For equity and indulgence are infractions of the perfect and strictrule of justice. And this is the reason why we are obliged to usethe equality of the lot, in order to avoid the discontent of thepeople; and so we invoke God and fortune in our prayers, and begthat they themselves will direct the lot with a view to supremejustice. And therefore, although we are compelled to use bothequalities, we should use that into which the element of chance entersas seldom as possible.
Thus, O my friends, and for the reasons given, should a state actwhich would endure and be saved. But as a ship sailing on the seahas to be watched night and day, in like manner a city also is sailingon a sea of politics, and is liable to all sorts of insidiousassaults; and therefore from morning to night, and from night tomorning, rulers must join hands with rulers, and watchers withwatchers, receiving and giving up their trust in a perpetualsuccession. Now a multitude can never fulfil a duty of this sortwith anything like energy. Moreover, the greater number of thesenators will have to be left during the greater part of the year toorder their concerns at their own homes. They will therefore have tobe arranged in twelve portions, answering to the twelve months, andfurnish guardians of the state, each portion for a single month. Theirbusiness is to be at hand and receive any foreigner or citizen whocomes to them, whether to give information, or to put one of thosequestions, to which, when asked by other cities, a city should give ananswer, and to which, if she ask them herself, she should receive ananswer; or again, when there is a likelihood of internal commotions,which are always liable to happen in some form or other, they will, ifthey 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 oughtalways to have the control of their assemblies, and of thedissolutions of them, ordinary as well as extraordinary. All this isto be ordered by the twelfth part of the council, which is always tokeep watch together with the other officers of the state during oneportion of the year, and to rest during the remaining eleven portions.
Thus will the city be fairly ordered. And now, who is to have, thesuperintendence of the country, and what shall be the arrangement?
Seeing that the whole city and the entire country have been both ofthem divided into twelve portions, ought there not to be appointedsuperintendents of the streets of the city, and of the houses, andbuildings, and harbours, and the agora, and fountains, and sacreddomains, and temples, and the like?
Cle. To be sure there ought.
Ath. Let us assume, then, that there ought to be servants of thetemples, and priests and priestesses. There must also besuperintendents of roads and buddings, who will have a care of men,that they may do no harm, and also of beasts, both within theenclosure and in the suburbs. Three kinds of officers will thus haveto be appointed, in order that the city may be suitably providedaccording to her needs. Those who have the care of the city shall becalled wardens of the city; and those who have the care of the agorashall be called wardens of the agora; and those who have the care ofthe temples shall be called priests. Those who hold hereditary officesas priests or priestesses, shall not be disturbed; but if there be fewor none such, as is probable at the foundation of a new city,priests and priestesses shall be appointed to be servants of theGods who have no servants. Some of our officers shall be elected,and others appointed by lot, those who are of the people and those whoare not of the people mingling in a friendly manner in every place andcity, that the state may be as far as possible of one mind. Theofficers of the temples shall be appointed by lot; in this way theirelection will be committed to God, that he may do what is agreeable tohim. And he who obtains a lot shall undergo a scrutiny, first, as towhether he is sound of body and of legitimate birth; and in the secondplace, in order to show that he is of a perfectly pure family, notstained with homicide or any similar impiety in his own person, andalso that his father and mother have led a similar unstained life. Nowthe laws about all divine things should be brought from Delphi, andinterpreters appointed, under whose direction they should be used. Thetenure of the priesthood should always be for a year and no longer;and he who will duly execute the sacred office, according to thelaws of religion, must be not less than sixty years of age-the lawsshall be the same about priestesses. As for the interpreters, theyshall be appointed thus:-Let the twelve tribes be distributed intogroups of four, and let each group select four, one out of eachtribe within the group, three times; and let the three who have thegreatest number of votes [out of the twelve appointed by eachgroup], after undergoing a scrutiny, nine in all, be sent to Delphi,in order that the God may return one out of each triad; their ageshall be the same as that of the priests, and the scrutiny of themshall be conducted in the same manner; let them be interpreters forlife, and when any one dies let the four tribes select another fromthe tribe of the deceased. Moreover, besides priests and interpreters,there must be treasurers, who will take charge of the property ofthe several temples, and of the sacred domains, and shall haveauthority over the produce and the letting of them; and three ofthem 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 oftheir election and the scrutiny of them shall be the same as that ofthe generals. This shall be the order of the temples.