The population is divided into two classes-
one of husbandmen, and the other of warriors; from this latter is
taken a third class of counselors and rulers of the state. But
Socrates has not determined whether the husbandmen and artisans are to
have a share in the government, and whether they, too, are to carry
arms and share in military service, or not. He certainly thinks that
the women ought to share in the education of the guardians, and to
fight by their side. The remainder of the work is filled up with
digressions foreign to the main subject, and with discussions about
the education of the guardians. In the Laws there is hardly anything
but laws; not much is said about the constitution. This, which he
had intended to make more of the ordinary type, he gradually brings
round to the other or ideal form. For with the exception of the
community of women and property, he supposes everything to be the same
in both states; there is to be the same education; the citizens of
both are to live free from servile occupations, and there are to be
common meals in both. The only difference is that in the Laws, the
common meals are extended to women, and the warriors number 5000,
but in the Republic only 1000.
The discourses of Socrates are never commonplace; they always
exhibit grace and originality and thought; but perfection in
everything can hardly be expected.
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