Plato on Military and Political Leadership

This chapter examines the views of Plato on generalship and citizen soldiers in ancient Greece. A major theme that emerges from the discussion is the relationship between rulers and ruled under various forms of government. The art of generalship ultimately consists of effectively combining theory and practice. Ideally, generals are experts deftly deploying elite warriors on the field of battle. In reality, the ability and knowledge of generals varies greatly as does the composition and quality of military forces. For Plato, the social makeup of armies and constitutions were of profound interest and informed many of their discussions on warfare and politics. In general, Plato doubted the abilities of the lower classes to make significant contributions to the stability and prosperity of the state; instead, he proposed that rulers should rely on citizen soldiers that had adequate education and training. However, most Greek states relied on citizen soldiers from all social classes and with only limited military training. As a result, there are discrepancies between the ideal and reality.