Ath.The temples are to be placed all round the agora,and the whole city built on the heights in a circle,for the sake of defence and for the sake of purity.Near the temples are to be placed buildings for the magistrates and the courts of law;in these plaintiff and defendant will receive their due,and the places will be regarded as most holy,partly because they have to do with the holy things:and partly because they are the dwelling-places of holy Gods:and in them will be held the courts in which cases of homicide and other trials of capital offenses may fitly take place.As to the walls,Megillus,I agree with Sparta in thinking that they should be allowed to sleep in the earth,and that we should not attempt to disinter them;there is a poetical saying,which is finely expressed,that "walls ought to be of steel and iron,and not of earth;besides,how ridiculous of us to be sending out our young men annually into the country to dig and to trench,and to keep off the enemy by fortifications,under the idea that they are not to be allowed to set foot in our territory,and then,that we should surround ourselves with a wall,which,in the first place,is by no means conducive to the health of cities,and is also apt to produce a certain effeminacy in the minds of the inhabitants,inviting men to run thither instead of repelling their enemies,and leading them to imagine that their safety is due not to their keeping guard day and night,but that when they are protected by walls and gates,then they may sleep in safety;as if they were not meant to labour,and did not know that true repose comes from labour,and that disgraceful indolence and a careless temper of mind is only the renewal of trouble.But if men must have walls,the private houses ought to be so arranged from the first that the whole city may be one wall,having all the houses capable of defence by reason of their uniformity and equality towards the streets.The form of the city being that of a single dwelling will have an agreeable aspect,and being easily guarded will be infinitely better for security.Until the original building is completed,these should be the principal objects of the inhabitants;and the wardens of the city should superintend the work,and should impose a fine on him who is negligent;and in all that relates to the city they should have a care of cleanliness,and not allow a private person to encroach upon any public property either by buildings or excavations.Further,they ought to take care that the rains from heaven flow off easily,and of any other matters which may have to be administered either within or without the city.The guardians of the law shall pass any further enactments which their experience may show to be necessary,and supply any other points in which the law may be deficient.And now that these matters,and the buildings about the agora,and the gymnasia,and places of instruction,and theatres,are all ready and waiting for scholars and spectators,let us proceed to the subjects which follow marriage in the order of legislation.
Cle.By all means.
Ath.Assuming that marriages exist already,Cleinias,the mode of life during the year after marriage,before children are born,will follow next in order.In what way bride and bridegroom ought to live in a city which is to be superior to other cities,is a matter not at all easy for us to determine.There have been many difficulties already,but this will be the greatest of them,and the most disagreeable to the many.Still I cannot but say what appears to me to be right and true,Cleinias.
Cle.Certainly.
Ath.He who imagines that he can give laws for the public conduct of states,while he leaves the private life of citizens wholly to take care of itself;who thinks that individuals may pass the day as they please,and that there is no necessity of order in all things;he,Isay,who gives up the control of their private lives,and supposes that they will conform to law in their common and public life,is ****** a great mistake.Why have I made this remark?Why,because I am going to enact that the bridegrooms should live at the common tables,just as they did before marriage.This was a singularity when first enacted by the legislator in your parts of the world,Megillus and Cleinias,as I should suppose,on the occasion of some war or other similar danger,which caused the passing of the law,and which would be likely to occur in thinly-peopled places,and in times of pressure.But when men had once tried and been accustomed to a common table,experience showed that the institution greatly conduced to security;and in some such manner the custom of having common tables arose among you.
Cle.Likely enough.
Ath.I said that there may have been singularity and danger in imposing such a custom at first,but that now there is not the same difficulty.There is,however,another institution which is the natural sequel to this,and would be excellent,if it existed anywhere,but at present it does not.The institution of which I am about to speak is not easily described or executed;and would be like the legislator "combing wool into the fire,"as people say,or performing any other impossible and useless feat.
Cle.What is the cause,Stranger,of this extreme hesitation?