Ath. The temples are to be placed all round the agora, and the wholecity built on the heights in a circle, for the sake of defence and forthe sake of purity. Near the temples are to be placed buildings forthe magistrates and the courts of law; in these plaintiff anddefendant will receive their due, and the places will be regarded asmost holy, partly because they have to do with the holy things: andpartly because they are the dwelling-places of holy Gods: and inthem will be held the courts in which cases of homicide and othertrials of capital offenses may fitly take place. As to the walls,Megillus, I agree with Sparta in thinking that they should beallowed to sleep in the earth, and that we should not attempt todisinter them; there is a poetical saying, which is finelyexpressed, that "walls ought to be of steel and iron, and not ofearth; besides, how ridiculous of us to be sending out our young menannually into the country to dig and to trench, and to keep off theenemy by fortifications, under the idea that they are not to beallowed to set foot in our territory, and then, that we shouldsurround ourselves with a wall, which, in the first place, is by nomeans conducive to the health of cities, and is also apt to producea certain effeminacy in the minds of the inhabitants, inviting mento run thither instead of repelling their enemies, and leading them toimagine that their safety is due not to their keeping guard day andnight, but that when they are protected by walls and gates, thenthey may sleep in safety; as if they were not meant to labour, and didnot know that true repose comes from labour, and that disgracefulindolence and a careless temper of mind is only the renewal oftrouble. But if men must have walls, the private houses ought to be soarranged from the first that the whole city may be one wall, havingall the houses capable of defence by reason of their uniformity andequality towards the streets. The form of the city being that of asingle dwelling will have an agreeable aspect, and being easilyguarded will be infinitely better for security. Until the originalbuilding is completed, these should be the principal objects of theinhabitants; and the wardens of the city should superintend thework, and should impose a fine on him who is negligent; and in allthat relates to the city they should have a care of cleanliness, andnot allow a private person to encroach upon any public property eitherby buildings or excavations. Further, they ought to take care that therains from heaven flow off easily, and of any other matters whichmay have to be administered either within or without the city. Theguardians of the law shall pass any further enactments which theirexperience may show to be necessary, and supply any other points inwhich the law may be deficient. And now that these matters, and thebuildings about the agora, and the gymnasia, and places ofinstruction, and theatres, are all ready and waiting for scholarsand spectators, let us proceed to the subjects which follow marriagein the order of legislation.
Cle. By all means.
Ath. Assuming that marriages exist already, Cleinias, the mode oflife during the year after marriage, before children are born, willfollow next in order. In what way bride and bridegroom ought to livein a city which is to be superior to other cities, is a matter notat all easy for us to determine. There have been many difficultiesalready, but this will be the greatest of them, and the mostdisagreeable to the many. Still I cannot but say what appears to me tobe right and true, Cleinias.
Cle. Certainly.
Ath. He who imagines that he can give laws for the public conduct ofstates, while he leaves the private life of citizens wholly to takecare of itself; who thinks that individuals may pass the day as theyplease, and that there is no necessity of order in all things; he, Isay, who gives up the control of their private lives, and supposesthat they will conform to law in their common and public life, ismaking a great mistake. Why have I made this remark? Why, because I amgoing to enact that the bridegrooms should live at the commontables, just as they did before marriage. This was a singularitywhen first enacted by the legislator in your parts of the world,Megillus and Cleinias, as I should suppose, on the occasion of somewar or other similar danger, which caused the passing of the law,and which would be likely to occur in thinly-peopled places, and intimes of pressure. But when men had once tried and been accustomedto a common table, experience showed that the institution greatlyconduced to security; and in some such manner the custom of havingcommon tables arose among you.
Cle. Likely enough.
Ath. I said that there may have been singularity and danger inimposing such a custom at first, but that now there is not the samedifficulty. There is, however, another institution which is thenatural sequel to this, and would be excellent, if it existedanywhere, but at present it does not. The institution of which I amabout to speak is not easily described or executed; and would belike the legislator "combing wool into the fire," as people say, orperforming any other impossible and useless feat.
Cle. What is the cause, Stranger, of this extreme hesitation?