justice in the State
first, and will then proceed to the individual. Accordingly he begins to
construct the State.

Society arises out of the wants of man. His first want is food; his
second a house; his third a coat. The sense of these needs and the
possibility of satisfying them by exchange, draw individuals together on
the same spot; and this is the beginning of a State, which we take the
liberty to invent, although necessity is the real inventor. There must
be first a husbandman, secondly a builder, thirdly a weaver, to which
may be added a cobbler. Four or five citizens at least are required to
make a city. Now men have different natures, and one man will do one
thing better than many; and business waits for no man. Hence there must
be a division of labour into different employments; into wholesale
and retail trade; into workers, and makers of workmen's tools; into
shepherds and husbandmen. A city which includes all this will have far
exceeded the limit of four or five, and yet not be very large. But then
again imports will be required, and imports necessitate exports,
and this implies variety of produce in order to attract the taste of
purchasers; also merchants and ships. In the city too we must have a
market and money and retail trades; otherwise buyers and sellers will
never meet, and the valuable time of the producers will be wasted in
vain efforts at exchange. If we add hired servants the State will be
complete. And we may guess that somewhere in the intercourse of the
citizens with one another justice and injustice will appear.

Here follows a rustic picture of their way of life. They spend their
days in houses which they have built for themselves; they make their
own clothes and produce their own corn and wine. Their principal food is
meal and flour, and they drink in moderation. They live on the best
of terms with each other, and take care not to have too many children.
'But,' said Glaucon, interposing, 'are they not to have a relish?'
Certainly; they will have salt and olives and cheese, vegetables and
fruits, and chestnuts to roast at the fire. ''Tis a city of pigs,
Socrates.' Why, I replied, what do you want more? 'Only the comforts of
life,--sofas and tables, also sauces and sweets.' I see; you want not
only a State, but a luxurious State; and possibly in the more complex
frame we may sooner find justice and injustice. Then the fine arts must
go to work--every conceivable instrument and ornament of lu