I would go further than Crete or Lacedaemon and have the law of the Carthaginians, that no slave of either sex should drink wine at all, and no soldier while he is on a campaign, and no magistrate or officer while he is on duty, and that no one should drink by daylight or on a bridal night.

And there are so many other occasions on which wine ought to be prohibited, that there will not be many vines grown or vineyards required in the state.
BOOK III.

If a man wants to know the origin of states and societies, he should behold them from the point of view of time.

Thousands of cities have come into being and have passed away again in infinite ages, every one of them having had endless forms of government; and if we can ascertain the cause of these changes in states, that will probably explain their origin.

What do you think of ancient traditions about deluges and destructions of mankind, and the preservation of a remnant?
'Every one believes in them.' Then let us suppose the world to have been destroyed by a deluge.