rulers and there are subjects in states. And the first claim to rule is
that of parents to rule over their children; the second, that of the noble
to rule over the ignoble; thirdly, the elder must govern the younger; in
the fourth place, the slave must obey his master; fifthly, there is the
power of the stronger, which the poet Pindar declares to be according to
nature; sixthly, there is the rule of the wiser, which is also according
to nature, as I must inform Pindar, if he does not know, and is the rule
of law over obedient subjects. 'Most true.' And there is a seventh kind of
rule which the Gods love,--in this the ruler is elected by lot.

Then, now, we playfully say to him who fancies that it is easy to make
laws:--You see, legislator, the many and inconsistent claims to authority;
here is a spring of troubles which you must stay. And first of all you
must help us to consider how the kings of Argos and Messene in olden days
destroyed their famous empire--did they forget the saying of Hesiod, that
'the half is better than the whole'? And do we suppose that the ignorance
of this truth is less fatal to kings than to peoples? 'Probably the evil
is increased by their way of life.' The kings of those days transgressed
the laws and violated their oaths. Their deeds were not in harmony with
their words, and their folly, which seemed to them wisdom, was the ruin of
the state. And how could the legislator have prevented this evil?--the
remedy is easy to see now, but was not easy to foresee at the time. 'What
is the remedy?' The institutions of Sparta may teach you, Megillus.
Wherever there is excess, whether the vessel has too large a sail, or the
body too much food, or the mind too much power, there destruction is
certain. And similarly, a man who possesses arbitrary power is soon
corrupted, and grows hateful to his dearest friends. In order to guard
against this evil, the God who watched over Sparta gave you two kings
instead of one, that they might balance one another; and further to lower
the pulse of your body politic, some human wisdom, mingled with divine