Chapter XXXVII

Read an essay _On Government_,[109] in the form of a dialogue between Menas a patrician and Thomas a referendary.[110] The treatise is in six books, in which is discussed a form of government, called δικαιαρχικόν (just rule), differing from those propounded by ancient writers. The _Republic_ of Plato is deservedly criticised. The interlocutors hold that the constitution which they propose should be a combination of the three forms of government--monarchy, aristocracy, democracy. Each of these is to contribute what is genuine and sincere to the formation of the ideal constitution.