ior;
and in a word, not teach the soul or accustom her to know or understand
how to do anything apart from others. Of all soldiers the life should
be always and in all things as far as possible in common and together;
there neither is nor ever will be a higher, or better, or more
scientific principle than this for the attainment of salvation and
victory in war. And we ought in time of peace from youth upwards to
practise this habit of commanding others, and of being commanded by
others; anarchy should have no place in the life of man or of the beasts
who are subject to man. I may add that all dances ought to be performed
with a view to military excellence; and agility and ease should be
cultivated for the same object, and also endurance of the want of meats
and drinks, and of winter cold and summer heat, and of hard couches;
and, above all, care should be taken not to destroy the peculiar
qualities of the head and the feet by surrounding them with extraneous
coverings, and so hindering their natural growth of hair and soles. For
these are the extremities, and of all the parts of the body, whether
they are preserved or not is of the greatest consequence; the one is
the servant of the whole body, and the other the master, in whom all the
ruling senses are by nature set. Let the young men imagine that he hears
in what has preceded the praises of the military life; the law shall
be as follows: He shall serve in war who is on the roll or appointed
to some special service, and if any one is absent from cowardice, and
without the leave of the generals, he shall be indicted before the
military commanders for failure of service when the army comes home; and
the soldiers shall be his judges; the heavy-armed, and the cavalry, and
the other arms of the service shall form separate courts; and they shall
bring the heavy-armed before the heavy-armed, and the horsemen before
the horsemen, and the others in like manner before their peers; and he
who is found guilty shall never be allowed to compete for any prize of
valour, or indict another for not serving on an expedition, or be
an accuser at all in any military matters. Moreover, the court shall
further determine what punishment he shall suffer, or what penalty he
shall pay. When the suits for failure of service are completed, the
leaders of the several kinds of troops shall again hold an assembly, and
they shall adjudge the prizes of valour; and he who likes searching
for judgment in