(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.

Then Polemarchus and Adeimantus interrupted you, and this led to another argument,--and so here we are.' Suppose that we put ourselves again in the same position, and do you repeat your question.