will take their soldiers and place them in houses
such as we were describing, which are common to all, and contain nothing
private, or individual; and about their property, you remember what we
agreed?

Yes, I remember that no one was to have any of the ordinary possessions
of mankind; they were to be warrior athletes and guardians, receiving
from the other citizens, in lieu of annual payment, only their
maintenance, and they were to take care of themselves and of the whole
State.

True, I said; and now that this division of our task is concluded, let
us find the point at which we digressed, that we may return into the old
path.

There is no difficulty in returning; you implied, then as now, that you
had finished the description of the State: you said that such a State
was good, and that the man was good who answered to it, although, as now
appears, you had more excellent things to relate both of State and man.
And you said further, that if this was the true form, then the others
were false; and of the false forms, you said, as I remember, that there
were four principal ones, and that their defects, and the defects of
the individuals corresponding to them, were worth examining. When we had
seen all the individuals, and finally agreed as to who was the best and
who was the worst of them, we were to consider whether the best was not
also the happiest, and the worst the most miserable. I asked you
what were the four forms of government of which you spoke, and then
Polemarchus and Adeimantus put in their word; and you began again, and
have found your way to the point at which we have now arrived.

Your recollection, I said, is most exact.

Then, like a wrestler, he replied, you must put yourself again in the
same position; and let me ask the same questions, and do you give me the
same answer which you were about to give me then.

Yes, if I can, I will, I said.

I shall particularly wish to hear what were the four constitutions of
which you were speaking.

That question, I said, is easily answered: the four governments of which
I spoke, so far as they have distinct names, are, first, those of Crete
and Sparta, which are generally applauded; what is termed oligarchy
comes next; this is not equally approved, and is a form of government
which teems with evils: thirdly, democracy, which naturally follows
oligarchy, although very different: and lastly comes tyranny, great
and famous, which differs from them all, and is