Now we ought by all means to consider that there can never be such ahappy concurrence of circumstances as we have described; neither canall things coincide as they are wanted. Men who will not takeoffence at such a mode of living together, and will endure all theirlife long to have their property fixed at a moderate limit, and tobeget children in accordance with our ordinances, and will allowthemselves to be deprived of gold and other things which thelegislator, as is evident from these enactments, will certainly forbidthem; and will endure, further, the situation of the land with thecity in the middle and dwellings round about;-all this is as if thelegislator were telling his dreams, or making a city and citizens ofwax. There is truth in these objections, and therefore every oneshould take to heart what I am going to say. Once more, then, thelegislator shall appear and address us:-"O my friends," he will say tous, "do not suppose me ignorant that there is a certain degree oftruth in your words; but I am of opinion that, in matters which arenot present but future, he who exhibits a pattern of that at whichhe aims, should in nothing fall short of the fairest and truest; andthat if he finds any part of this work impossible of execution heshould avoid and not execute it, but he should contrive to carry outthat which is nearest and most akin to it; you must allow thelegislator to perfect his design, and when it is perfected, you shouldjoin with him in considering what part of his legislation is expedientand what will arouse opposition; for surely the artist who is to bedeemed worthy of any regard at all, ought always to make his workself-consistent."Having determined that there is to be a distribution into twelveparts, let us now see in what way this may be accomplished. There isno difficulty in perceiving that the twelve parts admit of thegreatest number of divisions of that which they include, or inseeing the other numbers which are consequent upon them, and areproduced out of them up to 5040; wherefore the law ought to orderphratries and demes and villages, and also military ranks andmovements, as well as coins and measures, dry and liquid, and weights,so as to be commensurable and agreeable to one another. Nor shouldwe fear the appearance of minuteness, if the law commands that all thevessels which a man possesses should have a common measure, when weconsider generally that the divisions and variations of numbers have ause in respect of all the variations of which they are susceptible,both in themselves and as measures of height and depth, and in allsounds, and in motions, as well those which proceed in a straightdirection, upwards or downwards, as in those which go round and round.
The legislator is to consider all these things and to bid thecitizens, as far as possible, not to lose sight of numerical order;for no single instrument of youthful education has such mightypower, both as regards domestic economy and politics, and in the arts,as the study of arithmetic. Above all, arithmetic stirs up him whois by nature sleepy and dull, and makes him quick to learn, retentive,shrewd, and aided by art divine he makes progress quite beyond hisnatural powers. All such things, if only the legislator, by other lawsand institutions, can banish meanness and covetousness from thesouls of men, so that they can use them properly and to their owngood, will be excellent and suitable instruments of education. Butif he cannot, he will unintentionally create in them, instead ofwisdom, the habit of craft, which evil tendency may be observed in theEgyptians and Phoenicians, and many other races, through the generalvulgarity of their pursuits and acquisitions, whether some unworthylegislator theirs has been the cause, or some impediment of chanceor nature. For we must not fail to observe, O Megillus and Cleinias,that there is a difference in places, and that some beget better menand others worse; and we must legislate accordingly. Some places aresubject to strange and fatal influences by reason of diverse winds andviolent heats, some by reason of waters; or, again, from the characterof the food given by the earth, which not only affects the bodies ofmen for good or evil, but produces similar results in their souls. Andin all such qualities those spots excel in which there is a divineinspiration, and in which the demi-gods have their appointed lots, andare propitious, not adverse, to the settlers in them. To all thesematters the legislator, if he have any sense in him, will attend asfar as man can, and frame his laws accordingly. And this is whatyou, Cleinias, must do, and to matters of this kind you must turn yourmind since you are going to colonize a new country.
Cleinias. Your words, Athenian Stranger, are excellent, and I willdo as you say.