facture of
every kind of weapon and of warlike machines, in planning stratagems,
and in every affair of a military nature. And for these reasons, they
consider it necessary that these chiefs should have been philosophers,
historians, politicians, and physicists. Concerning the other two
triumvirs, understand remarks similar to those I have made about POWER.

_G.M._ I really wish that you would recount all their public duties, and
would distinguish between them, and also that you would tell clearly how
they are all taught in common.

_Capt._ They have dwellings in common and dormitories, and couches and
other necessaries. But at the end of every six months they are separated
by the masters. Some shall sleep in this ring, some in another; some in
the first apartment, and some in the second; and these apartments are
marked by means of the alphabet on the lintel. There are occupations,
mechanical and theoretical, common to both men and women, with this
difference, that the occupations which require more hard work, and
walking a long distance, are practised by men, such as ploughing,
sowing, gathering the fruits, working at the threshing-floor, and
perchance at the vintage. But it is customary to choose women for
milking the cows, and for making cheese. In like manner, they go to the
gardens near to the outskirts of the city both for collecting the plants
and for cultivating them. In fact, all sedentary and stationary pursuits
are practised by the women, such as weaving, spinning, sewing, cutting
the hair, shaving, dispensing medicines, and making all kinds of
garments. They are, however, excluded from working in wood and the
manufacture of arms. If a woman is fit to paint, she is not prevented
from doing so; nevertheless, music is given over to the women alone,
because they please the more, and of a truth to boys also. But the women
have not the practice of the drum and the horn.

And they prepare their feasts and arrange the tables in the following
manner. It is the peculiar work of the boys and girls under twenty to
wait at the tables. In every ring there are the suitable kitchens,
barns, and stores of utensils for eating and drinking, and over every
department an old man and an old woman preside. These two have at once
the command of those who serve, and the power of chastising, or causing
to be chastised, those who are negligent or disobedient; and they also
examine and mark each one, both male and female, who excels