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The excerpt represents the core issue or deciding factor on which you must meditate, and is drawn from Critias by Plato: 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
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