Plato's "Republic" is one of the most influential writings of antiquity. What could a just state look like? What about a just society? Plato outlines an ideal state in which men and women of the ruling class are equal, there is neither marriage nor family, all children are raised communally—without knowing their parents—no one owns anything, a cultivated elite oversees law and order, and philosophers guide the affairs of the state. Each individual is concerned not with personal happiness, but with the welfare of the state: is this ideal or a totalitarian horror vision? Gernot Krapinger's new translation and commentary of this dialogue, which includes the famous Allegory of the Cave, allows even readers without a philosophical background to understand this foundational text of all political theories.