s; they must neither be punished in hot blood nor ruined
by indulgence. The children of that age will have their own modes of
amusing themselves; they should be brought for their play to the village
temples, and placed under the care of nurses, who will be responsible
to twelve matrons annually chosen by the women who have authority over
marriage. These shall be appointed, one out of each tribe, and their
duty shall be to keep order at the meetings: slaves who break the rules
laid down by them, they shall punish by the help of some of the public
slaves; but citizens who dispute their authority shall be brought before
the magistrates. After six years of age there shall be a separation of
the sexes; the boys will go to learn riding and the use of arms, and the
girls may, if they please, also learn. Here I note a practical error in
early training. Mothers and nurses foolishly believe that the left hand
is by nature different from the right, whereas the left leg and foot are
acknowledged to be the same as the right. But the truth is that nature
made all things to balance, and the power of using the left hand, which
is of little importance in the case of the plectrum of the lyre, may
make a great difference in the art of the warrior, who should be a
skilled gymnast and able to fight and balance himself in any position.
If a man were a Briareus, he should use all his hundred hands at once;
at any rate, let everybody employ the two which they have. To these
matters the magistrates, male and female, should attend; the women
superintending the nursing and amusement of the children, and the men
superintending their education, that all of them, boys and girls alike,
may be sound, wind and limb, and not spoil the gifts of nature by bad
habits.

Education has two branches--gymnastic, which is concerned with the body;
and music, which improves the soul. And gymnastic has two parts, dancing
and wrestling. Of dancing one kind imitates musical recitation and aims
at stateliness and freedom; another kind is concerned with the training
of the body, and produces health, agility, and beauty. There is no
military use in the complex systems of wrestling which pass under the
names of Antaeus and Cercyon, or in the tricks of boxing, which are
attributed to Amycus and Epeius; but good wrestling and the habit of
extricating the neck, hands, and sides, should be diligently learnt and
taught. In our dances imitations of war should be practised, as i