shall be placed in a suitable situation, as nearly as possible
in the centre of the country, and shall be divided into twelve wards.
First, we will erect an acropolis, encircled by a wall, within which
shall be placed the temples of Hestia, and Zeus, and Athene. From this
shall be drawn lines dividing the city, and also the country, into
twelve sections, and the country shall be subdivided into 5040 lots.
Each lot shall contain two parts, one at a distance, the other near the
city; and the distance of one part shall be compensated by the nearness
of the other, the badness and goodness by the greater or less size.
Twelve lots will be assigned to twelve Gods, and they will give their
names to the tribes. The divisions of the city shall correspond to those
of the country; and every man shall have two habitations, one near the
centre of the country, the other at the extremity.

The objection will naturally arise, that all the advantages of which we
have been speaking will never concur. The citizens will not tolerate a
settlement in which they are deprived of gold and silver, and have the
number of their families regulated, and the sites of their houses fixed
by law. It will be said that our city is a mere image of wax. And the
legislator will answer: 'I know it, but I maintain that we ought to set
forth an ideal which is as perfect as possible. If difficulties arise
in the execution of the plan, we must avoid them and carry out the
remainder. But the legislator must first be allowed to complete his idea
without interruption.'

The number twelve, which we have chosen for the number of division,
must run through all parts of the state,--phratries, villages, ranks
of soldiers, coins, and measures wet and dry, which are all to be made
commensurable with one another. There is no meanness in requiring that
the smallest vessels should have a common measure; for the divisions of
number are useful in measuring height and depth, as well as sounds and
motions, upwards or downwards, or round and round. The legislator
should impress on his citizens the value of arithmetic. No instrument of
education has so much power; nothing more tends to sharpen and inspire
the dull intellect. But the legislator must be careful to instil a
noble and generous spirit into the students, or they will tend to become
cunning rather than wise. This may be proved by the example of the
Egyptians and Phoenicians, who, notwithstanding their knowledge of
arithm