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He also declares that if his life were to be twice as long he

would have no time to read the lyric poets. The picture of

democracy is translated by him word for word, though he had

hardly shown himself able to 'carry the jest' of Plato. He

converts into a stately sentence the humorous fancy about the

animals, who 'are so imbued with the spirit of democracy that

they make the passers-by get out of their way.' His description

of the tyrant is imitated from Plato, but is far inferior. The

second book is historical, and claims for the Roman constitution

(which is to him the ideal) a foundation of fact such as Plato

probably intended to have given to the Republic in the Critias.