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(For the last, compare the passage at the end of the third book,

in which he expects the lie about the earthborn men to be

believed in the second generation.)

BOOK VIII. And so we have arrived at the conclusion, that in the

perfect State wives and children are to be in common; and the

education and pursuits of men and women, both in war and peace,

are to be common, and kings are to be philosophers and warriors,

and the soldiers of the State are to live together, having all

things in common; and they are to be warrior athletes, receiving

no pay but only their food, from the other citizens. Now let us

return to the point at which we digressed. 'That is easily done,'

he replied: 'You were speaking of the State which you had

constructed, and of the individual who answered to this, both of

whom you affirmed to be good; and you said that of inferior

States there were four forms and four individuals corresponding

to them, which although deficient in various degrees, were all of

them worth inspecting with a view to determining the relative

happiness or misery of the best or worst man.