full armour, to be a
testimony that all animals which associate together, male as well as
female, may, if they please, practise in common the virtue which belongs
to them without distinction of sex.

Now the country was inhabited in those days by various classes of
citizens;--there were artisans, and there were husbandmen, and there
was also a warrior class originally set apart by divine men. The
latter dwelt by themselves, and had all things suitable for nurture
and education; neither had any of them anything of their own, but they
regarded all that they had as common property; nor did they claim to
receive of the other citizens anything more than their necessary food.
And they practised all the pursuits which we yesterday described as
those of our imaginary guardians. Concerning the country the Egyptian
priests said what is not only probable but manifestly true, that the
boundaries were in those days fixed by the Isthmus, and that in the
direction of the continent they extended as far as the heights of
Cithaeron and Parnes; the boundary line came down in the direction of
the sea, having the district of Oropus on the right, and with the river
Asopus as the limit on the left. The land was the best in the world, and
was therefore able in those days to support a vast army, raised from
the surrounding people. Even the remnant of Attica which now exists may
compare with any region in the world for the variety and excellence of
its fruits and the suitableness of its pastures to every sort of animal,
which proves what I am saying; but in those days the country was fair
as now and yielded far more abundant produce. How shall I establish my
words? and what part of it can be truly called a remnant of the land
that then was? The whole country is only a long promontory extending far
into the sea away from the rest of the continent, while the surrounding
basin of the sea is everywhere deep in the neighbourhood of the shore.
Many great deluges have taken place during the nine thousand years, for
that is the number of years which have elapsed since the time of which I
am speaking; and during all this time and through so many changes, there
has never been any considerable accumulation of the soil coming down
from the mountains, as in other places, but the earth has fallen away
all round and sunk out of sight. The consequence is, that in comparison
of what then was, there are remaining only the bones of the wasted body,
as they may be