correct the flaws which time may
introduce, and be able to add what is left imperfect through the defect of
the artist, and who will further brighten up and improve the picture, all
his great labour will last but a short time?
Cle. True.
Ath. And is not the aim of the legislator similar? First, he desires
that his laws should be written down with all possible exactness; in the
second place, as time goes on and he has made an actual trial of his
decrees, will he not find omissions? Do you imagine that there ever was a
legislator so foolish as not to know that many things are necessarily
omitted, which some one coming after him must correct, if the constitution
and the order of government is not to deteriorate, but to improve in the
state which he has established?
Cle. Assuredly, that is the sort of thing which every one would
desire.
Ath. And if any one possesses any means of accomplishing this by word
or deed, or has any way great or small by which he can teach a person to
understand how he can maintain and amend the laws, he should finish what he
has to say, and not leave the work incomplete.
Cle. By all means.
Ath. And is not this what you and I have to do at the present moment?
Cle. What have we to do?
Ath. As we are about to legislate and have chosen our guardians of
the law, and are ourselves in the evening of life, and they as compared with
us are young men, we ought not only to legislate for them, but to endeavour
to make them not only guardians of the law but legislators themselves, as
far as this is possible.
Cle. Certainly; if we can.
Ath. At any rate, we must do our best.
Cle. Of course.
Ath. We will say to them-O friends and saviours of our laws, in
laying down any law, there are many particulars which we shall omit, and
this cannot be helped; at the same time, we will do our utmost to describe
what is important, and will give an outline which you shall fill up. And I
will explain on what principle you are to act. Megillus and Cleinias and I
have often spoken to one another touching these matters, and we are of
opinion that we have spoken well. And we hope that you will be of the same
mind with us, and become our disciples, and keep in view the things which in
our united opinion the legislator and guardian of the law ought to keep in
view. There was one main point about which we were agreed-that a man's whole
energies throughout life should be devoted to the acquisition of the virtue
proper to a man, whether this was to be gained by study, or habit, or some
mode of acquisition, or desire, or opinion, or knowledge-and this applies
equally to men and women, old and young-the aim of all should always be such
as I have described; anything which may be an impediment, the good man ought
to show that he utterly disregards. And if at last necessity plainly compels
him to be an outlaw from his native land, rather than bow his neck to the
yoke of slavery and be ruled by inferiors, and he has to fly, an exile he
must be and endure all such trials, rather than accept another form of
government, which is likely to make men worse. These are our original
principles; and do you now, fixing your eyes upon the standard of what a man
and a citizen ought or ought not to be, praise and blame the laws-blame
those which have not this power of making the citizen better, but embrace
those which have; and with gladness receive and live in them; bidding a long
farewell to other institutions which aim at goods, as they are termed, of a
different kind.
Let us proceed to another class of laws, beginning with their foundation in
religion. And we must first return to the number 5040-the entire number had,
and has, a great many convenient divisions, and the number of the tribes
which was a twelfth part of the whole, being correctly formed by 21 X 20
[5040/(21 X 20), i.e., 5040/420=12], also has them. And not only is the
whole number divisible by twelve, but also the number of each tribe is
divisible by twelve. Now every portion should be regarded by us as a sacred
gift of Heaven, corresponding to the months and to the revolution of the
universe. Every city has a guiding and sacred principle given by nature, but
in some the division or distribution has been more right than in others, and
has been more sacred and fortunate. In our opinion, nothing can be more
right than the selection of the number 5040, which may be divided by all
numbers from one to twelve with the single exception of eleven, and that
admits of a very easy correction; for if, turning to the dividend (5040), we
deduct two families, the defect in the division is cured. And the truth of
this may be easily proved when we have leisure. But for the present,
trusting to the mere assertion of this principle, let us divide the state;
and assigning to each portion some God or son of a God, let us give them
altars and sacred rites, and at the altars let us hold assemblies for
sacrifice twice in the month-twelve assemblies for the tribes, and twelve
for the city, according to their divisions; the first in honour of the Gods
and divine things, and the second to promote friendship and "better
acquaintance," as the phrase is, and every sort of good fellowship with one
another. For people must be acquainted with those into whose families and
whom they marry and with those to whom they give in marriage; in such
matters, as far as possible, a man should deem it all important to avoid a
mistake, and with this serious purpose let games be instituted in which
youths and maidens shall dance together, seeing one another and being seen
naked, at a proper age, and on a suitable occasion, not transgressing the
rules of modesty.
The directors of choruses will be the superintendents and regulators of
these games, and they, together with the guardians of the law, will
legislate in any matters which we have omitted; for, as we said, where there
are numerous and minute details, the legislator must leave out something.
And the annual officers who have experience, and know what is wanted, must
make arrangements and improvements year by year, until such enactments and
provisions are sufficiently determined. A ten years experience of sacrifices
and dances, if extending to all particulars, will be quite sufficient; and
if the legislator be alive they shall communicate with him, but if he be
dead then the several officers shall refer the omissions which come under
their notice to the guardians of the law, and correct them, until all is
perfect; and from that time there shall be no more change, and they shall
establish and use the new laws with the others which the legislator
originally gave them, and of which they are never, if they can help, to
change aught; or, if some necessity overtakes them, the magistrates must be
called into counsel, and the whole people, and they must go to all the
oracles of the Gods; and if they are all agreed, in that case they may make
the change, but if they are not agreed, by no manner of means, and any one
who dissents shall prevail, as the law ordains.
Whenever any one over twenty-five years of age, having seen and been seen by
others, believes himself to have found a marriage connection which is to his
mind, and suitable for the procreation of children, let him marry if he be
still under the age of five-and-thirty years; but let him first hear how he
ought to seek after what is suitable and appropriate. For, as Cleinias says,
every law should have a suitable prelude.
Cle. You recollect at the right moment, Stranger, and do not miss the
opportunity which the argument affords of saying a word in season.
Ath. I thank you. We will say to him who is born of good parents-O my
son, you ought to make such a marriage as wise men would approve. Now they
would advise you neither to avoid a poor marriage, nor specially to desire a
rich one; but if other things are equal, always to honour inferiors, and
with them to form connections;-this will be for the benefit of the city and
of the families which are united; for the equable and symmetrical tends
infinitely more to virtue than the unmixed. And he who is conscious of being
too headstrong, and carried away more than is fitting in all his actions,
ought to desire to become the relation of orderly parents; and he who is of
the opposite temper ought to seek the opposite alliance. Let there be one
word concerning all marriages:-Every man shall follow, not after the
marriage which is most pleasing to himself, but after that which is most
beneficial to the state. For somehow every one is by nature prone to that
which is likest to himself, and in this way the whole city becomes unequal
in property and in disposition; and hence there arise in most states the
very results which we least desire to happen. Now, to add to the law an
express provision, not only that the rich man shall not marry into the rich
family, nor the powerful into the family of the powerful, but that the
slower natures shall be compelled to enter into marriage with the quicker,
and the quicker with the slower, may awaken anger as well as laughter in the
minds of many; for there is a difficulty in perceiving that the city ought
to be well mingled like a cup, in which the maddening wine is hot and fiery,
but when chastened by a soberer God, receives a fair associate and becomes
an excellent and temperate drink. Yet in marriage no one is able to see that
the same result occurs. Wherefore also the law must let alone such matters,
but we should try to charm the spirits of men into believing the equability
of their children's disposition to be of more importance than equality in
excessive fortune when they marry; and him who is too desirous of making a
rich marriage we should endeavour to turn aside by reproaches, not, however,
by any compulsion of written law.
Let this then be our exhortation concerning marriage, and let us remember
what was said before-that a man should cling to immortality, and leave
behind him children's children to be the servants of God in his place for
ever. All this and much more may be truly said by way of prelude about the
duty of marriage. But if a man will not listen and remains unsocial and
alien among his fellow-citizens, and is still unmarried at thirty-five years
of age, let him pay a yearly fine;-he who of the highest class shall pay a
fine of a hundred drachmae, and he who is of the second dass a fine of
seventy drachmae; the third class shall pay sixty drachmae, and the fourth
thirty drachmae, and let the money be sacred to Here; he who does not pay
the fine annually shall owe ten times the sum, which the treasurer of the
goddess shall exact; and if he fails in doing so, let him be answerable and
give an account of the. money at his audit. He who refuses to marry shall be
thus punished in money, and also be deprived of all honour which the younger
show to the elder; let no young man voluntarily obey him, and if he attempt
to punish any one, let every one come to the rescue and defend the injured
person, and he who is present and does not come to the rescue, shall be
pronounced by the law to be a coward and a bad citizen. Of the marriage
portion I have already spoken; and again I say for the instruction of poor
men that he who neither gives nor receives a dowry on account of poverty,
has a compensation; for the citizens of our state are provided with the
necessaries of life, and wives will be less likely to be insolent, and
husbands to be mean and subservient to them on account of property. And he
who obeys this law will do a noble action; but he who will not obey, and
gives or receives more than fifty drachmae as the price of the marriage
garments if he be of the lowest, or more than a mina, or a mina and-a-half,
if he be of the third or second classes, or two minae if he be of the
highest class, shall owe to the public treasury a similar sum, and that
which is given or received shall be sacred to Here and Zeus; and let the
treasurers of these Gods exact the money, as was said before about the
unmarried-that the treasurers of Here were to exact the money, or pay the
fine themselves.
The betrothal by a father shall be valid in the first degree, that by a
grandfather in the second degree, and in the third degree, betrothal by
brothers who have the same father; but if there are none of these alive, the
betrothal by a mother shall be valid in like manner; in cases of unexampled
fatality, the next of kin and the guardians shall have authority. What are
to be the rites before marriages, or any other sacred acts, relating either
to future, present, or past marriages, shall be referred to the
interpreters; and he who follows their advice may be satisfied. Touching the
marriage festival, they shall assemble not more than five male and five
female friends of both families; and a like number of members of the family
of either sex, and no man shall spend more than his means will allow; he who
is of the richest class may spend a mina-he who is of the second, half a
mina, and in the same proportion as the census of each decreases: all men
shall praise him who is obedient to the law; but he who is disobedient shall
be punished by the guardians of the law as a man wanting in true taste, and
uninstructed in the laws of bridal song. Drunkenness is always improper,
except at the festivals of the God who gave wine; and peculiarly dangerous,
when a man is engaged in the business of marriage; at such a crisis of their
lives a bride and bridegroom ought to have all their wits about them-they
ought to take care that their offspring may be born of reasonable beings;
for on what day or night Heaven will give them increase, who can say?
Moreover, they ought not to begetting children when their bodies are
dissipated by intoxication, but their offspring should be compact and solid,
quiet and compounded properly; whereas the drunkard is all abroad in all his
actions, and beside himself both in body and soul. Wherefore, also, the
drunken man is bad and unsteady in sowing the seed of increase, and is
likely to beget offspring who will be unstable and untrustworthy, and cannot
be expected to walk straight either in body or mind. Hence during the whole
year and all his life long, and especially while he is begetting children,
ought to take care and not intentionally do what is injurious to health, or
what involves insolence and wrong; for he cannot help leaving the impression
of himself on the souls and bodies of his offspring, and he begets children
in every way inferior. And especially on the day and night of marriage
should a man abstain from such things. For the beginning, which is also a
God dwelling in man, preserves all things, if it meet with proper respect
from each individual. He who marries is further to consider that one of the
two houses in the lot is the nest and nursery of his young, and there he is
to marry and make a home for himself and bring up his children, going away
from his father and mother. For in friendships there must be some degree of
desire, in order to cement and bind together diversities of character; but
excessive intercourse not having the desire which is created by time,
insensibly dissolves friendships from a feeling of satiety; wherefore a man
and his wife shall leave to his and her father and mother their own
dwelling-places, and themselves go as to a colony and dwell there, and visit
and be visited by their parents; and they shall beget and bring up children,
handing on the torch of life from one generation to another, and worshipping
the Gods according to law for ever.
In the next place, we have to consider what sort of property will be most
convenient. There is no difficulty either in understanding or acquiring most
kinds of property, but there is great difficulty in what relates to slaves.
And the reason is that we speak about them in a way which is right and which
is not right; for what we say about our slaves is consistent and also
inconsistent with our practice about them.
Megillus. I do not understand, Stranger, what you mean.
Ath. I am not surprised, Megillus, for the state of the Helots among
the Lacedaemonians is of all Hellenic forms of slavery the most controverted
and disputed about, some approving and some condemning it; there is less
dispute about the slavery which exists among the Heracleots, who have
subjugated the Mariandynians, and about the Thessalian Penestae. Looking at
these and the like examples, what ought we to do concerning property in
slaves? I made a remark, in passing, which naturally elicited a question
about my meaning from you. It was this:-We know that all would agree that we
should have the best and most attached slaves whom we can get. For many a
man has found his slaves better in every way than brethren or sons, and many
times they have saved the lives and property of their masters and their
whole house-such tales are well known.
Meg. To be sure.
Ath. But may we not also say that the soul of the slave is utterly
corrupt, and that no man of sense ought to trust them? And the wisest of our
poets, speaking of Zeus, says:
Far-seeing Zeus takes away half the understanding of men whom the day of
slavery subdues. Different persons have got these two different notions of
slaves in their minds-some of them utterly distrust their servants, and, as
if they were wild beasts, chastise them with goads and whips, and make their
souls three times, or rather many times, as slavish as they were before;-and
others do just the opposite.
Meg. True.
Cle. Then what are we to do in our own country, Stranger, seeing that
there are, such differences in the treatment of slaves by their owners?
Ath. Well, Cleinias, there can be no doubt that man is a troublesome
animal, and therefore he is not very manageable, nor likely to become so,
when you attempt to introduce the necessary division, slave, and freeman,
and master.
Cle. That is obvious.
Ath. He is a troublesome piece of goods, as has been often shown by
the frequent revolts of the Messenians, and the great mischiefs which happen
in states having many slaves who speak the same language, and the numerous
robberies and lawless life of the Italian banditti, as they are called. A
man who considers all this is fairly at a loss. Two remedies alone remain to
us-not to have the slaves of the same country, nor if possible, speaking the
same language; in this way they will more easily be held in subjection:
secondly, we should tend them carefully, not only out of regard to them, but
yet more out of respect to ourselves. And the right treatment of slaves is
to behave properly to them, and to do to them, if possible, even more
justice than to those who are our equals; for he who naturally and genuinely
reverences justice, and hates injustice, is discovered in his dealings with
any class of men to whom he can easily be unjust. And he who in regard to
the natures and actions of his slaves is undefiled by impiety and injustice,
will best sow the seeds of virtue in them; and this may be truly said of
every master, and tyrant, and of every other having authority in relation to
his inferiors. Slaves ought to be punished as they deserve, and not
admonished as if they were freemen, which will only make them conceited. The
language used to a servant ought always to be that of a command, and we
ought not to jest with them, whether they are males or females-this is a
foolish way which many people have of setting up their slaves, and making
the life of servitude more disagreeable both for them and for their masters.
Cle. True.
Ath. Now that each of the citizens is provided, as far as possible,
with a sufficient number of suitable slaves who can help him in what he has
to do, we may next proceed to describe their dwellings.
Cle. Very good.
Ath. The city being new and hitherto uninhabited, care ought to be
taken of all the buildings, and the manner of building each of them, and
also of the temples and walls. These, Cleinias, were matters which properly
came before the marriages; but, as we are only talking, there is no
objection to changing the order. If, however, our plan of legislation is
ever to take effect, then the house shall precede the marriage if God so
will, and afterwards we will come to the regulations about marriage; but at
present we are only describing these matters in a general outline.
Cle. Quite true.
Ath. The temples are to be placed all round the agora, and the whole
city built on the heights in a circle, for the sake of defence and for the
sake of purity. Near the temples are to be placed buildings for the
magistrates and the courts of law; in these plaintiff and defendant will
receive their due, and the places will be regarded as most holy, partly
because they have to do with the holy things: and partly because they are
the dwelling-places of holy Gods: and in them will be held the courts in
which cases of homicide and other trials of capital offenses may fitly take
place. As to the walls, Megillus, I agree with Sparta in thinking that they
should be allowed to sleep in the earth, and that we should not attempt to
disinter them; there is a poetical saying, which is finely expressed, that
"walls ought to be of steel and iron, and not of earth; besides, how
ridiculous of us to be sending out our young men annually into the country
to dig and to trench, and to keep off the enemy by fortifications, under the
idea that they are not to be allowed to set foot in our territory, and then,
that we should surround ourselves with a wall, which, in the first place, is
by no means conducive to the health of cities, and is also apt to produce a
certain effeminacy in the minds of the inhabitants, inviting men to run
thither instead of repelling their enemies, and leading them to imagine that
their safety is due not to their keeping guard day and night, but that when
they are protected by walls and gates, then they may sleep in safety; as if
they were not meant to labour, and did not know that true repose comes from
labour, and that disgraceful indolence and a careless temper of mind is only
the renewal of trouble. But if men must have walls, the private houses ought
to be so arranged from the first that the whole city may be one wall, having
all the houses capable of defence by reason of their uniformity and equality
towards the streets. The form of the city being that of a single dwelling
will have an agreeable aspect, and being easily guarded will be infinitely
better for security. Until the original building is completed, these should
be the principal objects of the inhabitants; and the wardens of the city
should superintend the work, and should impose a fine on him who is
negligent; and in all that relates to the city they should have a care of
cleanliness, and not allow a private person to encroach upon any public
property either by buildings or excavations. Further, they ought to take
care that the rains from heaven flow off easily, and of any other matters
which may have to be administered either within or without the city. The
guardians of the law shall pass any further enactments which their
experience may show to be necessary, and supply any other points in which
the law may be deficient. And now that these matters, and the buildings
about the agora, and the gymnasia, and places of instruction, and theatres,
are all ready and waiting for scholars and spectators, let us proceed to the
subjects which follow marriage in the order of legislation.
Cle. By all means.
Ath. Assuming that marriages exist already, Cleinias, the mode of
life during the year after marriage, before children are born, will follow
next in order. In what way bride and bridegroom ought to live in a city
which is to be superior to other cities, is a matter not at all easy for us
to determine. There have been many difficulties already, but this will be
the greatest of them, and the most disagreeable to the many. Still I cannot
but say what appears to me to be right and true, Cleinias.
Cle. Certainly.
Ath. He who imagines that he can give laws for the public conduct of
states, while he leaves the private life of citizens wholly to take care of
itself; who thinks that individuals may pass the day as they please, and
that there is no necessity of order in all things; he, I say, who gives up
the control of their private lives, and supposes that they will conform to
law in their common and public life, is making a great mistake. Why have I
made this remark? Why, because I am going to enact that the bridegrooms
should live at the common tables, just as they did before marriage. This was
a singularity when first enacted by the legislator in your parts of the
world, Megillus and Cleinias, as I should suppose, on the occasion of some
war or other similar danger, which caused the passing of the law, and which
would be likely to occur in thinly-peopled places, and in times of pressure.
But when men had once tried and been accustomed to a common table,
experience showed that the institution greatly conduced to security; and in
some such manner the custom of having common tables arose among you.
Cle. Likely enough.
Ath. I said that there may have been singularity and danger in
imposing such a custom at first, but that now there is not the same
difficulty. There is, however, another institution which is the natural
sequel to this, and would be excellent, if it existed anywhere, but at
present it does not. The institution of which I am about to speak is not
easily described or executed; and would be like the legislator "combing wool
into the fire," as people say, or performing any other impossible and
useless feat.
Cle. What is the cause, Stranger, of this extreme hesitation?
Ath. You shall hear without any fruitless loss of time. That which
has law and order in a state is the cause of every good, but that which is
disordered or ill-ordered is often the ruin of that which is well-ordered;
and at this point the argument is now waiting. For with you, Cleinias and
Megillus, the common tables of men are, as I said, a heaven-born and
admirable institution, but you are mistaken in leaving the women unregulated
by law. They have no similar institution of public tables in the light of
day, and just that part of the human race which is by nature prone to
secrecy and stealth on account of their weakness-I mean the female sex-has
been left without regulation by the legislator, which is a great mistake.
And, in consequence of this neglect, many things have grown lax among you,
which might have been far better, if they had been only regulated by law;
for the neglect of regulations about women may not only be regarded as a
neglect of half the entire matter, but in proportion as woman's nature is
inferior to that of men in capacity for virtue, in that degree the
consequence of such neglect is more than twice as important. The careful
consideration of this matter, and the arranging and ordering on a common
principle of all our institutions relating both to men and women, greatly
conduces to the happiness of the state. But at present, such is the
unfortunate condition of mankind, that no man of sense will even venture to
speak of common tables in places and cities in which they have never been
established at all; and how can any one avoid being utterly ridiculous, who
attempts to compel women to show in public how much they eat and drink?
There is nothing at which the sex is more likely to take offence. For women
are accustomed to creep into dark places, and when dragged out into the
light they will exert their utmost powers of resistance, and be far too much
for the legislator. And therefore, as I said before, in most places they
will not endure to have the truth spoken without raising a tremendous
outcry, but in this state perhaps they may. And if we may assume that our
whole discussion about the state has not been mere idle talk, I should like
to prove to you, if you will consent to listen, that this institution is
good and proper; but if you had rather not, I will refrain.
Cle. There is nothing which we should both of us like better,
Stranger, than to hear what you have to say.
Ath. Very good; and you must not be surprised if I go back a little,
for we have plenty of leisure, and there is nothing to prevent us from
considering in every point of view the subject of law.
Cle. True.
Ath. Then let us return once more to what we were saying at first.
Every man should understand that the human race either had no beginning at
all, and will never have an end, but always will be and has been; or that it
began an immense while ago.
Cle. Certainly.
Ath. Well, and have there not been constitutions and destructions of
states, and all sorts of pursuits both orderly and disorderly, and diverse
desires of meats and drinks always, and in all the world, and all sorts of
changes of the seasons in which animals may be expected to have undergone
innumerable transformations of themselves?
Cle. No doubt.
Ath. And may we not suppose that vines appeared, which had previously
no existence, and also olives, and the gifts of Demeter and her daughter, of
which one Triptolemus was the minister, and that, before these existed,
animals took to devouring each other as they do still?
Cle. True.
Ath. Again, the practice of men sacrificing one another still exists
among many nations; while, on the other hand, we hear of other human beings
who did not even venture to taste the flesh of a cow and had no animal
sacrif