Plato: Laws Book 8

[828a]

Athenian
Our next task is, with the help of the Delphic oracles, to arrange and ordain by law the festivals, prescribing what sacrifices, and to what deities, it will be good and right for the State to offer: the times and the number of them, however, it is, no doubt, our own business to ordain by ourselves.

Clinias
Very likely, as regards the number of them.

Athenian
Then let us first state the number. There shall be [828b] not less than 365 feasts, so that some one official may always be doing sacrifice to some god or daemon on behalf of the State, the people, and their property.1 The interpreters, the priests, the priestesses and the prophets shall assemble, and, in company with the Law-wardens, they shall ordain what the lawgiver is obliged to omit: moreover, these same persons shall determine wherein such omissions consist. For the law will state that there are twelve feasts to the twelve gods who give their names to the several tribes: [828c] to each of these they shall perform monthly sacrifices and assign choirs and musical contests, and also gymnastic contests, as is suitable both to the gods themselves and to the several seasons of the year; and they shall ordain also women's festivals, prescribing how many of these shall be for women only, and how many open also to men. Further, they must determine, in conformity with the law, the rites proper to the nether gods, and how many of the celestial gods should be invoked, and what of the rites connected with them should not be mingled but kept apart, and put them in the twelfth month, [828d] which is sacred to Pluto; and this god should not be disliked by men who are warriors, but honored as one who is always most good to the human race; for, as I would assert in all seriousness, union is in no way better for soul and body than dissolution. Moreover, if they are to arrange these matters adequately, these persons must believe that no other State exists which can compare with ours in respect of the degree in which it possesses leisure and control over the necessities of life;2 and believe also that it, [829a] like an individual, ought to lead a good life. But for a good and blessed life, the first requisite is neither to do wrong oneself nor to suffer wrong from others. Of these, the former is not very hard, but it is very hard to secure immunity from suffering wrong;3 indeed, it is impossible to gain this perfectly, except by becoming perfectly good. So likewise a State may obtain a life of peace if it becomes good, but if bad, a life of war both abroad and at home. This being so, all men must train for war [829b] not in war-time, but while they are living in peace.4 Therefore, a judicious State must carry out a march, every month, for not less than one whole day, or more (according as the rulers decree),5 paying no heed to cold weather or hot: all shall join in it—men, women and children—whenever the rulers decide to march them out en masse, and at other times they shall go in sections. Along with sacrifices, they must continually devise noble games, to serve [829c] as festival-contests, modelled as closely as possible on those of war. At each of these they must distribute prizes and awards of merit, and compose for one another speeches of praise and blame, according to the character each one exhibits not only in the contests, but in his life generally, magnifying him who is accounted most good and blaming him who is not. Such speeches not everyone shall compose; for, first, no one who is under fifty years old shall compose one, and further, no one shall do so who, though he may be fully proficient in poetry and music, has not as yet performed any noble [829d] or notable deed. But, even though they be not musical, those poems shall be sung which are composed by men6 who are personally good and honored in the State as performers of noble deeds. The adjudication of these shall lie with the Educator and the rest of the Law-wardens, who shall grant them the sole privilege of free speech in song; whereas to the others no permission shall be given; nor yet shall anyone venture to sing an unauthorized song— [829e] not even should it be sweeter than the hymns of Orpheus or of Thamyras,—but only such sacred poems as have won the judges' approval and have been presented to the gods, or those by good men which have been adjudged to have duly distributed praise or blame. In regard both to military operations and to freedom of poetic speech I state that the same rules shall apply equally to both men and women. The lawgiver ought to commune with himself and reason thus—“Come now, what men am I to rear up, [830a] when I have made ready the whole State? Are they not to be competitors in the greatest of contests, wherein their antagonists will be numberless?” “Most certainly,” one would rightly reply. What then? Suppose we had been rearing boxers or pancratiasts or competitors in any similar branch of athletics, should we have gone straight into the contest without previously engaging in daily combat with someone? If we were boxers, for a great many days before the contest we should have been learning how to fight, [830b] and working hard, practicing in mimicry all those methods we meant to employ on the day we should be fighting for victory, and imitating the real thing as nearly as possible: thus, we should don padded gloves instead of proper ring-gloves, so as to get the best possible practice in giving blows and dodging them; and if we chanced to be very short of training-mates, do you suppose that we should be deterred by fear of the laughter of fools from hanging up a lifeless dummy and practicing on it? Indeed, if ever we were in a desert, and without either live or lifeless [830c] training-mates, would we not have recourse to shadow-fighting of the most literal kind, against ourselves? Or what else should one call the practice of pugilistic posturing?

Clinias
There is no other name for it, Stranger, than the one you have just given to it.

Athenian
What then? Is the fighting force of our State to venture to come forward every time to fight for their lives, their children, their goods, and for the whole State, after a less thorough preparation than the competitors we have been describing? [830d] And so is their lawgiver, through fear lest these training-bouts may appear ridiculous to some, to refrain from laying down laws whereby he will ordain field-operations, of which the minor kind, without heavy arms, will take place daily, if possible,—and to this end both the choristry and all the gymnastic shall be directed,—while the others, as a major kind of gymnastics in full armor, he shall order to be held at least once a month? [830e] In this latter kind they will engage in contests with one another throughout the whole country, contending in the capturing of forts and in ambuscades and in all forms of mimic warfare; in fact, they shall do literal fighting with balls7 and darts as nearly real as possible,—though the points of the darts shall be made less dangerous,—in order that their games of combat may not be devoid of some element of alarm, but may provide terrors and indicate to some extent who is stout-hearted [831a] and who not: to the former the lawgiver shall duly assign honors, to the latter degradation, that thus he may prepare the whole State to be serviceable throughout life in the real contest. Moreover, if a man gets killed in these sham fights, inasmuch as the murder is involuntary, he shall pronounce the slayer to be pure of hands, when he has been legally purified; for he will reflect that, when a few men die, others equally good will grow up in their place, whereas, once fear is, so to speak, dead, he will be unable to find a test to distinguish, in all such cases, the good from the bad,— [831b] and that is a far greater evil than the other for a State.

Clinias
We, at least, Stranger, would certainly agree that every State should both ordain and practice these things.

Athenian
Are we all aware of the reason why such choristry and such contests do not at present exist anywhere in the States, except to a very small extent? Shall we say that this is due to the ignorance of the populace and of those who legislate for them?

Clinias
Possibly.

Athenian
Not so, by any means, my ingenious Clinias! What we ought to say [831c] is that there are two causes, and both most weighty ones.

Clinias
What are they?

Athenian
The first springs from a lust for wealth which allows a man no leisure time for attention to anything else save his own private property; and when the soul of every citizen hangs upon this, it is incapable of attending to matters other than daily gain. Whatsoever science or pursuit leads to this, every man individually is most ready to learn and to practice; but all else he laughs to scorn. [831d] This we must assert to be one particular cause why a State is unwilling to be in earnest about this, or any other, fine and noble pursuit; and why, on the other hand, every individual, because of his greed for silver and gold, is willing to toil at every art and device, noble or ignoble, if he is likely to get rich by it,—willing, too, to perform actions both holy and unholy—nay, utterly shameful—without a scruple, [831e] provided only that he is able to sate himself to repletion, like a beast, with all manner of foods and drinks and wenchings.

Clinias
True.

Athenian
Then let this which I describe be laid down as one cause which hinders the States from adequately practicing either military operations or any other noble pursuits and which turns men who are of a quiet nature 8 into traders, ship-owners, and servants, while of the bold it makes pirates, burglars, temple-robbers, fighters [832a] and despots,—and that though, in some cases, they are not ill-natured, but merely ill-fortuned.

Clinias
How so?

Athenian
Well, how could I describe otherwise than as utterly unfortunate men who are compelled to go through life with hunger9 always in their own souls?

Clinias
This, then, is one cause: what is the second cause you speak of, Stranger?

Athenian
You are right in reminding me.

Megillus
One cause, as you assert, is this lifelong insatiable pursuit, which wholly engrosses each man, and hinders each and all from rightly practicing military operations. [832b] Be it so: now tell us the second cause.

Athenian
Do you think that I am delaying to do so because I am at a loss?

Megillus
No; but we think that, owing to a sort of hatred against the character you describe, you are castigating it more severely than is required by the argument now on hand.

Athenian
Your rebuke is just, Strangers; you want, it seems, to hear what comes next.

Clinias
Only say on.

Athenian
There lies a cause, as I affirm, in those non-polities which I have often mentioned10 in our previous discourse,—namely, democracy, [832c] oligarchy, and tyranny. For none of these is a polity, but the truest name for them all would be “faction-State”; for none of them is a form of voluntary rule over willing subjects, but a voluntary rule over unwilling subjects accompanied always by some kind of force; and the ruler, through fear of the subject, will never voluntarily allow him to become noble or wealthy or strong or brave or in any way warlike. These, then, are the two main causes of nearly everything, and certainly of the conditions we described. [832d] The polity, however, for which we are now legislating has escaped both these causes; for not only does it enjoy a great amount of leisure,11 but the citizens also are free from one another's domination, and as a consequence of these laws of ours they will be the least likely of men to be money-lovers. Hence it is both natural and logical that of all existing polities this type alone should welcome the system above described, which combines military schooling with sport, when we have rightly completed that description.

Clinias
Very good.

Athenian
The next step, then, is to remind ourselves, [832e] with regard to all gymnastic contests, that all such as afford training for war should be instituted, and should have prizes assigned to them, but all that do not do so must be set aside. What these contests consist in, it will be well to have described and ordained at the beginning. First, then, should we not ordain contests in running and speed in general?

Clinias
We should.

Athenian
Most important of all things for war is, no doubt, general activity of the body, of hands as well as feet—activity of foot for flight and pursuit, [833a] and of hand for the stand-up fighting at close quarters which calls for sturdiness and strength.

Clinias
No doubt.

Athenian
Yet, surely, neither of these is of the greatest service when it lacks weapons.

Clinias
Certainly not.

Athenian
So at our contests the herald (as is now the practice) shall summon first the short-distance runner: he shall enter fully armed; and for an unarmed competitor we shall offer no prize. First, then, there shall enter the man who, with his arms, is to run the furlong,—second, the runner of the quarter-mile,— [833b] third, the half-miler,—fourth, the runner of the three-quarters,—and fifth, that runner whom we shall despatch first, fully armed, to run a distance of four miles to a temple of Ares and back; he shall be in heavier armor, and be called a hoplite, and he shall run over a smooth course, while his antagonist12 shall be dressed in the full equipment of an archer, and shall run a course of twelve miles over hills and varied country to a temple of Apollo and Artemis. And having thus set up the contests, [833c] we shall await the return of these runners, and to the winner of each race we shall award the prize.

Clinias
Very right.

Athenian
Let us plan these contests in three divisions—one for children, one for youths, and one for men. We shall ordain that the course for the youths' races shall be two-thirds of the full course, and that for children one-half, when they compete either as archers or as hoplites. In the case of females, we shall ordain races of a furlong, a quarter-mile, a half-mile, and a three-quarters [833d] for girls under the age of puberty, who shall be stripped, and shall race on the course itself; and girls over thirteen shall continue to take part until married,13 up to the age of twenty at most, or at least eighteen; but these, when they come forward and compete in these races, must be clad in decent apparel. Let such, then, be the rules concerning races for men and women. As to trials of strength, instead of wrestling and the other “strong-man” events now in vogue, we shall ordain fencing in armor, [833e] both in solo-contests and in team-competitions of anything from two to ten a side. As regards the hits which a winner is to make or avoid, and how many points he must score,—just as now in the case of wrestling, those who deal with this art have fixed by law the points of good wrestling and bad, so likewise we must summon the experts in fencing under arms, and bid them help us to draw up laws by which to decide the proper winner in such fights, [834a] what he must do and what he must avoid,—and similarly the rules for determining the loser. For females also, up to the age of marriage, the same laws shall be laid down. And in the place of the pancratium we must establish a general tourney for peltasts, who shall compete with bows, targes, javelins, and stones flung either by hand or by sling; and for these, too, we shall prescribe laws for assigning the rewards and prizes to the man who best conforms to the rules governing such contests. After these, the next thing to ordain [834b] will be horse-racing. Here, in a country like Crete, there is not much need of horses—not in great numbers,—so that inevitably less attention is paid either to the rearing or the racing of horses. As to chariots, we have no one who keeps them, nor is anyone here likely to cherish any great ambition respecting them, so that to establish contests for them would run counter to native custom, and would not only seem, but be, a foolish act. If, however, we establish prizes for races of riding-horses— [834c] both for young colts, and for three-year-olds, and for those of full age—we shall be adapting the sport of horse-racing to the character of the country. Of these horsemen there shall be established by law a competitive contest, and the phylarchs and hipparchs shall act as public judges both of all the races and of the armed competitors. For unarmed competitors we should be wrong in establishing prizes, either here or in the gymnastic sports. [834d] And for a Cretan there is credit in being a mounted archer or javelin-man, so we shall have contests and matches of a sportive kind between these also. As to women,—it is not worth while to make compulsory laws and rules about their taking part in such sports; but if, as a result of earlier training which has grown into a habit, their nature allows, and does not forbid, girls or maidens to take part, let them do so without blame. So now at length we have reached the end both of competition and instruction in gymnastic, so far as concerns our education [834e] by means of contests and of daily teaching. Most of our account of music has likewise been completed; the regulations about rhapsodes, however, and their retinue, and the choral contests which must accompany festivals are matters to be arranged after the gods and demi-gods have had their months, days and years assigned to them; then it will be seen whether they should be biennial fixtures or quadrennial, [835a] or what mode and manner of arranging them the gods may suggest. Then also, one expects, the musical contests will be held in sections, as arranged by the Masters of the Games and the Educator of the youth and the Law-wardens, meeting for this special purpose and acting in person as legislators to determine what persons, and when and with whom, are to frame the contests for all the choruses and choristry. Of what character each of these ought to be in respect of words, songs and tunes, blended with rhythm and dance, [835b] has frequently been stated14 by the original lawgiver; the secondary lawgivers should follow him in their enactments, and they should arrange the contests at convenient times to suit the several sacrifices, and thus appoint festivals for the State to observe. Now as to these and the like matters, it is by no means hard to perceive how they should be given legal regulation, nor indeed would a shifting of their positions cause much [835c] gain or loss to the State. But the things which do make no small difference, and of which it is hard to persuade men—these form a task especially for God (were it possible that orders should come from him): as it is, they are likely to require a bold man who, valuing candor above all else, will declare what he deems best for city and citizens, and in the midst of corrupted souls will enjoin what is fitting and in keeping with all the constitution, and gainsay the mightiest lusts, acting alone by himself with no man to help him save, as his solitary leader, Reason. [835d]

Clinias
What is it we are reasoning about now, Stranger? For we are still in the dark.

Athenian
Naturally: but I will try to explain myself more clearly. When in my discourse I came to the subject of education,15 I saw young men and maidens consorting with one another affectionately; and, naturally, a feeling of alarm came upon me, as I asked myself how one is to manage a State like this in which young men and maidens are well-nourished but exempt from those severe and menial labors which are the surest means of quenching wantonness, [835e] and where the chief occupation of everyone all through life consists in sacrifices, feasts and dances. In a State such as this, how will the young abstain from those desires which frequently plunge many into ruin,—all those desires from which reason, in its endeavor to be law,16 enjoins abstinence? That the laws previously ordained serve to repress the majority of desires is not surprising; [836a] thus, for example, the proscription of excessive wealth is of no small benefit for promoting temperance, and the whole of our education-system contains laws useful for the same purpose; in addition to this, there is the watchful eye of the magistrates, trained to fix its gaze always on this point and to keep constant watch on the young people. These means, then, are sufficient (so far as any human means suffice) to deal with the other desires. But when we come to the amorous passions of children of both sexes and of men for women and women for men,— [836b] passions which have been the cause of countless woes both to individuals and to whole States,—how is one to guard against these, or what remedy can one apply so as to find a way of escape in all such cases from a danger such as this? It is extremely difficult, Clinias. For whereas, in regard to other matters not a few, Crete generally and Lacedaemon furnish us (and rightly) with no little assistance in the framing of laws which differ from those in common use,—in regard to the passions of sex (for we are alone by ourselves) [836c] they contradict us absolutely. If we were to follow in nature's steps and enact that law which held good before the days of Laius,17 declaring that it is right to refrain from indulging in the same kind of intercourse with men and boys18 as with women, and adducing as evidence thereof the nature of wild beasts, and pointing out how male does not touch male for this purpose, since it is unnatural,—in all this we would probably be using an argument neither convincing nor in any way consonant with your States. Moreover, that object which, as we affirm, the lawgiver ought always to have in view [836d] does not agree with these practices. For the enquiry we always make is this —which of the proposed laws tends toward virtue and which not. Come then, suppose we grant that this practice is now legalized, and that it is noble and in no way ignoble, how far would it promote virtue? Will it engender in the soul of him who is seduced a courageous character, or in the soul of the seducer the quality of temperance? Nobody would ever believe this; on the contrary, as all men will blame the cowardice [836e] of the man who always yields to pleasures and is never able to hold out against them, will they not likewise reproach that man who plays the woman's part with the resemblance he bears to his model? Is there any man, then, who will ordain by law a practice like that? Not one, I should say, if he has a notion of what true law is. What then do we declare to be the truth about this matter? It is necessary to discern the real nature of friendship [837a] and desire and love (so-called), if we are to determine them rightly; for what causes the utmost confusion and obscurity is the fact that this single term embraces these two things, and also a third kind compounded of them both.

Clinias
How so?

Athenian
Friendship is the name we give to the affection of like for like, in point of goodness, and of equal for equal; and also to that of the needy for the rich, which is of the opposite kind; and when either of these feelings is intense we call it “love.” [837b]

Clinias
True.

Athenian
The friendship which occurs between opposites is terrible and fierce and seldom reciprocal amongst men, while that based on similarity is gentle and reciprocal throughout life. The kind which arises from a blend of these presents difficulties,—first, to discover what the man affected by this third kind of love really desires to obtain, and, in the next place, because the man himself is at a loss, being dragged in opposite directions by the two tendencies,—of which the one bids him to enjoy the bloom of his beloved, while the other forbids him. For he that is in love with the body [837c] and hungering after its bloom,19 as it were that of a ripening peach, urges himself on to take his fill of it, paying no respect to the disposition of the beloved; whereas he that counts bodily desire as but secondary, and puts longing looks in place of love,20 with soul lusting really for soul, regards the bodily satisfaction of the body as an outrage, and, reverently worshipping temperance, courage, nobility and wisdom, will desire to live always chastely in company with [837d] the chaste object of his love. But the love which is blended of these two kinds is that which we have described just now as third. Since, then, love has so many varieties, ought the law to prohibit them all and prevent them from existing in our midst, or shall we not plainly wish that the kind of love which belongs to virtue and desires the young to be as good as possible should exist within our State, while we shall prohibit, if possible, the other two kinds? Or what is our view, my dear Megillus?

Megillus
Your description of the subject, [837e] Stranger, is perfectly correct.

Athenian
It seems that, as I expected, I have gained your assent; so there is no need for me to investigate your law, and its attitude towards such matters, but simply to accept your agreement to my statement. Later on I will try to charm Clinias also into agreeing with me on this subject. So let your joint admission stand at that, and let us by all means proceed with our laws.

Megillus
Quite right.

Athenian
I know of a device at present for enacting this law, [838a] which is in one way easy, but in another quite the hardest possible.

Megillus
Explain your meaning.

Athenian
Even at present, as we are aware, most men, however lawless they are, are effectively and strictly precluded from sexual commerce with beautiful persons,—and that not against their will, but with their own most willing consent.

Megillus
On what occasions do you mean?

Athenian
Whenever any man has a brother or sister who is beautiful. So too in the case of a son or daughter, the same unwritten law [838b] is most effective in guarding men from sleeping with them, either openly or secretly, or wishing to have any connection with them,—nay, most men never so much as feel any desire for such connection.

Megillus
That is true.

Athenian
Is it not, then, by a brief sentence that all such pleasures are quenched?

Megillus
What sentence do you mean?

Athenian
The sentence that these acts are by no means holy, [838c] but hated of God and most shamefully shameful. And does not the reason lie in this, that nobody speaks of them otherwise, but every one of us, from the day of his birth, hears this opinion expressed always and everywhere, not only in comic speech, but often also in serious tragedy—as when there is brought on to the stage a Thyestes or an Oedipus, or a Macareus having secret intercourse with a sister, and all these are seen inflicting death upon themselves willingly as a punishment for their sins?

Megillus
Thus much at least you are quite right in saying—that public opinion [838d] has a surprising influence, when there is no attempt by anybody ever to breathe a word that contradicts the law.

Athenian
Then is it not true, as I said just now, that when a lawgiver wishes to subdue one of those lusts which especially subdue men, it is easy for him at least to learn the method of mastering them,—that it is by consecrating this public opinion in the eyes of all alike—bond and free, women and children, and the whole State—that he will effect the firmest security [838e] for this law.

Megillus
Certainly; but how it will ever be possible for him to bring it about that all are willing to say such a thing—

Athenian
A very proper observation. That was precisely the reason why I stated that in reference to this law I know of a device for making a natural use of reproductive intercourse,—on the one hand, by abstaining from the male and not slaying of set purpose the human stock, [839a] nor sowing seed on rocks and stones where it can never take root and have fruitful increase; and, on the other hand, by abstaining from every female field in which you would not desire the seed to spring up. This law, when it has become permanent and prevails—if it has rightly become dominant in other cases, just as it prevails now regarding intercourse with parents,—is the cause of countless blessings. For, in the first place, it follows the dictates of nature, and it serves to keep men from sexual rage and frenzy and all kinds of fornication, and from all excess in meats and drinks, [839b] and it ensures in husbands fondness for their own wives: other blessings also would ensue, in infinite number, if one could make sure of this law. Possibly, however, some young bystander, rash and of superabundant virility, on hearing of the passing of this law, would denounce us for making foolish and impossible rules, and fill all the place with his outcries; and it was in view of this that I made the statement21 [839c] that I knew of a device to secure the permanence of this law when passed which is at once the easiest of all devices and the hardest. For while it is very easy to perceive that this is possible, and how it is possible—since we affirm that this rule, when duly consecrated, will dominate all souls, and cause them to dread the laws enacted and yield them entire obedience,—yet it has now come to this, that men think that, even so, it is unlikely to come about,—just in the same way as, in the case of the institution of public meals, people refuse to believe that it is possible [839d] for the whole State to be able to continue this practice constantly; and that, too, in spite of the evidence of facts and the existence of the practice in your countries; and even there, as applied to women, the practice is regarded as non-natural. Thus it was that, because of the strength of this unbelief, I said that it is most difficult to get both these matters permanently legalized.

Megillus
And you were right in that.

Athenian
Still, to show that it is not beyond the power of man, but possible, would you like me to try to state an argument which is not without some plausibility?

Clinias
Certainly. [839e]

Athenian
Would a man be more ready to abstain from sex-indulgence, and to consent to carry out the law on this matter soberly, if he had his body not ill-trained, but in good condition, than if he had it in bad condition?

Clinias
He would be much more ready if it were not ill-trained.

Athenian
Do we not know by report about Iccus22 of Tarentum, because of his contests at Olympia and elsewhere,— [840a] how, spurred on by ambition and skill, and possessing courage combined with temperance in his soul, during all the period of his training (as the story goes) he never touched a woman, nor yet a boy? And the same story is told about Crison and Astylus and Diopompus and very many others. And yet, Clinias, these men were not only much worse educated in soul then your citizens and mine, [840b] but they also possessed much more sexual vigor of body.

Clinias
That this really happened in the case of these athletes is indeed, as you say, confidently affirmed by the ancients.

Athenian
Well then, if those men had the fortitude to abstain from that which most men count bliss for the sake of victory in wrestling, running, and the like, shall our boys be unable to hold out in order to win a much nobler victory—that which is the noblest of all victories, as we shall tell them from their childhood's days, charming them into belief, we hope, by tales [840c] and sentences and songs.

Clinias
What victory?

Athenian
Victory over pleasures,—which if they win, they will live a life of bliss, but if they lose, the very opposite. Furthermore, will not the dread that this is a thing utterly unholy give them power to master those impulses which men inferior to themselves have mastered?

Clinias
It is certainly reasonable to suppose so.

Athenian
Now that we have reached this point in regard to our regulation, [840d] but have fallen into a strait because of the cowardice of the many, I maintain that our regulation on this head must go forward and proclaim that our citizens must not be worse than fowls and many other animals which are produced in large broods, and which live chaste and celibate lives without sexual intercourse until they arrive at the age for breeding; and when they reach this age they pair off, as instinct moves them, male with female and female with male; and thereafter [840e] they live in a way that is holy and just, remaining constant to their first contracts of love: surely our citizens should at least be better than these animals. If, however, they become corrupted by most of the other Hellenes or barbarians, through seeing and hearing that among them the “lawless Love” (as it is called) is of very great power, and thus become unable to overcome it, then the Law-wardens, acting as lawgivers, must devise for them a second law. [841a]

Clinias
What law do you recommend them to make if that which is now proposed slips out of their grasp?

Athenian
Evidently that law which comes next to it as second.

Clinias
What is that?

Athenian
One ought to put the force of pleasures as far as possible out of gear, by diverting its increase and nutriment to another part of the body by means of exercise. This would come about if indulgence in sexual intercourse were devoid of shamelessness; for if, owing to shame, people indulged in it but seldom, [841b] in consequence of this rare indulgence they would find it a less tyrannical mistress. Let them, therefore, regard privacy in such actions as honorable—sanctioned both by custom and by unwritten law; and want of privacy—yet not the entire avoidance of such actions—as dishonorable. Thus we shall have a second standard of what is honorable and shameful established by law and possessing a second degree of rectitude; and those people of depraved character, whom we describe as “self-inferior,”23 and who form a single kind, shall be hemmed in [841c] by three kinds of force and compelled to refrain from law-breaking.

Clinias
What kinds?

Athenian
That of godly fear, and that of love of honor, and that which is desirous of fair forms of soul, not fair bodies. The things I now mention are, perhaps, like the visionary ideals in a story; yet in very truth, if only they were realized, they would prove a great blessing in every State. Possibly, should God so grant, [841d] we might forcibly effect one of two things in this matter of sex-relations,—either that no one should venture to touch any of the noble and freeborn save his own wedded wife, nor sow any unholy and bastard seed in fornication, nor any unnatural and barren seed in sodomy,—or else we should entirely abolish love for males, and in regard to that for women, if we enact a law that any man who has intercourse with any women save those who have been brought to his house [841e] under the sanction of Heaven and holy marriage, whether purchased or otherwise acquired, if detected in such intercourse by any man or woman, shall be disqualified from any civic commendation, as being really an alien,— probably such a law would be approved as right. So let this law—whether we ought to call it one law or two—be laid down concerning sexual commerce and love affairs in general, as regards right and wrong conduct [842a] in our mutual intercourse due to these desires.

Megillus
For my own part, Stranger, I should warmly welcome this law; but Clinias must tell us himself what his view is on the matter.

Clinias
I shall do so, Megillus, when I deem the occasion suitable; but for the present let us allow the Stranger to proceed still further with his laws.

Megillus
You are right. [842b]

Athenian
Well, now we have arrived at this point in our progress, that common meals have been established—a thing which elsewhere, as we say, would be difficult, but in Crete no one would question its correctness. As concerns the manner of them,—whether we should adopt the Cretan fashion, or the Lacedaemonian, or whether we can find a third fashion that is better than either,—this does not seem to me a difficult problem to decide, nor indeed would its decision prove of much benefit, since these meals are now [842c] actually established in a satisfactory way. Next to this comes the question of organizing the food-supply, and how to make this fit in with the meals. In other States this supply would include all kinds of food and come from many sources, certainly from twice as many sources as it will in our State; for most of the Greeks arrange for their food to be derived from both land and sea, but our people will derive it only from the land. This makes the lawgiver's task easier; for in this case half the number of laws, [842d] or less, will suffice, and the laws, too, will be better fitted for free men. For the lawgiver of our State is rid, for the most part, of shipping and merchandise and peddling and inn-keeping and customs and mines and loans and usury, and countless matters of a like kind; he can say good-bye to all such, and legislate for farmers and shepherds and bee-keepers, and concerning the preservation and supervision of the instruments employed in these occupations. This he will do, now that he has already enacted the most important laws, [842e] which deal with marriage, and with the birth and nurture and education of the children, and with the appointment of magistrates in the State. For the present he must turn, in his legislating, to the subject of food and of those whose labors contribute to its supply. First, then, let there be a code of laws termed “agricultural.” The first law—that of Zeus the Boundary-god—shall be stated thus: No man shall move boundary-marks of land, whether they be those of a neighbor who is a native citizen or those of a foreigner [843a] (in case he holds adjoining land on a frontier), realizing that to do this is truly to be guilty of “moving the sacrosanct”24; sooner let a man try to move the largest rock which is not a boundary-mark than a small stone which forms a boundary, sanctioned by Heaven, between friendly and hostile ground. For of the one kind Zeus the Clansmen's god is witness, of the other Zeus the Strangers' god; which gods, when aroused, bring wars most deadly. He that obeys the law shall not suffer the evils which it inflicts; but whoso despises it shall be liable to a double penalty, the first from the hand of Heaven, the second from the law. No one shall [843b] voluntarily move the boundary-marks of the land of neighbors: if any man shall move them, whosoever wishes shall report him to the land-holders, and they shall bring him to the law court. And if a man be convicted,—since by such an act the convicted man is secretly and violently merging lands in one,—the court shall estimate what the loser must suffer or pay. Further, many small wrongs are done against neighbors which, owing to their frequent repetition, engender an immense amount of enmity, and make of neighborhood a grievous and bitter thing. [843c] Wherefore every neighbor must guard most carefully against doing any unfriendly act to his neighbor, and must above all things take special care always not to encroach in the least degree on his land; for whereas it is an easy thing and open to anyone to do an injury, to do a benefit is by no means open to everyone. Whosoever encroaches on his neighbor's ground, overstepping the boundaries, shall pay for the damage; and, by way of cure for his shamelessness [843d] and incivility, he shall also pay out to the injured party twice the cost of the damage. In all such matters the land-stewards shall act as inspectors, judges and valuers,—the whole staff of the district, as we have said above,25 in respect of the more important cases, and, in respect of the less important, those of them who are “phrourarchs.” If anyone encroaches on pasture-land, these officials shall inspect the damage, and decide and assess it. And if any, yielding to his taste for bees, [843e] secures for himself another man's swarm by attracting them with the rattling of pans, he shall pay for the damage. And if a man, in burning his own stuff, fails to have a care for that of his neighbor, he shall be fined in a fine fixed by the officials. So too if a man, when planting trees, fail to leave the due space between them and his neighbor's plot: this has been adequately stated by many lawgivers, whose laws we should make use of, instead of requiring the Chief Organizer of the State to legislate about all the numerous small details which are within the competence of any chance lawgiver. [844a] Thus, regarding water-supplies also, there are excellent old laws laid down for farmers, which we, in our exposition, need not draw upon. Let this suffice:—he that desires to bring water to his own land may do so, commencing at the public cisterns, but he must not undercut the exposed wells of any private person: he may lead it by whatever way he wishes, except through a house, temple or tomb, and he must do no damage beyond the actual work of channelling. If, in any spot, the rain-water filters through owing to the natural dryness of the soil, [844b] and there is a scarcity of necessary moisture, then the owner shall dig in his own ground down to the chalk subsoil, and if he fails to find water at this depth, he shall procure from his neighbors just so much as he requires for drinking purposes for all his household; and if his neighbors also are stinted in their supplies, he shall apply for a ration of water from the land-stewards, and fetch it day by day, and so share the water with his neighbors. [844c] And if, when rain comes, any dweller on lower ground damages the farmer above him, or the adjoining dweller, by preventing its outflow,—or if, conversely, the man on higher ground damages the man below by letting out the floods carelessly,—and if, in consequence, they refuse to accommodate one another in this matter, any person who wishes shall call in a city-steward, if it is in the city, or a land-steward, if in the country, and get an order as to what each party is to do; and the man who does not abide by the order shall be liable to be charged with envy and frowardness, [844d] and if convicted he shall pay to the injured party double the damage, for refusing to obey the magistrates. As concerns the fruit-harvest, the rule of sharing for all shall be this—this goddess has bestowed on us two gifts, one the plaything of Dionysus which goes unstored, the other produced by nature for putting in store.26 So let this law be enacted concerning the fruit-harvest:—whosoever shall taste of the coarse crop of grapes or figs before the season of vintage, [844e] which coincides with the rising of Arcturus, whether it be on his own land or on that of others, shall owe fifty sacred drachmae to Dionysus if he has cut them from his own trees, if from his neighbor's trees, a mina, and if from others, two-thirds of a mina. And if any man wishes to harvest “choice” grapes or “choice” figs (as they are now called), he shall gather them how and when he will if they are from his own trees, but if they are from another man's, and without his consent, he shall be fined every time, in pursuance of the law,27 “thou shalt not shift what thou hast not set.” [845a] And if a slave, without the consent of the master of the plots, touches any of such fruit, he shall be beaten with stripes as many as the grapes in the bunch or the figs on the fig-tree. If a resident alien buys a choice crop, he shall harvest it if he wishes. If a foreigner sojourning in the country desires to eat of the crop as he passes along the road, he, with one attendant, [845b] shall, if he wishes, take some of the choice fruit with-out price, as a gift of hospitality; but the law shall forbid our foreigners to share in the so-called “coarse” fruit, and the like; and should either a master or a slave touch these, in ignorance, the slave shall be punished with stripes, and the free man shall be sent off with a reproof and be instructed to touch only the other crop, which is unfitted for storing to make raisins for wine or dried figs. As to pears, apples, pomegranates, and all such fruits, [845c] it shall be no disgrace to take them privily; but the man that is caught at it, if he be under thirty years of age, shall be beaten and driven off without wounds; and for such blows a free man shall have no right to sue. A foreigner shall be allowed to share in these fruits in the same way as in the grape crop; and if a man above thirty touch them, eating on the spot and not taking any away, he shall have a share in all such fruits, like the foreigner; but if he disobeys the law, he shall be liable to be disqualified [845d] in seeking honors, in case anyone brings these facts to the notice of the judges at the time. Water above all else in a garden is nourishing; but it is easy to spoil. For while soil and sun and wind, which jointly with water nourish growing plants, are not easy to spoil by means of sorcery or diverting or theft, all these things may happen to water; hence it requires the assistance of law. [845e] Let this, then, be the law concerning it:—if anyone wantonly spoil another man's water, whether in spring or in pond, by means of sorcery, digging, or theft, the injured party shall sue him before the city-stewards, recording the amount of the damage sustained; and whosoever is convicted of damaging by poisons shall, in addition to the fine, clean out the springs or the basin of the water, in whatever way the laws of the interpreters declare it right for the purification to be made on each occasion and for each plaintiff. Touching the bringing home of all crops, [846a] whoso wills shall be permitted to fetch his own stuff through any place, provided that either he does no damage or else gains himself three times as much profit as the damage he costs his neighbor; the authority in this matter shall rest with the magistrates, as in all other cases where a man willingly injures an unwilling party either by force or secretly—whether it be the party himself he injures or some of his chattels, by means of his own chattels; in all such cases the plaintiff must report to the magistrates to get redress, where the damage is under three minas; but if a man makes a larger claim than this [846b] against another, he shall bring a suit before the public courts and punish the injurer. If any of the magistrates be thought to have given an unjust verdict in deciding the penalties, he shall be liable to pay to the injured party double the amount; and whoso wishes shall bring up the wrong-doings of the magistrates before the public courts in the case of each complaint. And since there are countless petty cases for which penalties must be laid down, concerning written complaints [846c] and citations and evidence of citation,—whether the citation requires two or more witnesses,—and all matters of the like kind,—these cases cannot be left without legal regulation, but at the same time they do not deserve the attention of an aged lawgiver; so the young lawgivers shall make laws for these cases, modelling their small rules on the great ones of our earlier enactments, and learning by experience how far they are necessary in practice, until it be decided that they are all adequately laid down; and then, having permanently fixed them, they shall live in the practice of them, now that they are set out in due form. [846d] Moreover, for craftsmen we ought to make regulations in this wise. First, no resident citizen shall be numbered among those who engage in technical crafts, nor any servant of a resident. For a citizen possesses a sufficient craft, and one that needs long practice and many studies, in the keeping and conserving of the public system of the State, a task which demands his full attention: and there hardly exists a human being with sufficient capacity [846e] to carry on two pursuits or two crafts thoroughly, nor yet to practice one himself and supervise another in practicing a second. So we must first of all lay down this as a fundamental rule in the State: no man who is a smith shall act as a joiner, nor shall a joiner supervise others at smith-work, instead of his own craft, under the pretext that, in thus supervising many servants working for him, he naturally supervises them more carefully because he gains more profit [847a] from that source than from his own craft; but each several craftsman in the State shall have one single craft,28 and gain from it his living. This law the city-stewards shall labor to guard, and they shall punish the resident citizen, if he turn aside to any craft rather than to the pursuit of virtue, with reproofs and degradation, until they restore him to his own proper course; and if a foreigner pursue two crafts, they shall punish him by imprisonment, money-fines, [847b] and expulsion from the State, and so compel him to act as one man and not many. And as regards wages due to craftsmen, and the cancelings of work ordered, and any injustices done to them by another, or to another by them, the city-stewards shall act as arbitrators up to a value of fifty drachmae, and in respect of larger sums the public courts shall adjudicate as the law directs. No toll shall be paid in the State by anyone either on exported goods or on imports. Frankincense and all such foreign spices for use in religious rites, [847c] and purple and all dyes not produced in the country, and all pertaining to any other craft requiring foreign imported materials for a use that is not necessary, no one shall import; nor, on the other hand, shall he export any of the stuff which should of necessity remain in the country: and of all such matters the inspectors and supervisors shall consist of those twelve Law-wardens who remain next in order when five of the oldest are left out. In regard to arms and all instruments of war, [847d] if there is need to import any craft or plant or metal or rope or animal for military purposes, the hipparchs and generals shall have control of both imports and exports, when the State both gives and takes, and the Law-wardens shall enact suitable and adequate laws therefor; but no trading for the sake of gain, either in this matter or in any other, shall be carried on anywhere within the boundaries of our [847e] State and country. Touching food-supply and the distribution of agricultural produce, a system approaching that legalized in Crete would probably prove satisfactory. The whole produce of the soil must be divided by all into twelve parts, according to the method of its consumption. And each twelfth part—of wheat and barley, for instance (and all the rest of the crops must be distributed in the same way as these, as well as all marketable animals [848a] in each district)—must be divided proportionately into three shares, of which the first shall be for the freeborn citizens, and the second for their servants; the third share shall be for craftsmen and foreigners generally, including any resident aliens who may be dwelling together and in need of necessary sustenance, and all who have come into the country at any time to transact either public or private business; and this third share of all the necessaries shall be the only one liable to compulsory sale,29 it being forbidden to sell any portion of the other two shares compulsorily. What, then, will be the best way of making these divisions? [848b] It is plain, to begin with, that our division is in one way equal, in another, unequal.

Clinias
How do you mean?

Athenian
Of each of these products of the soil, necessarily some parts are worse and some better.

Clinias
Of course.

Athenian
In respect of this, no one of the three shares shall have an undue advantage,—neither that given to the masters, nor that of the slaves, nor that of the foreigners,—but the distribution shall assign to all the same equality of similarity. [848c] Each citizen shall take two shares and have control of the distribution of them to slaves and free men respectively, in the quantity and of the quality he desires to distribute. The surplus over and above this must be distributed by weight and number as follows,—the owner must take the number of all the animals that have to be fed on the produce of the soil, and make his distribution accordingly. In the next place, there must be dwellings for the citizens separately arranged. A suitable arrangement for them will be this. There should be twelve villages, one in the middle [848d] of each of the twelve districts; and in each village we shall first select temples and a market-place for the gods and demigods; and if there exist any local deities of the Magnetes30 or any shrines of other ancient gods whose memory is still preserved, we shall pay to them the same worship as did the men of old; and everywhere we shall erect temples to Hestia and Zeus and Athena, and whatever other deity is the patron of the district concerned. First, buildings shall be erected round about these temples, and wherever the ground is highest, [848e] to form a stronghold, as well fenced as possible, for the garrison; and all the rest of the land we shall provide for by dividing the craftsmen into thirteen sections, of which one shall settle in the city (and this section shall be subdivided again into twelve parts, like the whole city itself, and distributed round about it in the suburbs); and in each village we shall settle the classes of craftsmen that are serviceable to farmers. Of all these the chiefs of the land-stewards shall be the supervisors, determining how many and what craftsmen each place requires, and where they shall dwell so as to be of least trouble and greatest use [849a] to the farmers. And in like manner the board of city stewards shall diligently supervise the craftsmen in the city. All matters concerning the markets must be managed by the market-stewards. In addition to supervising the temples adjoining the market, to prevent any damage being done to them, they shall, secondly, supervise personal conduct, keeping an eye on temperate and outrageous behavior, so as to punish him who needs punishment. They shall watch over commodities put up for sale, to see that the sales which citizens [849b] are directed to make to foreigners are always legally conducted. There shall be this one law—that on the first day of the month the portion of the goods which is to be sold to foreigners shall be brought out by the managers—that is, the foreigners or slaves who act as managers for the citizens; and the first commodity shall be the twelfth share of corn, and the foreigner shall buy corn, and all that goes with it, at this first market. On the tenth day of the month, fluids sufficient to last through the month shall be sold by the one party and bought by the other. Thirdly, on the twentieth day, there shall be a sale of live-stock, as much as each party [849c] can buy or sell to suit their requirements, and also of all utensils or goods which the farmers have for sale, such as skins or any kind of clothing or woven stuff or felt or any such material; and these the foreigners must obtain from others by purchase. But neither these goods, nor barley or wheat ground into flour, nor any other kind of foodstuff whatsoever, may be sold by way of retail trade to the citizens or their slaves, [849d] or bought from any such retailer (but to the craftsmen and their slaves in the foreigners' market a foreigner may sell and traffic in wine and corn by way of what is generally termed “retail trade”); and the butchers shall cut up the animals and distribute the meat to the foreigners and craftsmen and their servants. Any foreigner who wishes shall buy any kind of fuel in bulk, on any day, from the managers in the districts; and he shall sell it to the foreigners in what quantity [849e] and at what time he pleases. As to all other goods and utensils that each party requires, they shall be brought for sale to the public market, each kind to its appointed place, wherever the Law-wardens and market-stewards, with the help of the city-stewards, have marked out suitable sites and set up the stalls for market-stuff: there they shall exchange coins for goods and goods for coins, and no man shall give up his share to the other without receiving its equivalent; and if any does thus give it up, as it were on credit, he shall make the best of his bargain,31 whether or not he recovers what is due to him, since in such transactions he can no longer sue. [850a] And if the purchase or sale is greater or more costly than is allowed by the law stating the limits of increase or decrease of property beyond which both of these transactions are forbidden, the amount of difference must at once (in the case of excess) be registered with the Law-wardens, and (in the case of deficiency) be cancelled. The same rule shall hold good regarding the registration of property in the case of resident aliens. Whosoever wishes shall enter on residence as an alien on fixed terms, since residence is permitted to a foreigner who is willing and able to reside, [850b] provided that he has a craft and remains in the country not more than twenty years from the date of his registration, without the payment of even a small aliens' tax, except virtuous conduct, or indeed any other tax for any buying or selling; and when his time has expired, he shall depart, taking with him his own property. And if within the period of twenty years it should happen that he has proved his merit by doing some signal service to the State, and if he believes that he can persuade the Council and Assembly to grant his request and authorize a [850c] postponement of his departure, or even an extension of his residence for life, whatever request he thus succeeds in persuading the State to grant to him shall be carried out for him in full. For the children of resident aliens, who are craftsmen and over fifteen years of age, the period of residence shall commence from the fifteenth year, and such an one, after remaining for twenty years from that date, shall depart whither he pleases, or if he desires to remain, he shall gain permission in like manner, and so remain; and he that departs [850d] shall go after first cancelling the entries which were previously made by him in the register at the magistrates' office.

1 Cp. Plat. Laws 771d.

2 Cp. Plat. Laws 832c., Plat. Laws 835d, Plat. Laws 835e.

3 Cp. Plat. Laws 663a, Plat. Laws 904e. “Perfect goodness” helps to secure this “immunity” because it includes the virtue of “courage”: people do not lightly provoke the brave warrior.

4 Cp. Plat. Laws 803d, Plat. Laws 814d.

5 Cp. Plat. Laws 830d.

6 Cp. Plat. Laws 936a.

7 “Sphaeromachia” was a (hand) ball contest between opposing sides (something like our hockey or polo matches).

8 Cp. Plat. Laws 691b, Plat. Rep. 410c.

9 i.e. for gold. Cp. Virgil's “auri sacra fames.”

10 Plat. Laws 712c ff., Plat. Laws 713e ff.

11 Cp. Plat. Laws 806d, Plat. Laws 828d, Plat. Laws 828e, etc.

12 In this 5th race the hoplite, running the shorter course competes (on time) against the archer, running the longer course.

13 Cp. Plat. Laws 785b.

14 In Books VI and VII.

15 Plat. Laws 771e.

16 A play on νόμος=νοῦς; cp. Plat. Laws 836e, Plat. Laws 714a.

17 King of Thebes, father of Oedipus.

18 Cp. Plat. Laws 636b., Plat. Sym.181-2.

19 Cp.Plat. Sym. 183d ff.

20 A play on the assonance ὁρῶν=ἐρῶν.

21 Plat. Laws 838b.

22 Cp. Plat. Prot. 316d ff.

23 Cp. Plat. Laws 626e.

24 For the proverbial saying μὴ κινεῖν τἀκίνητα (like “Hands off!” or “Let sleeping dogs lie”), cp. Plat. Laws 684e, Plat. Laws 913b.

25 Plat. Laws 760a. The “phrourarchs” were the (5) officers of the (60) country police.

26 i.e. (1) choice (or “dessert”) fruit, for immediate use, and (2) coarse fruit, of poorer quality, for storing in bulk or making into wine.

27 Cp. Plat. Laws 913c, Plat. Laws 913d.

28 Cp. Plat. Rep. 369e ff., Plat. Rep. 434a.

29 For sales to foreigners, see below Plat. Laws 849a.: they had to buy their share of food-stuff, but the other two shares were not to be forced on to the market.

30 The original inhabitants of the site of Clinias's new colony (cp. Plat. Laws 702b, Plat. Laws 860e): they subsequently migrated to Magnesia in Asia Minor.

31 Cp. Plat. Laws 742c, Plat. Laws 915e.