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.