Now on the pillar, besides the laws,
there was inscribed an oath invoking mighty curses on the
disobedient. When therefore, after slaying the bull in the
accustomed manner, they had burnt its limbs, they filled a bowl
of wine and cast in a clot of blood for each of them; the rest of
the victim they put in the fire, after having purified the column
all round. Then they drew from the bowl in golden cups and
pouring a libation on the fire, they swore that they would judge
according to the laws on the pillar, and would punish him who in
any point had already transgressed them, and that for the future
they would not, if they could help, offend against the writing on
the pillar, and would neither command others, nor obey any ruler
who commanded them, to act otherwise than according to the laws
of their father Poseidon. This was the prayer which each of them-offered
up for himself and for his descendants, at the same time drinking
and dedicating the cup out of which he drank in the temple of the
god; and after they had supped and satisfied their needs, when
darkness came on, and the fire about the sacrifice was cool, all
of them put on most beautiful azure robes, and, sitting on the
ground, at night, over the embers of the sacrifices by which they
had sworn, and extinguishing all the fire about the temple, they
received and gave judgment, if any of them had an accusation to
bring against any one; and when they given judgment, at daybreak
they wrote down their sentences on a golden tablet, and dedicated
it together with their robes to be a memorial.
There were many special laws affecting the several kings
inscribed about the temples, but the most important was the
following: They were not to take up arms against one another, and
they were all to come to the rescue if any one in any of their
cities attempted to overthrow the royal house; like their
ancestors, they were to deliberate in common about war and other
matters, giving the supremacy to the descendants of Atlas. And
the king was not to have the power of life and death over any of
his kinsmen unless he had the assent of the majority of the ten.
Such was the vast power which the god settled in the lost
island of Atlantis; and this he afterwards directed against our
land for the following reasons, as tradition tells: For many
generations, as long as the divine nature lasted in them, they
were obedient to the laws, and well-affectioned towards the god,
whose seed they were; for they possessed true and in every way
great spirits, uniting gentleness with wisdom in the various
chances of life, and in their intercourse with one another. They
despised everything but virtue, caring little for their present
state of life, and thinking lightly of the possession of gold and
other property, which seemed only a burden to them; neither were
they intoxicated by luxury; nor did wealth deprive them of their
self-control; but they were sober, and saw clearly that all these
goods are increased by virtue and friendship with one another,
whereas by too great regard and respect for them, they are lost
and friendship with them. By such reflections and by the
continuance in them of a divine nature, the qualities which we
have described grew and increased among them; but when the divine
portion began to fade away, and became diluted too often and too
much with the mortal admixture, and the human nature got the
upper hand, they then, being unable to bear their fortune,
behaved unseemly, and to him who had an eye to see grew visibly
debased, for they were losing the fairest of their precious
gifts; but to those who had no eye to see the true happiness,
they appeared glorious and blessed at the very time when they
were full of avarice and unrighteous power. Zeus, the god of
gods, who rules according to law, and is able to see into such
things, perceiving that an honourable race was in a woeful
plight, and wanting to inflict punishment on them, that they
might be chastened and improve, collected all the gods into their
most holy habitation, which, being placed in the centre of the
world, beholds all created things. And when he had called them
together, he spake as follows: *
* The rest of the Dialogue of Critias has been lost.
