ΞΕ. θεῶ δὴ καὶ τὸ μετὰ ταῦτα ἑπόμενον. ἐπειδὰν γὰρ δὴ τῶν ἀρχόντων ἑκάστοις ὁ ἐνιαυτὸς ἐξέλθῃ, δεήσει δικαστήρια καθίσαντας ἀνδρῶν, ἢ τῶν πλουσίων ἐκ προκρίσεως ἢ σύμπαντος αὖ τοῦ δήμου τοὺς λαχόντας, εἰς τούτους εἰσάγειν τοὺς ἄρξαντας καὶ εὐθύνειν, κατηγορεῖν δὲ τὸν βουλόμενον ὡς οὐ κατὰ τὰ γράμματα τὸν ἐνιαυτὸν ἐκυβέρνησε τὰς ναῦς οὐδὲ κατὰ τὰ παλαιὰ τῶν προγόνων ἔθη· ταὐτὰ δὲ ταῦτα καὶ περὶ τῶν τοὺς κάμνοντας ἰωμένων· ὧν δʼ ἂν καταψηφισθῇ τιμᾶν ὅτι χρὴ παθεῖν αὐτῶν τινας ἢ ἀποτίνειν.
ΝΕ. ΣΩ. οὐκοῦν ὅ γʼ ἐθέλων καὶ ἑκὼν ἐν τοῖς τοιούτοις ἄρχειν δικαιότατʼ ἂν ὁτιοῦν πάσχοι καὶ ἀποτίνοι.
ΞΕ. καὶ τοίνυν ἔτι δεήσει θέσθαι νόμον ἐπὶ πᾶσι τούτοις, ἄν τις κυβερνητικὴν καὶ τὸ ναυτικὸν ἢ τὸ ὑγιεινὸν καὶ ἰατρικῆς ἀλήθειαν περὶ πνεύματά τε καὶ θερμὰ καὶ ψυχρὰ ζητῶν φαίνηται παρὰ τὰ γράμματα καὶ σοφιζόμενος ὁτιοῦν περὶ τὰ τοιαῦτα, πρῶτον μὲν μήτε ἰατρικὸν αὐτὸν μήτε κυβερνητικὸν ὀνομάζειν ἀλλὰ μετεωρολόγον, ἀδολέσχην τινὰ σοφιστήν, εἶθʼ ὡς διαφθείροντα ἄλλους νεωτέρους καὶ ἀναπείθοντα ἐπιτίθεσθαι κυβερνητικῇ καὶ ἰατρικῇ μὴ κατὰ νόμους, ἀλλʼ αὐτοκράτορας ἄρχειν τῶν πλοίων καὶ τῶν νοσούντων, γραψάμενον εἰσάγειν τὸν βουλόμενον οἷς ἔξεστιν εἰς δή τι δικαστήριον· ἂν δὲ παρὰ τοὺς νόμους καὶ τὰ γεγραμμένα δόξῃ πείθειν εἴτε νέους εἴτε πρεσβύτας, κολάζειν τοῖς ἐσχάτοις. οὐδὲν γὰρ δεῖν τῶν νόμων εἶναι σοφώτερον· οὐδένα γὰρ ἀγνοεῖν τό τε ἰατρικὸν καὶ τὸ ὑγιεινὸν οὐδὲ τὸ κυβερνητικὸν καὶ ναυτικόν· ἐξεῖναι γὰρ τῷ βουλομένῳ μανθάνειν γεγραμμένα καὶ πάτρια ἔθη κείμενα. ταῦτα δὴ περί τε ταύτας τὰς ἐπιστήμας εἰ γίγνοιτο οὕτως ὡς λέγομεν, ὦ Σώκρατες, καὶ στρατηγικῆς καὶ συμπάσης ἡστινοσοῦν θηρευτικῆς καὶ γραφικῆς ἢ συμπάσης μέρος ὁτιοῦν μιμητικῆς καὶ τεκτονικῆς καὶ συνόλης ὁποιασοῦν σκευουργίας ἢ καὶ γεωργίας καὶ τῆς περὶ τὰ φυτὰ συνόλης τέχνης, ἢ καί τινα ἱπποφορβίαν αὖ κατὰ συγγράμματα θεασαίμεθα γιγνομένην ἢ σύμπασαν ἀγελαιοκομικὴν ἢ μαντικὴν ἢ πᾶν ὅτι μέρος διακονικὴ περιείληφεν, ἢ πεττείαν ἢ σύμπασαν ἀριθμητικὴν ψιλὴν εἴτε ἐπίπεδον εἴτʼ ἐν βάθεσιν εἴτʼ ἐν τάχεσιν οὖσάν που, — περὶ ἅπαντα ταῦτα οὕτω πραττόμενα τί ποτʼ ἂν φανείη, κατὰ συγγράμματα γιγνόμενα καὶ μὴ κατὰ τέχνην;
ΝΕ. ΣΩ. δῆλον ὅτι πᾶσαί τε αἱ τέχναι παντελῶς ἂν ἀπόλοιντο ἡμῖν, καὶ οὐδʼ εἰς αὖθις γένοιντʼ ἄν ποτε διὰ τὸν ἀποκωλύοντα τοῦτον ζητεῖν νόμον· ὥστε ὁ βίος, ὢν καὶ νῦν χαλεπός, εἰς τὸν χρόνον ἐκεῖνον ἀβίωτος γίγνοιτʼ ἂν τὸ παράπαν.
Str. Now consider what comes next. When the year of office has passed for each set of rulers, there will have to be sessions of courts in which the judges are chosen by lot either from a selected list of the rich or from the whole people, and the rulers will have to be brought before these courts and examined as to their conduct in office, and anyone who pleases can bring against the captains an accusation for failure to command the ships during the year in accordance with the written laws or the ancestral customs, and similarly against the physicians for their treatment of the sick; and if any of them is found guilty, the court shall decide what his punishment or his fine shall be.
Y. Soc. Surely anyone who consents voluntarily to hold office under such conditions would richly deserve any penalty or fine that might be imposed.
Str. And then, in addition to all this, there will have to be a law that if anyone is found to be investigating the art of pilotage or navigation or the subject of health and true medical doctrine about winds and things hot and cold, contrary to the written rules, or to be indulging in any speculation whatsoever on such matters, he shall in the first place not be called a physician or a ship captain, but a star-gazer, a kind of loquacious sophist, and secondly anyone who is properly qualified may bring an accusation against him and hale him into court for corrupting the young and persuading them to attack the arts of navigation and medicine in opposition to the laws and to govern the ships and the sick according to their own will; and if he is found to be so persuading either young or old contrary to the laws and written rules, he shall suffer the most extreme penalties. Nothing, they say, ought to be wiser than the laws; for no one is ignorant of medicine and the laws of health or of the pilot’s art and navigation, since anyone who pleases can learn the existing written rules and ancestral customs. Now if these regulations which I speak of were to be applied to these sciences, Socrates, and to strategy and every part of the entire art of hunting and to painting or every kind of imitation and to carpentry including every kind of utensil-making, or even to husbandry and all the art that is concerned with plants, or if we were to see an art of horse-breeding conducted by written rules, or herdsmanship in general or prophecy or everything that is included in the art of serving, or draught-playing or the whole science of number, whether arithmetic or plane geometry or solid geometry or problems of motion—what would you think of carrying on all these in such a way, by written rules and not by knowledge?
Y. Soc. Clearly all the arts would be utterly ruined, nor could they ever rise again, through the operation of the law prohibiting investigation; and so life, which is hard enough now, would then become absolutely unendurable.
ΞΕ. τί δὲ τόδε; εἰ κατὰ συγγράμματα μὲν ἀναγκάζοιμεν ἕκαστον γίγνεσθαι τῶν εἰρημένων καὶ τοῖς συγγράμμασιν ἡμῶν ἐπιστατεῖν τὸν χειροτονηθέντα ἢ λαχόντα ἐκ τύχης, οὗτος δὲ μηδὲν φροντίζων τῶν γραμμάτων ἢ κέρδους ἕνεκέν τινος ἢ χάριτος ἰδίας παρὰ ταῦτʼ ἐπιχειροῖ δρᾶν ἕτερα, μηδὲν γιγνώσκων, ἆρα οὐ τοῦ κακοῦ τοῦ πρόσθεν μεῖζον ἂν ἔτι τοῦτο γίγνοιτο κακόν;
ΝΕ. ΣΩ. ἀληθέστατά [γε].
ΞΕ. παρὰ γὰρ οἶμαι τοὺς νόμους τοὺς ἐκ πείρας πολλῆς κειμένους καί τινων συμβούλων ἕκαστα χαριέντως συμβουλευσάντων καὶ πεισάντων θέσθαι τὸ πλῆθος, ὁ παρὰ ταῦτα τολμῶν δρᾶν, ἁμαρτήματος ἁμάρτημα πολλαπλάσιον ἀπεργαζόμενος, ἀνατρέποι πᾶσαν ἂν πρᾶξιν ἔτι μειζόνως τῶν συγγραμμάτων.
ΝΕ. ΣΩ. πῶς δʼ οὐ μέλλει;
ΞΕ. διὰ ταῦτα δὴ τοῖς περὶ ὁτουοῦν νόμους καὶ συγγράμματα τιθεμένοις δεύτερος πλοῦς τὸ παρὰ ταῦτα μήτε ἕνα μήτε πλῆθος μηδὲν μηδέποτε ἐᾶν δρᾶν μηδʼ ὁτιοῦν.
ΝΕ. ΣΩ. ὀρθῶς.
ΞΕ. οὐκοῦν μιμήματα μὲν ἂν ἑκάστων ταῦτα εἴη τῆς ἀληθείας, τὰ παρὰ τῶν εἰδότων εἰς δύναμιν εἶναι γεγραμμένα;
ΝΕ. ΣΩ. πῶς δʼ οὔ;
ΞΕ. καὶ μὴν τόν γε εἰδότα ἔφαμεν, τὸν ὄντως πολιτικόν, εἰ μεμνήμεθα, ποιήσειν τῇ τέχνῃ πολλὰ εἰς τὴν αὑτοῦ πρᾶξιν τῶν γραμμάτων οὐδὲν φροντίζοντα, ὁπόταν ἄλλʼ αὐτῷ βελτίω δόξῃ παρὰ τὰ γεγραμμένα ὑφʼ αὑτοῦ καὶ ἐπεσταλμένα ἀποῦσίν τισιν.
ΝΕ. ΣΩ. ἔφαμεν γάρ.
ΞΕ. οὐκοῦν ἀνὴρ ὁστισοῦν εἷς ἢ πλῆθος ὁτιοῦν, οἷς ἂν νόμοι κείμενοι τυγχάνωσι, παρὰ ταῦτα ὅτι ἂν ἐπιχειρήσωσι ποιεῖν ὡς βέλτιον ἕτερον ὄν, ταὐτὸν δρῶσι κατὰ δύναμιν ὅπερ ὁ ἀληθινὸς ἐκεῖνος;
ΝΕ. ΣΩ. πάνυ μὲν οὖν.
ΞΕ. ἆρʼ οὖν εἰ μὲν ἀνεπιστήμονες ὄντες τὸ τοιοῦτον δρῷεν, μιμεῖσθαι μὲν ἂν ἐπιχειροῖεν τὸ ἀληθές, μιμοῖντʼ ἂν μέντοι παγκάκως· εἰ δʼ ἔντεχνοι, τοῦτο οὐκ ἔστιν ἔτι μίμημα ἀλλʼ αὐτὸ τὸ ἀληθέστατον ἐκεῖνο;
ΝΕ. ΣΩ. πάντως που.
ΞΕ. καὶ μὴν ἔμπροσθέ γε ὡμολογημένον ἡμῖν κεῖται μηδὲν πλῆθος μηδʼ ἡντινοῦν δυνατὸν εἶναι λαβεῖν τέχνην.
ΝΕ. ΣΩ. κεῖται γὰρ οὖν.
ΞΕ. οὐκοῦν εἰ μὲν ἔστι βασιλική τις τέχνη, τὸ τῶν πλουσίων πλῆθος καὶ ὁ σύμπας δῆμος οὐκ ἄν ποτε λάβοι τὴν πολιτικὴν ταύτην ἐπιστήμην.
ΝΕ. ΣΩ. πῶς γὰρ ἄν;
Str. Here is a further point. If we ordained that each of the aforesaid arts must be carried on by written rules and that the observance of our written rules be under the charge of the man who is elected or chosen by lot, but he should disregard the written rules and for the sake of some gain or to do a favor to some one should try to act contrary to them, without possessing any knowledge, would not this be a greater evil than the former?
Y. Soc. Most assuredly.
Str. Since the laws are made after long experience and after commissioners of some kind have carefully considered each detail with delicate skill and have persuaded the people to pass them, anyone, I fancy, who ventured to violate them would be involved in error many times greater than the first, and would cause even greater ruin than the written laws to all kinds of transactions.
Y. Soc. Of course he would.
Str. Therefore the next best course for those who make laws or written rules about anything whatsoever is to prohibit any violation of them whatsoever, either by one person or by a greater number.
Y. Soc. Right.
Str. These laws, then, written by men who know in so far as knowledge is possible, are imitations in each instance of some part of truth?
Y. Soc. Of course.
Str. And yet we said, if we remember, that the man of knowledge, the real statesman, would by his art make many changes in his practice without regard to his writings, when he thought another course was better though it violated the rules he had written and sent to his absent subjects.
Y. Soc. Yes, we did say that.
Str. But is it not true that any man or any number of men whatsoever who have written laws, if they undertake to make any change in those laws, thinking it is all improvement, are doing, to the best of their ability, the same thing which our true statesman does?
Y. Soc. Certainly.
Str. If, then, they were to do this without science, however, imitate badly in every case; but if they were scientific, then it would no longer be imitation, but the actual perfect reality of which we spoke?
Y. Soc. Yes, assuredly.
Str. And yet we agreed definitely a while ago that no multitude is able to acquire any art whatsoever.
Y. Soc. Yes, that is definitely agreed.
Str. Then if there is a kingly art, neither the collective body of the wealthy nor the whole people could ever acquire this science of statesmanship.
Y. Soc. No; certainly not.
ΞΕ. δεῖ δὴ τὰς τοιαύτας γε ὡς ἔοικε πολιτείας, εἰ μέλλουσι καλῶς τὴν ἀληθινὴν ἐκείνην τὴν τοῦ ἑνὸς μετὰ τέχνης ἄρχοντος πολιτείαν εἰς δύναμιν μιμήσεσθαι, μηδέποτε κειμένων αὐτοῖς τῶν νόμων μηδὲν ποιεῖν παρὰ τὰ γεγραμμένα καὶ πάτρια ἔθη.
ΝΕ. ΣΩ. κάλλιστʼ εἴρηκας.
ΞΕ. ὅταν ἄρα οἱ πλούσιοι ταύτην μιμῶνται, τότε ἀριστοκρατίαν καλοῦμεν τὴν τοιαύτην πολιτείαν· ὁπόταν δὲ τῶν νόμων μὴ φροντίζωσιν, ὀλιγαρχίαν.
ΝΕ. ΣΩ. κινδυνεύει.
ΞΕ. καὶ μὴν ὁπόταν αὖθις εἷς ἄρχῃ κατὰ νόμους, μιμούμενος τὸν ἐπιστήμονα, βασιλέα καλοῦμεν, οὐ διορίζοντες ὀνόματι τὸν μετʼ ἐπιστήμης ἢ δόξης κατὰ νόμους μοναρχοῦντα.
ΝΕ. ΣΩ. κινδυνεύομεν.
ΞΕ. οὐκοῦν κἄν τις ἄρα ἐπιστήμων ὄντως ὢν εἷς ἄρχῃ, πάντως τό γε ὄνομα ταὐτὸν βασιλεὺς καὶ οὐδὲν ἕτερον προσρηθήσεται· διʼ ἃ δὴ τὰ πέντε ὀνόματα τῶν νῦν λεγομένων πολιτειῶν ἓν μόνον γέγονεν.
ΝΕ. ΣΩ. ἔοικε γοῦν.
ΞΕ. τί δʼ ὅταν μήτε κατὰ νόμους μήτε κατὰ ἔθη πράττῃ τις εἷς ἄρχων, προσποιῆται δὲ ὥσπερ ὁ ἐπιστήμων ὡς ἄρα παρὰ τὰ γεγραμμένα τό γε βέλτιστον ποιητέον, ᾖ δέ τις ἐπιθυμία καὶ ἄγνοια τούτου τοῦ μιμήματος ἡγουμένη, μῶν οὐ τότε τὸν τοιοῦτον ἕκαστον τύραννον κλητέον;
ΝΕ. ΣΩ. τί μήν;
ΞΕ. οὕτω δὴ τύραννός τε γέγονε, φαμέν, καὶ βασιλεὺς καὶ ὀλιγαρχία καὶ ἀριστοκρατία καὶ δημοκρατία, δυσχερανάντων τῶν ἀνθρώπων τὸν ἕνα ἐκεῖνον μόναρχον, καὶ ἀπιστησάντων μηδένα τῆς τοιαύτης ἀρχῆς ἄξιον ἂν γενέσθαι ποτέ, ὥστε ἐθέλειν καὶ δυνατὸν εἶναι μετʼ ἀρετῆς καὶ ἐπιστήμης ἄρχοντα τὰ δίκαια καὶ ὅσια διανέμειν ὀρθῶς πᾶσιν, λωβᾶσθαι δὲ καὶ ἀποκτεινύναι καὶ κακοῦν ὃν ἂν βουληθῇ ἑκάστοτε ἡμῶν· ἐπεὶ γενόμενόν γʼ ἂν οἷον λέγομεν ἀγαπᾶσθαί τε ἂν καὶ οἰκεῖν διακυβερνῶντα εὐδαιμόνως ὀρθὴν ἀκριβῶς μόνον πολιτείαν.
ΝΕ. ΣΩ. πῶς δʼ οὔ;
ΞΕ. νῦν δέ γε ὁπότε οὐκ ἔστι γιγνόμενος, ὡς δή φαμεν, ἐν ταῖς πόλεσι βασιλεὺς οἷος ἐν σμήνεσιν ἐμφύεται, τό τε σῶμα εὐθὺς καὶ τὴν ψυχὴν διαφέρων εἷς, δεῖ δὴ συνελθόντας συγγράμματα γράφειν, ὡς ἔοικεν, μεταθέοντας τὰ τῆς ἀληθεστάτης πολιτείας ἴχνη.
ΝΕ. ΣΩ. κινδυνεύει.
Str. Such states, then, it seems, if they are to imitate well, so far as possible, that true form of government— by a single ruler who rules with science—must never do anything in contravention of their existing written laws and ancestral customs.
Y. Soc. You are quite right.
Str. Then whenever the rich imitate this government, we call such a state an aristocracy; and when they disregard the laws, we call it an oligarchy.
Y. Soc. Yes, I think we do.
Str. And again, when one man rules according to laws and imitates the scientific ruler, we call him a king, making no distinction in name between the single ruler who rules by science and him who rules by opinion if they both rule in accordance with laws.
Y. Soc. Yes, I think we do.
Str. Accordingly, if one man who is really scientific rules, he will assuredly be called by the same name, king, and by no other; and so the five names of what are now called the forms of government have become only one.
Y. Soc. So it seems, at least.
Str. But when a single ruler acts in accordance with neither laws nor customs, but claims, in imitation of the scientific ruler, that whatever is best must be done, even though it be contrary to the written laws, and this imitation is inspired by desire and ignorance, is not such a ruler to be called in every instance a tyrant?
Y. Soc. Certainly.
Str. Thus, we say, the tyrant has arisen, and the king and oligarchy and aristocracy and democracy, because men are not contented with that one perfect ruler, and do not believe that there could ever be any one worthy of such power or willing and able by ruling with virtue and knowledge to dispense justice and equity rightly to all, but that he will harm and kill and injure any one of us whom he chooses on any occasion, since they admit that if such a man as we describe should really arise, he would be welcomed and would continue to dwell among them, directing to their weal as sole ruler a perfectly right form of government.
Y. Soc. Certainly.
Str. But, as the case now stands, since, as we claim, no king is produced in our states who is, like the ruler of the bees in their hives, by birth pre-eminently fitted from the beginning in body and mind, we are obliged, as it seems, to follow in the track of the perfect and true form of government by coming together and making written laws.
Y. Soc. Yes, I suppose we are.
ΞΕ. θαυμάζομεν δῆτα, ὦ Σώκρατες, ἐν ταῖς τοιαύταις πολιτείαις ὅσα συμβαίνει γίγνεσθαι κακὰ καὶ ὅσα συμβήσεται, τοιαύτης τῆς κρηπῖδος ὑποκειμένης αὐταῖς, τῆς κατὰ γράμματα καὶ ἔθη μὴ μετὰ ἐπιστήμης πραττούσης τὰς πράξεις, ᾗ ἑτέρα προσχρωμένη παντὶ κατάδηλος ὡς πάντʼ ἂν διολέσειε τὰ ταύτῃ γιγνόμενα; ἢ ἐκεῖνο ἡμῖν θαυμαστέον μᾶλλον, ὡς ἰσχυρόν τι πόλις ἐστὶ φύσει; πάσχουσαι γὰρ δὴ τοιαῦτα αἱ πόλεις νῦν χρόνον ἀπέραντον, ὅμως ἔνιαί τινες αὐτῶν μόνιμοί τέ εἰσι καὶ οὐκ ἀνατρέπονται· πολλαὶ μὴν ἐνίοτε καὶ καθάπερ πλοῖα καταδυόμεναι διόλλυνται καὶ διολώλασι καὶ ἔτι διολοῦνται διὰ τὴν τῶν κυβερνητῶν καὶ ναυτῶν μοχθηρίαν τῶν περὶ τὰ μέγιστα μεγίστην ἄγνοιαν εἰληφότων, οἳ περὶ τὰ πολιτικὰ κατʼ οὐδὲν γιγνώσκοντες ἡγοῦνται κατὰ πάντα σαφέστατα πασῶν ἐπιστημῶν ταύτην εἰληφέναι.
ΝΕ. ΣΩ. ἀληθέστατα.
ΞΕ. τίς οὖν δὴ τῶν οὐκ ὀρθῶν πολιτειῶν τούτων ἥκιστα χαλεπὴ συζῆν, πασῶν χαλεπῶν οὐσῶν, καὶ τίς βαρυτάτη; δεῖ τι κατιδεῖν ἡμᾶς, καίπερ πρός γε τὸ νῦν προτεθὲν ἡμῖν πάρεργον λεγόμενον; οὐ μὴν ἀλλʼ εἴς γε τὸ ὅλον ἴσως ἅπανθʼ ἕνεκα τοῦ τοιούτου πάντες δρῶμεν χάριν.
ΝΕ. ΣΩ. δεῖ· πῶς δʼ οὔ;
ΞΕ. τὴν αὐτὴν τοίνυν φάθι τριῶν οὐσῶν χαλεπὴν διαφερόντως γίγνεσθαι καὶ ῥᾴστην.
ΝΕ. ΣΩ. πῶς φῄς;
ΞΕ. οὐκ ἄλλως, πλὴν μοναρχίαν φημὶ καὶ ὀλίγων ἀρχὴν καὶ πολλῶν, εἶναι τρεῖς ταύτας ἡμῖν λεγομένας τοῦ νῦν ἐπικεχυμένου λόγου κατʼ ἀρχάς.
ΝΕ. ΣΩ. ἦσαν γὰρ οὖν.
ΞΕ. ταύτας τοίνυν δίχα τέμνοντες μίαν ἑκάστην ἓξ ποιῶμεν, τὴν ὀρθὴν χωρὶς ἀποκρίναντες τούτων ἑβδόμην.
ΝΕ. ΣΩ. πῶς;
ΞΕ. ἐκ μὲν τῆς μοναρχίας βασιλικὴν καὶ τυραννικήν, ἐκ δʼ αὖ τῶν μὴ πολλῶν τήν τε εὐώνυμον ἔφαμεν [εἶναι] ἀριστοκρατίαν καὶ ὀλιγαρχίαν· ἐκ δʼ αὖ τῶν πολλῶν τότε μὲν ἁπλῆν ἐπονομάζοντες ἐτίθεμεν δημοκρατίαν, νῦν δʼ αὖ καὶ ταύτην ἡμῖν θετέον ἐστὶ διπλῆν.
ΝΕ. ΣΩ. πῶς δή; καὶ τίνι διαιροῦντες ταύτην;
ΞΕ. οὐδὲν διαφέροντι τῶν ἄλλων, οὐδʼ εἰ τοὔνομα ἤδη διπλοῦν ἐστι ταύτης· ἀλλὰ τό γε κατὰ νόμους ἄρχειν καὶ παρανόμως ἔστι καὶ ταύτῃ καὶ ταῖς ἄλλαις.
ΝΕ. ΣΩ. ἔστι γὰρ οὖν.
ΞΕ. τότε μὲν τοίνυν τὴν ὀρθὴν ζητοῦσι τοῦτο τὸ τμῆμα οὐκ ἦν χρήσιμον, ὡς ἐν τοῖς πρόσθεν ἀπεδείξαμεν· ἐπειδὴ δὲ ἐξείλομεν ἐκείνην, τὰς δʼ ἄλλας ἔθεμεν ἀναγκαίας, ἐν ταύταις δὴ τὸ παράνομον καὶ ἔννομον ἑκάστην διχοτομεῖ τούτων.
ΝΕ. ΣΩ. ἔοικεν τούτου νῦν ῥηθέντος τοῦ λόγου.
ΞΕ. μοναρχία τοίνυν ζευχθεῖσα μὲν ἐν γράμμασιν ἀγαθοῖς, οὓς νόμους λέγομεν, ἀρίστη πασῶν τῶν ἕξ· ἄνομος δὲ χαλεπὴ καὶ βαρυτάτη συνοικῆσαι.
Str. Can we wonder, then, Socrates, at all the evils that arise and are destined to arise in such kinds of government, when they are based upon such a foundation, and must conduct their affairs in accordance with written laws and with customs, without knowledge? For every one can see that any other art built upon such a foundation would ruin all its works that are so produced. Ought we not rather to wonder at the stability that inheres in the state? For states have labored under such conditions for countless ages, nevertheless some of them are lasting and are not overthrown. Many, to be sure, like ships that founder at sea, are destroyed, have been destroyed, and will be destroyed hereafter, through the worthlessness of their captains and crews who have the greatest ignorance of the greatest things, men who have no knowledge of statesmanship, but think they have in every respect most perfect knowledge of this above all other sciences.
Y. Soc. Very true.
Str. Is it, then, our duty to see which of these not right forms of government is the least difficult to live with, though all are difficult, and which is the most oppressive, although this is somewhat aside from the subject we had proposed for ourselves? On the whole, however, perhaps all of us have some such motive in mind in all that we are doing.
Y. Soc. Yes, it is our duty, of course.
Str. Well then, you may say that of the three forms, the same is both the hardest and the easiest.
Y. Soc. What do you mean?
Str. Just this: I mean that there are three forms of government, as we said at the beginning of the discussion which has now flowed in upon us—monarchy, the rule of the few, and the rule of the many.
Y. Soc. Yes, there were those three.
Str. Let us, then, by dividing each of these into two parts, make six, and by distinguishing the right government from these, a seventh.
Y. Soc. How shall we make the division?
Str. We said that monarchy comprised royalty and tyranny, and the rule of the few comprised aristocracy, which has a name of good omen, and oligarchy; but to the rule of the many we gave then only a single name, democracy; now, however, that also must be divided.
Y. Soc. How? On what principle shall we divide that?
Str. On the same that we used for the others, though the name of this form is already twofold in meaning. At any rate, the distinction between ruling according to law and without law applies alike to this and the rest.
Y. Soc. Yes, it does.
Str. Before, when we were in search of the right government, this division was of no use, as we showed at the time but now that we have set that apart and have decided that the others are the only available forms of government, the principle of lawfulness and lawlessness bisects each of them.
Y. Soc. So it seems, from what has been said.
Str. Monarchy, then, when bound by good written rules, which we call laws, is the best of all the six; but without law it is hard and most oppressive to live with.
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