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Yes, I said, now I understand: the question which you would have

me consider is, not only how a State, but how a luxurious State

is created; and possibly there is no harm in this, for in such a

State we shall be more likely to see how justice and injustice

originate. In my opinion the true and healthy constitution of the

State is the one which I have described. But if you wish also to

see a State at fever-heat, I have no objection. For I suspect

that many will not be satisfied with the simpler way of life.

They will be for adding sofas, and tables, and other furniture;

also dainties, and perfumes, and incense, and courtesans, and

cakes, all these not of one sort only, but in every variety; we

must go beyond the necessaries of which I was at first speaking,

such as houses, and clothes, and shoes: the arts of the painter

and the embroiderer will have to be set in motion, and gold and

ivory and all sorts of materials must be procured.

True, he said.