That  much  of  this  pungently  satirical
description  was  directly  suggested  to  Plato
by  the  existing  state  of  things  in  Athens,
wc  can  hardly  help  supposing  ;  and  such
sketches  help  us  considerably  toward  the
solution  of  that  porplexmg  problem,  why
so  many  of  the  most  eminent  Athenians,
especially  the  leading  Socratics,  openly
preferred  the  constitution  of  Sparta,
odious  as  that  constitution  seems  to  us.  It
is  but  human  nature  to  exaggerate  the  in-
conveniences which  we  ourselves  suffer.
