The Dialogue of Critias, by Plato:
Critias
prays for knowledge and asks forbearance:
Timaeus. How thankful I am, Socrates, that I have
arrived at last, and, like a weary traveller after a long journey,
may be at rest! And I pray the being who always was of old, and
has now been by me revealed, to grant that my words may endure in
so far as they have been spoken truly and acceptably to him; but
if unintentionally I have said anything wrong, I pray that he will
impose upon me a just retribution, and the just retribution of him
who errs is that he should be set right. Wishing, then, to speak
truly in future concerning the generation of the gods, I pray him
to give me knowledge, which of all medicines is the most perfect
and best. And now having offered my prayer I deliver up the argument
to Critias, who is to speak next according to our agreement.
Critias. And I, Timaeus, accept the trust, and
as you at first said that you were going to speak of high matters,
and begged that some forbearance might be shown to you, I too ask
the same or greater forbearance for what I am about to say. And
although I very well know that my request may appear to be somewhat
and discourteous, I must make it nevertheless. For will any man
of sense deny that you have spoken well? I can only attempt to show
that I ought to have more indulgence than you, because my theme
is more difficult; and I shall argue that to seem to speak well
of the gods to men is far easier than to speak well of men to men:
for the inexperience and utter ignorance of his hearers about any
subject is a great assistance to him who has to speak of it, and
we know how ignorant we are concerning the gods. But I should like
to make my meaning clearer, if Timaeus, you will follow me.
All that is said by any of us can only be imitation
and representation. For if we consider the likenesses which painters
make of bodies divine and heavenly, and the different degrees of
gratification with which the eye of the spectator receives them,
we shall see that we are satisfied with the artist who is able in
any degree to imitate the earth and its mountains, and the rivers,
and the woods, and the universe, and the things that are and move
therein, and further, that knowing nothing precise about such matters,
we do not examine or analyze the painting; all that is required
is a sort of indistinct and deceptive mode of shadowing them forth.
But when a person endeavours to paint the human form we are quick
at finding out defects, and our familiar knowledge makes us severe
judges of any one who does not render every point of similarity.
And we may observe the same thing to happen in discourse; we are
satisfied with a picture of divine and heavenly things which has
very little likeness to them; but we are more precise in our criticism
of mortal and human things. Wherefore if at the moment of speaking
I cannot suitably express my meaning, you must excuse me, considering
that to form approved likenesses of human things is the reverse
of easy. This is what I want to suggest to you, and at the same
time to beg, Socrates, that I may have not less, but more indulgence
conceded to me in what I am about to say. Which favour, if I am
right in asking, I hope that you will be ready to grant.
Socrates. Certainly, Critias, we will grant your
request, and we will grant the same by anticipation to Hermocrates,
as well as to you and Timaeus; for I have no doubt that when his
turn comes a little while hence, he will make the same request which
you have made. In order, then, that he may provide himself with
a fresh beginning, and not be compelled to say the same things over
again, let him understand that the indulgence is already extended
by anticipation to him. And now, friend Critias, I will announce
to you the judgment of the theatre. They are of opinion that the
last performer was wonderfully successful, and that you will need
a great deal of indulgence before you will be able to take his place.
Hermocrates. The warning, Socrates, which you have addressed to
him, I must also take to myself. But remember, Critias, that faint
heart never yet raised a trophy; and therefore you must go and attack
the argument like a man. First invoke Apollo and the Muses, and
then let us hear you sound the praises and show forth the virtues
of your ancient citizens.
Crit. Friend Hermocrates, you, who are stationed
last and have another in front of you, have not lost heart as yet;
the gravity of the situation will soon be revealed to you; meanwhile
I accept your exhortations and encouragements. But besides the gods
and goddesses whom you have mentioned, I would specially invoke
Mnemosyne; for all the important part of my discourse is dependent
on her favour, and if I can recollect and recite enough of what
was said by the priests and brought hither by Solon, I doubt not
that I shall satisfy the requirements of this theatre. And now,
making no more excuses, I will proceed.
Introduction
of the combatants of the war:
Let me begin by observing first of all, that nine
thousand was the sum of years which had elapsed since the war which
was said to have taken place between those who dwelt outside the
Pillars of Heracles and all who dwelt within them; this war I am
going to describe.
Of the combatants on the one side, the city of
Athens was reported to have been the leader and to have fought out
the war; the combatants on the other side were commanded by the
kings of Atlantis, which, as was saying, was an island greater in
extent than Libya and Asia, and when afterwards sunk by an earthquake,
became an impassable barrier of mud to voyagers sailing from hence
to any part of the ocean.
History of the Hellenes;
Hephaestus & Athene found
ancient Athens, in the days of old:
The progress of the history will unfold the various
nations of barbarians and families of Hellenes which then existed,
as they successively appear on the scene; but I must describe first
of all Athenians of that day, and their enemies who fought with
them, and then the respective powers and governments of the two
kingdoms. Let us give the precedence to Athens.
In the days of old the gods had the whole earth
distributed among them by allotment. There was no quarrelling; for
you cannot rightly suppose that the gods did not know what was proper
for each of them to have, or, knowing this, that they would seek
to procure for themselves by contention that which more properly
belonged to others. They all of them by just apportionment obtained
what they wanted, and peopled their own districts; and when they
had peopled them they tended us, their nurselings and possessions,
as shepherds tend their flocks, excepting only that they did not
use blows or bodily force, as shepherds do, but governed us like
pilots from the stern of the vessel, which is an easy way of guiding
animals, holding our souls by the rudder of persuasion according
to their own pleasure;-thus did they guide all mortal creatures.
Now different gods had their allotments in different places which
they set in order.
The history of ancient Athens was
forgotten:
Hephaestus and Athene, who were brother and sister,
and sprang from the same father, having a common nature, and being
united also in the love of philosophy and art, both obtained as
their common portion this land, which was naturally adapted for
wisdom and virtue; and there they implanted brave children of the
soil, and put into their minds the order of government; their names
are preserved, but their actions have disappeared by reason of the
destruction of those who received the tradition, and the lapse of
ages. For when there were any survivors, as I have already said,
they were men who dwelt in the mountains; and they were ignorant
of the art of writing, and had heard only the names of the chiefs
of the land, but very little about their actions. The names they
were willing enough to give to their children; but the virtues and
the laws of their predecessors, they knew only by obscure traditions;
and as they themselves and their children lacked for many generations
the necessaries of life, they directed their attention to the supply
of their wants, and of them they conversed, to the neglect of events
that had happened in times long past; for mythology and the enquiry
into antiquity are first introduced into cities when they begin
to have leisure, and when they see that the necessaries of life
have already been provided, but not before. And this is reason why
the names of the ancients have been preserved to us and not their
actions. This I infer because Solon said that the priests in their
narrative of that war mentioned most of the names which are recorded
prior to the time of Theseus, such as Cecrops, and Erechtheus, and
Erichthonius, and Erysichthon, and the names of the women in like
manner.
Classes of citizens in ancient Athens:
Moreover, since military pursuits were then common
to men and women, the men of those days in accordance with the custom
of the time set up a figure and image of the goddess in full armour,
to be a testimony that all animals which associate together, male
as well as female, may, if they please, practise in common the virtue
which belongs to them without distinction of sex.
Now the country was inhabited in those days by
various classes of citizens;-there were artisans, and there were
husbandmen, and there was also a warrior class originally set apart
by divine men. The latter dwelt by themselves, and had all things
suitable for nurture and education; neither had any of them anything
of their own, but they regarded all that they had as common property;
nor did they claim to receive of the other citizens anything more
than their necessary food. And they practised all the pursuits which
we yesterday described as those of our imaginary guardians.
Description of the remnant of Attica:
Concerning the country the Egyptian priests said
what is not only probable but manifestly true, that the boundaries
were in those days fixed by the Isthmus, and that in the direction
of the continent they extended as far as the heights of Cithaeron
and Parnes; the boundary line came down in the direction of the
sea, having the district of Oropus on the right, and with the river
Asopus as the limit on the left. The land was the best in the world,
and was therefore able in those days to support a vast army, raised
from the surrounding people. Even the remnant of Attica which now
exists may compare with any region in the world for the variety
and excellence of its fruits and the suitableness of its pastures
to every sort of animal, which proves what I am saying; but in those
days the country was fair as now and yielded far more abundant produce.
How shall I establish my words? and what part of
it can be truly called a remnant of the land that then was? The
whole country is only a long promontory extending far into the sea
away from the rest of the continent, while the surrounding basin
of the sea is everywhere deep in the neighbourhood of the shore.
Many great deluges have taken place during the
nine thousand years, for that is the number of years which have
elapsed since the time of which I am speaking; and during all this
time and through so many changes, there has never been any considerable
accumulation of the soil coming down from the mountains, as in other
places, but the earth has fallen away all round and sunk out of
sight. The consequence is, that in comparison of what then was,
there are remaining only the bones of the wasted body, as they may
be called, as in the case of small islands, all the richer and softer
parts of the soil having fallen away, and the mere skeleton of the
land being left.
The primal state of ancient Athens and
the extraordinary inundation:
But in the primitive state of the country, its
mountains were high hills covered with soil, and the plains, as
they are termed by us, of Phelleus were full of rich earth, and
there was abundance of wood in the mountains. Of this last the traces
still remain, for although some of the mountains now only afford
sustenance to bees, not so very long ago there were still to be
seen roofs of timber cut from trees growing there, which were of
a size sufficient to cover the largest houses; and there were many
other high trees, cultivated by man and bearing abundance of food
for cattle.
Moreover, the land reaped the benefit of the annual
rainfall, not as now losing the water which flows off the bare earth
into the sea, but, having an abundant supply in all places, and
receiving it into herself and treasuring it up in the close clay
soil, it let off into the hollows the streams which it absorbed
from the heights, providing everywhere abundant fountains and rivers,
of which there may still be observed sacred memorials in places
where fountains once existed; and this proves the truth of what
I am saying.
Such was the natural state of the country, which
was cultivated, as we may well believe, by true husbandmen, who
made husbandry their business, and were lovers of honour, and of
a noble nature, and had a soil the best in the world, and abundance
of water, and in the heaven above an excellently attempered climate.
Now the city in those days was arranged on this
wise. In the first place the Acropolis was not as now.
For the fact is that a single night of excessive
rain washed away the earth and laid bare the rock; at the same time
there were earthquakes, and then occurred the extraordinary inundation,
which was the third before the great destruction of Deucalion.
Physical boundaries and culture of ancient
Athens:
But in primitive times the hill of the Acropolis
extended to the Eridanus and Ilissus, and included the Pnyx on one
side, and the Lycabettus as a boundary on the opposite side to the
Pnyx, and was all well covered with soil, and level at the top,
except in one or two places.
Outside the Acropolis and under the sides of the
hill there dwelt artisans, and such of the husbandmen as were tilling
the ground near; the warrior class dwelt by themselves around the
temples of Athene and Hephaestus at the summit, which moreover they
had enclosed with a single fence like the garden of a single house.
On the north side they had dwellings in common and had erected halls
for dining in winter, and had all the buildings which they needed
for their common life, besides temples, but there was no adorning
of them with gold and silver, for they made no use of these for
any purpose; they took a middle course between meanness and ostentation,
and built modest houses in which they and their children’s
children grew old, and they handed them down to others who were
like themselves, always the same. But in summer-time they left their
gardens and gymnasia and dining halls, and then the southern side
of the hill was made use of by them for the same purpose.
Where the Acropolis now is there was a fountain,
which was choked by the earthquake, and has left only the few small
streams which still exist in the vicinity, but in those days the
fountain gave an abundant supply of water for all and of suitable
temperature in summer and in winter.
This is how they dwelt, being the guardians of
their own citizens and the leaders of the Hellenes, who were their
willing followers. And they took care to preserve the same number
of men and women through all time, being so many as were required
for warlike purposes, then as now-that is to say, about twenty thousand.
Such were the ancient Athenians, and after this
manner they righteously administered their own land and the rest
of Hellas; they were renowned all over Europe and Asia for the beauty
of their persons and for the many virtues of their souls, and of
all men who lived in those days they were the most illustrious.
And next, if I have not forgotten what I heard when I was a child,
I will impart to you the character and origin of their adversaries.
For friends should not keep their stories to themselves, but have
them in common.
Why the original writing has Hellenic
names:
Yet, before proceeding further in the narrative,
I ought to warn you, that you must not be surprised if you should
perhaps hear Hellenic names given to foreigners. I will tell you
the reason of this: Solon, who was intending to use the tale for
his poem, enquired into the meaning of the names, and found that
the early Egyptians in writing them down had translated them into
their own language, and he recovered the meaning of the several
names and when copying them out again translated them into our language.
My great-grandfather, Dropides, had the original
writing, which is still in my possession, and was carefully studied
by me when I was a child Therefore if you hear names such as are
used in this country, you must not be surprised, for I have told
how they came to be introduced.
Poseidon and Cleito found the
City of Atlantis:
The tale, which was of great length, began as follows:-
I have before remarked in speaking of the allotments
of the gods, that they distributed the whole earth into portions
differing in extent, and made for themselves temples and instituted
sacrifices. And Poseidon, receiving for his lot the island of Atlantis,
begat children by a mortal woman, and settled them in a part of
the island, which I will describe.
Looking towards the sea, but in the centre of the
whole island, there was a plain which is said to have been the fairest
of all plains and very fertile. Near the plain again, and also in
the centre of the island at a distance of about fifty stadia, there
was a mountain not very high on any side.
In this mountain there dwelt one of the earth born
primeval men of that country, whose name was Evenor, and he had
a wife named Leucippe, and they had an only daughter who was called
Cleito. The maiden had already reached womanhood, when her father
and mother died; Poseidon fell in love with her and had intercourse
with her, and breaking the ground, inclosed the hill in which she
dwelt all round, making alternate zones of sea and land larger and
smaller, encircling one another; there were two of land and three
of water, which he turned as with a lathe, each having its circumference
equidistant every way from the centre, so that no man could get
to the island, for ships and voyages were not as yet. He himself,
being a god, found no difficulty in making special arrangements
for the centre island, bringing up two springs of water from beneath
the earth, one of warm water and the other of cold, and making every
variety of food to spring up abundantly from the soil.
The Kings of Atlantis and their portions
of the Empire:
He also begat and brought up five pairs of twin
male children; and dividing the island of Atlantis into ten portions,
he gave to the first-born of the eldest pair his mother’s
dwelling and the surrounding allotment, which was the largest and
best, and made him king over the rest; the others he made princes,
and gave them rule over many men, and a large territory. And he
named them all; the eldest, who was the first king, he named Atlas,
and after him the whole island and the ocean were called Atlantic.
To his twin brother, who was born after him, and obtained as his
lot the extremity of the island towards the Pillars of Heracles,
facing the country which is now called the region of Gades in that
part of the world, he gave the name which in the Hellenic language
is Eumelus, in the language of the country which is named after
him, Gadeirus. Of the second pair of twins he called one Ampheres,
and the other Evaemon. To the elder of the third pair of twins he
gave the name Mneseus, and Autochthon to the one who followed him.
Of the fourth pair of twins he called the elder Elasippus, and the
younger Mestor. And of the fifth pair he gave to the elder the name
of Azaes, and to the younger that of Diaprepes. All these and their
descendants for many generations were the inhabitants and rulers
of divers islands in the open sea; and also, as has been already
said, they held sway in our direction over the country within the
Pillars as far as Egypt and Tyrrhenia.
Now Atlas had a numerous and honourable family,
and they retained the kingdom, the eldest son handing it on to his
eldest for many generations; and they had such an amount of wealth
as was never before possessed by kings and potentates, and is not
likely ever to be again, and they were furnished with everything
which they needed, both in the city and country.
Geography and abundant natural resources
of the Island of Atlantis:
For because of the greatness of their empire many
things were brought to them from foreign countries, and the island
itself provided most of what was required by them for the uses of
life. In the first place, they dug out of the earth whatever was
to be found there, solid as well as fusile, and that which is now
only a name and was then something more than a name, orichalcum,
was dug out of the earth in many parts of the island, being more
precious in those days than anything except gold.
There was an abundance of wood for carpenter’s
work, and sufficient maintenance for tame and wild animals. Moreover,
there were a great number of elephants in the island; for as there
was provision for all other sorts of animals, both for those which
live in lakes and marshes and rivers, and also for those which live
in mountains and on plains, so there was for the animal which is
the largest and most voracious of all.
Also whatever fragrant things there now are in
the earth, whether roots, or herbage, or woods, or essences which
distil from fruit and flower, grew and thrived in that land; also
the fruit which admits of cultivation, both the dry sort, which
is given us for nourishment and any other which we use for food-we
call them all by the common name pulse, and the fruits having a
hard rind, affording drinks and meats and ointments, and good store
of chestnuts and the like, which furnish pleasure and amusement,
and are fruits which spoil with keeping, and the pleasant kinds
of dessert, with which we console ourselves after dinner, when we
are tired of eating-all these that sacred island which then beheld
the light of the sun, brought forth fair and wondrous and in infinite
abundance. With such blessings the earth freely furnished them;
meanwhile they went on constructing their temples and palaces and
harbours and docks. And they arranged the whole country in the following
manner:
The citizens of Atlantis build their city:
First of all they bridged over the zones of sea
which surrounded the ancient metropolis, making a road to and from
the royal palace. And at the very beginning they built the palace
in the habitation of the god and of their ancestors, which they
continued to ornament in successive generations, every king surpassing
the one who went before him to the utmost of his power, until they
made the building a marvel to behold for size and for beauty. And
beginning from the sea they bored a canal of three hundred feet
in width and one hundred feet in depth and fifty stadia in length,
which they carried through to the outermost zone, making a passage
from the sea up to this, which became a harbour, and leaving an
opening sufficient to enable the largest vessels to find ingress.
Moreover, they divided at the bridges the zones of land which parted
the zones of sea, leaving room for a single trireme to pass out
of one zone into another, and they covered over the channels so
as to leave a way underneath for the ships; for the banks were raised
considerably above the water.
The zones of land & sea;
the wall around the city; towers, gates and bridges
Now the largest of the zones into which a passage
was cut from the sea was three stadia in breadth, and the zone of
land which came next of equal breadth; but the next two zones, the
one of water, the other of land, were two stadia, and the one which
surrounded the central island was a stadium only in width. The island
in which the palace was situated had a diameter of five stadia.
All this including the zones and the bridge, which was the sixth
part of a stadium in width, they surrounded by a stone wall on every
side, placing towers and gates on the bridges where the sea passed
in.
They quarried rock, hollowed out docks,
and coated the walls with metals:
The stone which was used in the work they quarried
from underneath the centre island, and from underneath the zones,
on the outer as well as the inner side. One kind was white, another
black, and a third red, and as they quarried, they at the same time
hollowed out double docks, having roofs formed out of the native
rock. Some of their buildings were simple, but in others they put
together different stones, varying the colour to please the eye,
and to be a natural source of delight.
The entire circuit of the wall, which went round
the outermost zone, they covered with a coating of brass, and the
circuit of the next wall they coated with tin, and the third, which
encompassed the citadel, flashed with the red light of orichalcum.
The palaces and temples in the citadel
of Atlantis:
The palaces in the interior of the citadel were
constructed on this wise:-in the centre was a holy temple dedicated
to Cleito and Poseidon, which remained inaccessible, and was surrounded
by an enclosure of gold; this was the spot where the family of the
ten princes first saw the light, and thither the people annually
brought the fruits of the earth in their season from all the ten
portions, to be an offering to each of the ten.
Here was Poseidon’s own temple which was
a stadium in length, and half a stadium in width, and of a proportionate
height, having a strange barbaric appearance. All the outside of
the temple, with the exception of the pinnacles, they covered with
silver, and the pinnacles with gold. In the interior of the temple
the roof was of ivory, curiously wrought everywhere with gold and
silver and orichalcum; and all the other parts, the walls and pillars
and floor, they coated with orichalcum.
In the temple they placed statues of gold: there
was the god himself standing in a chariot-the charioteer of six
winged horses-and of such a size that he touched the roof of the
building with his head; around him there were a hundred Nereids
riding on dolphins, for such was thought to be the number of them
by the men of those days. There were also in the interior of the
temple other images which had been dedicated by private persons.
And around the temple on the outside were placed
statues of gold of all the descendants of the ten kings and of their
wives, and there were many other great offerings of kings and of
private persons, coming both from the city itself and from the foreign
cities over which they held sway. There was an altar too, which
in size and workmanship corresponded to this magnificence, and the
palaces, in like manner, answered to the greatness of the kingdom
and the glory of the temple.
The fountains, aqueducts,
docks, gardens and guardhouses of the Citadel:
In the next place, they had fountains, one of cold
and another of hot water, in gracious plenty flowing; and they were
wonderfully adapted for use by reason of the pleasantness and excellence
of their waters. They constructed buildings about them and planted
suitable trees, also they made cisterns, some open to the heavens,
others roofed over, to be used in winter as warm baths; there were
the kings’ baths, and the baths of private persons, which
were kept apart; and there were separate baths for women, and for
horses and cattle, and to each of them they gave as much adornment
as was suitable.
Of the water which ran off they carried some to
the grove of Poseidon, where were growing all manner of trees of
wonderful height and beauty, owing to the excellence of the soil,
while the remainder was conveyed by aqueducts along the bridges
to the outer circles; and there were many temples built and dedicated
to many gods; also gardens and places of exercise, some for men,
and others for horses in both of the two islands formed by the zones;
and in the centre of the larger of the two there was set apart a
race-course of a stadium in width, and in length allowed to extend
all round the island, for horses to race in. Also there were guardhouses
at intervals for the guards, the more trusted of whom were appointed-to
keep watch in the lesser zone, which was nearer the Acropolis while
the most trusted of all had houses given them within the citadel,
near the persons of the kings. The docks were full of triremes and
naval stores, and all things were quite ready for use. Enough of
the plan of the royal palace.
Leaving the palace and passing out across the
three you came to a wall which began at the sea and went all round:
this was everywhere distant fifty stadia from the largest zone or
harbour, and enclosed the whole, the ends meeting at the mouth of
the channel which led to the sea. The entire area was densely crowded
with habitations; and the canal and the largest of the harbours
were full of vessels and merchants coming from all parts, who, from
their numbers, kept up a multitudinous sound of human voices, and
din and clatter of all sorts night and day.
The nature and arrangement of the rest
of the land of Atlantis:
I have described the city and the environs of the
ancient palace nearly in the words of Solon, and now I must endeavour
to represent the nature and arrangement of the rest of the land.
The whole country was said by him to be very lofty and precipitous
on the side of the sea, but the country immediately about and surrounding
the city was a level plain, itself surrounded by mountains which
descended towards the sea; it was smooth and even, and of an oblong
shape, extending in one direction three thousand stadia, but across
the centre inland it was two thousand stadia. This part of the island
looked towards the south, and was sheltered from the north. The
surrounding mountains were celebrated for their number and size
and beauty, far beyond any which still exist, having in them also
many wealthy villages of country folk, and rivers, and lakes, and
meadows supplying food enough for every animal, wild or tame, and
much wood of various sorts, abundant for each and every kind of
work.
How the Island of Atlantis was created;
and the canal system:
I will now describe the plain, as it was fashioned
by nature and by the labours of many generations of kings through
long ages. It was for the most part rectangular and oblong, and
where falling out of the straight line followed the circular ditch.
The depth, and width, and length of this ditch were incredible,
and gave the impression that a work of such extent, in addition
to so many others, could never have been artificial. Nevertheless
I must say what I was told. It was excavated to the depth of a hundred,
feet, and its breadth was a stadium everywhere; it was carried round
the whole of the plain, and was ten thousand stadia in length. It
received the streams which came down from the mountains, and winding
round the plain and meeting at the city, was there let off into
the sea. Further inland, likewise, straight canals of a hundred
feet in width were cut from it through the plain, and again let
off into the ditch leading to the sea: these canals were at intervals
of a hundred stadia, and by them they brought down the wood from
the mountains to the city, and conveyed the fruits of the earth
in ships, cutting transverse passages from one canal into another,
and to the city. Twice in the year they gathered the fruits of the
earth-in winter having the benefit of the rains of heaven, and in
summer the water which the land supplied by introducing streams
from the canals.
The military order of the royal city; and the requisitions for the
war:
As to the population, each of the lots in the plain
had to find a leader for the men who were fit for military service,
and the size of a lot was a square of ten stadia each way, and the
total number of all the lots was sixty thousand. And of the inhabitants
of the mountains and of the rest of the country there was also a
vast multitude, which was distributed among the lots and had leaders
assigned to them according to their districts and villages. The
leader was required to furnish for the war the sixth portion of
a war-chariot, so as to make up a total of ten thousand chariots;
also two horses and riders for them, and a pair of chariot-horses
without a seat, accompanied by a horseman who could fight on foot
carrying a small shield, and having a charioteer who stood behind
the man-at-arms to guide the two horses; also, he was bound to furnish
two heavy armed soldiers, two slingers, three stone-shooters and
three javelin-men, who were light-armed, and four sailors to make
up the complement of twelve hundred ships. Such was the military
order of the royal city-the order of the other nine governments
varied, and it would be wearisome to recount their several differences.
The commands of Poseidon, were inscribed on
a pillar of orichalcum:
As to offices and honours, the following was the
arrangement from the first. Each of the ten kings in his own division
and in his own city had the absolute control of the citizens, and,
in most cases, of the laws, punishing and slaying whomsoever he
would. Now the order of precedence among them and their mutual relations
were regulated by the commands of Poseidon which the law had handed
down. These were inscribed by the first kings on a pillar of orichalcum,
which was situated in the middle of the island, at the temple of
Poseidon, whither the kings were gathered together every fifth and
every sixth year alternately, thus giving equal honour to the odd
and to the even number. And when they were gathered together they
consulted about their common interests, and enquired if any one
had transgressed in anything and passed judgment and before they
passed judgment they gave their pledges to one another on this wise:-
