Athenian:  Let us, then, in the first place declare and affirm that the citizen who does not know these things ought never to have any kind of authority entrusted to him:  he must be stigmatized as ignorant, even though he be versed in calculation and skilled in all sorts of accomplishments, and feats of mental dexterity; and the opposite are to be called wise, even although, in the words of the proverb, they know neither how to read nor how to swim; and to them, as to men of sense, authority is to be committed.  For, O my friends, how can there be the least shadow of wisdom when there is no harmony?  There is none; but the noblest and greatest of harmonies may be truly said to be the greatest wisdom; and of this he is a partaker who lives according to reason; whereas he who is devoid of reason is the destroyer of his house and the very opposite of a saviour of the state:  he is utterly ignorant of political wisdom.  Let this, then, as I was saying, be laid down by us.

Cleinias:  Let it be so laid down.

Athenian:  I suppose that there must be rulers and subjects in states?

Cleinias:  Certainly.

Athenian:  And what are the principles on which men rule and obey in cities, whether great or small; and similarly in families?  What are they, and how many in number?  Is there not one claim of authority which is always just,—­that of fathers and mothers and in general of progenitors to rule over their offspring?

Cleinias:  There is.

Athenian:  Next follows the principle that the noble should rule over the ignoble; and, thirdly, that the elder should rule and the younger obey?

Cleinias:  To be sure.

Athenian:  And, fourthly, that slaves should be ruled, and their masters rule?

Cleinias:  Of course.

Athenian:  Fifthly, if I am not mistaken, comes the principle that the stronger shall rule, and the weaker be ruled?

Cleinias:  That is a rule not to be disobeyed.

Athenian:  Yes, and a rule which prevails very widely among all creatures, and is according to nature, as the Theban poet Pindar once said; and the sixth principle, and the greatest of all, is, that the wise should lead and command, and the ignorant follow and obey; and yet, O thou most wise Pindar, as I should reply him, this surely is not contrary to nature, but according to nature, being the rule of law over willing subjects, and not a rule of compulsion.

Cleinias:  Most true.

Athenian:  There is a seventh kind of rule which is awarded by lot, and is dear to the Gods and a token of good fortune:  he on whom the lot falls is a ruler, and he who fails in obtaining the lot goes away and is the subject; and this we affirm to be quite just.

Cleinias:  Certainly.