The number of our citizens shall be 5040-this will be a convenientnumber; and these shall be owners of the land and protectors of theallotment. The houses and the land will be divided in the same way, sothat every man may correspond to a lot. Let the whole number befirst divided into two parts, and then into three; and the number isfurther capable of being divided into four or five parts, or anynumber of parts up to ten. Every legislator ought to know so mucharithmetic as to be able to tell what number is most likely to beuseful to all cities; and we are going to take that number whichcontains the greatest and most regular and unbroken series ofdivisions. The whole of number has every possible division, and thenumber 5040 can be divided by exactly fifty-nine divisors, and tenof these proceed without interval from one to ten: this will furnishnumbers for war and peace, and for all contracts and dealings,including taxes and divisions of the land. These properties ofnumber should be ascertained at leisure by those who are bound bylaw to know them; for they are true, and should be proclaimed at thefoundation of the city, with a view to use. Whether the legislatoris establishing a new state or restoring an old and decayed one, inrespect of Gods and temples-the temples which are to be built ineach city, and the Gods or demi-gods after whom they are to becalled-if he be a man of sense, he will make no change in anythingwhich the oracle of Delphi, or Dodona, or the God Ammon, or anyancient tradition has sanctioned in whatever manner, whether byapparitions or reputed inspiration of Heaven, in obedience to whichmankind have established sacrifices in connection with mystic rites,either originating on the spot, or derived from Tyrrhenia or Cyprus orsome other place, and on the strength of which traditions they haveconsecrated oracles and images, and altars and temples, andportioned out a sacred domain for each of them. The least part ofall these ought not to be disturbed by the legislator; but he shouldassign to the several districts some God, or demi-god, or hero, and,in the distribution of the soil, should give to these first theirchosen domain and all things fitting, that the inhabitants of theseveral districts may meet at fixed times, and that they may readilysupply their various wants, and entertain one another with sacrifices,and become friends and acquaintances; for there is no greater goodin a state than that the citizens should be known to one another. Whennot light but darkness and ignorance of each other"s charactersprevails among them, no one will receive the honour of which he isdeserving, or the power or the justice to which he is fairly entitled:
wherefore, in every state, above all things, every man should takeheed that he have no deceit in him, but that he be always true andsimple; and that no deceitful person take any advantage of him.
The next move in our pastime of legislation, like the withdrawalof the stone from the holy line in the game of draughts, being anunusual one, will probably excite wonder when mentioned for thefirst time. And yet, if a man will only reflect and weigh the matterwith care, he will see that our city is ordered in a manner which,if not the best, is the second best. Perhaps also some one may notapprove this form, because he thinks that such a constitution is illadapted to a legislator who has not despotic power. The truth is, thatthere are three forms of government, the best, the second and thethird best, which we may just mention, and then leave the selection tothe ruler of the settlement. Following this method in the presentinstance, let us speak of the states which are respectively first,second, and third in excellence, and then we will leave the choiceto Cleinias now, or to any one else who may hereafter have to make asimilar choice among constitutions, and may desire to give to hisstate some feature which is congenial to him and which he approvesin his own country.
The first and highest form of the state and of the government and ofthe law is that in which there prevails most widely the ancientsaying, that "Friends have all things in common." Whether there isanywhere now, or will ever be, this communion of women and childrenand of property, in which the private and individual is altogetherbanished from life, and things which are by nature private, such aseyes and ears and hands, have become common, and in some way see andhear and act in common, and all men express praise and blame andfeel joy and sorrow on the same occasions, and whatever laws there areunite the city to the utmost-whether all this is possible or not, Isay that no man, acting upon any other principle, will ever constitutea state which will be truer or better or more exalted in virtue.
Whether such a state is governed by Gods or sons of Gods, one, or morethan one, happy are the men who, living after this manner, dwellthere; and therefore to this we are to look for the pattern of thestate, and to cling to this, and to seek with all our might for onewhich is like this. The state which we have now in hand, when created,will be nearest to immortality and the only one which takes the secondplace; and after that, by the grace of God, we will complete the thirdone. And we will begin by speaking of the nature and origin of thesecond.