, and does not bring the offender to trial,
shall be amenable to the same laws as the younger offender himself, and
shall pay a heavier fine, and be incapable of ever commanding the young.
The guardians of the law are to be careful inspectors of these matters,
and shall either prevent or punish offenders. Every man should remember
the universal rule, that he who is not a good servant will not be a
good master; a man should pride himself more upon serving well than upon
commanding well: first upon serving the laws, which is also the service
of the Gods; in the second place, upon having served ancient and
honourable men in the days of his youth. Furthermore, during the two
years in which any one is a warden of the country, his daily food ought
to be of a simple and humble kind. When the twelve have been chosen, let
them and the five meet together, and determine that they will be
their own servants, and, like servants, will not have other slaves and
servants for their own use, neither will they use those of the villagers
and husbandmen for their private advantage, but for the public
service only; and in general they should make up their minds to live
independently by themselves, servants of each other and of themselves.
Further, at all seasons of the year, summer and winter alike, let them
be under arms and survey minutely the whole country; thus they will at
once keep guard, and at the same time acquire a perfect knowledge of
every locality. There can be no more important kind of information than
the exact knowledge of a man's own country; and for this as well as for
more general reasons of pleasure and advantage, hunting with dogs and
other kinds of sports should be pursued by the young. The service to
whom this is committed may be called the secret police or wardens of
the country; the name does not much signify, but every one who has
the safety of the state at heart will use his utmost diligence in this
service.

After the wardens of the country, we have to speak of the election of
wardens of the agora and of the city. The wardens of the country were
sixty in number, and the wardens of the city will be three, and will
divide the twelve parts of the city into three; like the former, they
shall have care of the ways, and of the different high roads which lead
out of the country into the city, and of the buildings, that they may be
all made according to law;--also of the waters, which the guardians of
the supply preserve