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The Republic of Plato is the longest of his works with the

exception of the Laws, and is certainly the greatest of them.

There are nearer approaches to modern metaphysics in the Philebus

and in the Sophist; the Politicus or Statesman is more ideal; the

form and institutions of the State are more clearly drawn out in

the Laws; as works of art, the Symposium and the Protagoras are

of higher excellence. But no other Dialogue of Plato has the same

largeness of view and the same perfection of style; no other

shows an equal knowledge of the world, or contains more of those

thoughts which are new as well as old, and not of one age only

but of all. Nowhere in Plato is there a deeper irony or a greater

wealth of humour or imagery, or more dramatic power. Nor in any

other of his writings is the attempt made to interweave life and

speculation, or to connect politics with philosophy.