Socrates “Why,” I said, “the father habitually tries to resemble the child and is afraid of his sons, and the son likens himself to the father and feels no awe or fear of his parents,¹ 563a so that he may be forsooth a free man.² And the resident alien feels himself equal to the citizen and the citizen to him, and the foreigner likewise.” “Yes, these things do happen,” he said. “They do,” said I, “and such other trifles as these. The teacher in such case fears and fawns upon the pupils, and the pupils pay no heed to the teacher or to their overseers either. And in general the young ape their elders and vie with them in speech and action, while the old, accommodating³ themselves to the young, 563b are full of pleasantry⁴ and graciousness, imitating the young for fear they may be thought disagreeable and authoritative.” “By all means,” he said. “And the climax of popular liberty, my friend,” I said, “is attained in such a city when the purchased slaves, male and female, are no less free⁵ than the owners who paid for them. And I almost forgot to mention the spirit of freedom and equal rights in the relation of men to women and women to men.” 563c “Shall we not, then,” said he, “in Aeschylean phrase,⁶ say “whatever rises to our lips”?” “Certainly,” I said, “so I will. Without experience of it no one would believe how much freer the very beasts⁷ subject to men are in such a city than elsewhere. The dogs literally verify the adage⁸ and “like their mistresses become.” And likewise the horses and asses are wont to hold on their way with the utmost freedom and dignity, bumping into everyone who meets them and who does not step aside.⁹ And so all things everywhere are just bursting with the spirit of liberty.¹⁰” 563d “It is my own dream¹¹ you are telling me,” he said; “for it often happens to me when I go to the country.” “And do you note that the sum total of all these items when footed up is that they render the souls of the citizens so sensitive¹² that they chafe at the slightest suggestion of servitude¹³ and will not endure it? For you are aware that they finally pay no heed even to the laws¹⁴ written or unwritten,¹⁵ 563e so that forsooth they may have no master anywhere over them.” “I know it very well,” said he.

“This, then, my friend,” said I, “is the fine and vigorous root from which tyranny grows, in my opinion.” “Vigorous indeed,” he said; “but what next?”

“The same malady,” I said, “that, arising in oligarchy, destroyed it, this more widely diffused and more violent as a result of this licence, enslaves democracy. And in truth, any excess is wont to bring about a corresponding reaction¹⁶ to the opposite in the seasons, 564a in plants, in animal bodies,¹⁷ and most especially in political societies.” “Probably,” he said. “And so the probable outcome of too much freedom is only too much slavery in the individual and the state.” “Yes, that is probable.” “Probably, then, tyranny develops out of no other constitution¹⁸ than democracy—from the height of liberty, I take it, the fiercest extreme of servitude.” “That is reasonable,” he said. “That, however, I believe, was not your question,¹⁹ but what identical²⁰ malady 564b arising in democracy as well as in oligarchy enslaves it?” “You say truly,” he replied. “That then,” I said, “was what I had in mind, the class of idle and spendthrift men, the most enterprising and vigorous portion being leaders and the less manly spirits followers. We were likening them to drones,²¹ some equipped with stings and others stingless.” “And rightly too,” he said. “These two kinds, then,” I said, “when they arise in any state, create a disturbance like that produced in the body²² by phlegm and gall. 564c And so a good physician and lawgiver must be on his guard from afar against the two kinds, like a prudent apiarist, first and chiefly²³ to prevent their springing up, but if they do arise to have them as quickly as may be cut out, cells and all.” “Yes, by Zeus,” he said, “by all means.” “Then let us take it in this way,” I said, “so that we may contemplate our purpose more distinctly.²⁴” “How?” “Let us in our theory make a tripartite²⁵ division of the democratic state, which is in fact its structure. One such class, 564d as we have described, grows up in it because of the licence, no less than in the oligarchic state.” “That is so.” “But it is far fiercer in this state than in that.” “How so?” “There, because it is not held in honor, but is kept out of office, it is not exercised and does not grow vigorous. But in a democracy this is the dominating class, with rare exceptions, and the fiercest part of it makes speeches and transacts business, and the remainder swarms and settles about the speaker’s stand and keeps up a buzzing²⁶ and 564e tolerates²⁷ no dissent, so that everything with slight exceptions is administered by that class in such a state.” “Quite so,” he said. “And so from time to time there emerges or is secreted from the multitude another group of this sort.” “What sort?” he said. “When all are pursuing wealth the most orderly and thrifty natures for the most part become the richest.” “It is likely.” “Then they are the most abundant supply of honey for the drones, and it is the easiest to extract.²⁸” “Why, yes,” he said, “how could one squeeze it out of those who have little?” “The capitalistic²⁹ class is, I take it, the name by which they are designated—the pasture of the drones.” “Pretty much so,” he said.

565a“And the third class,³⁰ composing the “people,” would comprise all quiet³¹ cultivators of their own farms³² who possess little property. This is the largest and most potent group in a democracy when it meets in assembly.” “Yes, it is,” he said, “but it will not often do that,³³ unless it gets a share of the honey.” “Well, does it not always share,” I said, “to the extent that the men at the head find it possible, in distributing³⁴ to the people what they take from the well-to-do,³⁵ to keep the lion’s share for themselves³⁶?” “Why, yes,” he said, “it shares 565b in that sense.” “And so, I suppose, those who are thus plundered are compelled to defend themselves by speeches in the assembly and any action in their power.” “Of course.” “And thereupon the charge is brought against them by the other party, though they may have no revolutionary designs, that they are plotting against the people, and it is said that they are oligarchs.³⁷” “Surely.” “And then finally, when they see the people, not of its own will³⁸ but through misapprehension,³⁹ and being misled 565c by the calumniators, attempting to wrong them, why then,⁴⁰ whether they wish it or not,⁴¹ they become in very deed oligarchs, not willingly, but this evil too is engendered by those drones which sting them.” “Precisely.” “And then there ensue impeachments and judgements and lawsuits on either side.” “Yes, indeed.” “And is it not always the way of a demos to put forward one man as its special champion and protector⁴² and cherish and magnify him?” “Yes, it is.” “This, then, is plain,” 565d said I, “that when a tyrant arises he sprouts from a protectorate root⁴³ and from nothing else.” “Very plain.” “What, then, is the starting-point of the transformation of a protector into a tyrant? Is it not obviously when the protector’s acts begin to reproduce the legend that is told of the shrine of Lycaean Zeus in Arcadia⁴⁴?” “What is that?” he said. “The story goes that he who tastes of the one bit of human entrails minced up with those of other victims 565e is inevitably transformed into a wolf. Have you not heard the tale?” “I have.”

“And is it not true that in like manner a leader of the people who, getting control of a docile mob,⁴⁵ does not withhold his hand from the shedding of tribal blood,⁴⁶ but by the customary unjust accusations brings a citizen into court and assassinates him, blotting out⁴⁷ a human life, and with unhallowed tongue and lips that have tasted kindred blood, 566a banishes and slays and hints at the abolition of debts and the partition of lands⁴⁸—is it not the inevitable consequence and a decree of fate⁴⁹ that such a one be either slain by his enemies or become a tyrant and be transformed from a man into a wolf?” “It is quite inevitable,” he said. “He it is,” I said, “who becomes the leader of faction against the possessors of property.⁵⁰” “Yes, he.” “May it not happen that he is driven into exile and, being restored in defiance of his enemies, returns a finished tyrant?” “Obviously.” “And if they are unable 566b to expel him or bring about his death by calumniating him to the people, they plot to assassinate him by stealth.” “That is certainly wont to happen,” said he. “And thereupon those who have reached this stage devise that famous petition⁵¹ of the tyrant—to ask from the people a bodyguard to make their city safe⁵² for the friend of democracy.” 566c “They do indeed,” he said. “And the people grant it, I suppose, fearing for him but unconcerned for themselves.” “Yes, indeed.” “And when he sees this, the man who has wealth and with his wealth the repute of hostility to democracy,⁵³ then in the words of the oracle delivered to Croesus, By the pebble-strewn strand of the Hermos Swift is his flight, he stays not nor blushes to show the white feather. ⁵⁴” “No, for he would never get a second chance to blush.” “And he who is caught, methinks, is delivered to his death.” “Inevitably.” “And then obviously that protector does not lie prostrate, mighty with far-flung limbs, ⁵⁵ in Homeric overthrow,⁵⁶ but 566d overthrowing many others towers in the car of state⁵⁷ transformed from a protector into a perfect and finished tyrant.” “What else is likely?” he said.

“Shall we, then, portray the happiness,” said I, “of the man and the state in which such a creature arises?” “By all means let us describe it,” he said. “Then at the start and in the first days does he not smile⁵⁸ upon all men and greet everybody he meets and deny that he is a tyrant, 566e and promise many things in private and public, and having freed men from debts, and distributed lands to the people and his own associates, he affects a gracious and gentle manner to all?” “Necessarily,” he said. “But when, I suppose, he has come to terms with some of his exiled enemies⁵⁹ and has got others destroyed and is no longer disturbed by them, in the first place he is always stirring up some war⁶⁰ so that the people may be in need of a leader.” “That is likely.”