Injustice and instability in Plato’s Republic

the case of the timocracy and its rulers

Abstract

This paper argues that the timocracy, the first of the four corrupt cities described in Plato’s Republic, is a fragmented regime ruled by individuals with a fragmented and unstable character. The deterioration of the elements forming the positive cycle that links the good nature of Callipolis’ guardians and the good quality of their education causes three levels of instability in the timocracy: the compresence of elements belonging to three different regimes, the destruction of the guardians’ unity due to the emergency of the oikos, and the split of the oikos in which the timocratic man grows up.