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ἐν πόλει κτλ. On for ἐν see note on ἐν ἅπασιν οἶς ἔστι III 402 A. Van Cleef (de attr. in enunt. rel. usu Plat. p. 46) explains the construction as equivalent to ἐν πόλει, comparing Men. 96 C, which is however (like Tim. 45 D) only an example of inverse attraction.

ταύτην: an anacoluthon, as in VI 510 E. For the sentiment see I 347 D note

σχοῦσαν=‘which gets’: a gnomic aorist participle. See Goodwin MT. p. 55. Richards conjectures ἔχουσαν, and ἴσχουσαν (which appears in the margin of A) has slight MS authority; but the inchoative sense (516 E note) is better suited to οἱ μέλλοντες ἄρξειν.

ἕκαστοι. The plural implies relays of governors relieving one another from time to time: cf. ἑκάστοις in 540 B.

μετ᾽ ἀλλήλων κτλ. “Far from the madding crowd's ignoble strife.” ἐν τῷ καθαρῷ means ‘in the undefiled.’ The phrase is half-mystical, as καθαρόν constantly is in Plato. It is natural to think of the myth of the Phaedo (109 B ff. αὐτὴν δὲ τὴν γῆν καθαρὰν ἐν καθαρῷ κεῖσθαι τῷ οὐρανῷ), but we should not translate “sub divo” (Ast), nor even “auf der reinen Höhe” (Schneider). Either version is too precise, and ἐν καθαρῷ does not mean sub divo even in Homer. The Ideas in Plato are τὸ καθαρόν: see Phaed. 79 D ἐκεῖσε οἴχεται εἰς τὸ καθαρόν τε καὶ ἀεὶ ὂν καὶ ἀθάνατον καὶ ὡσαύτως ἔχον.

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  • Commentary references from this page (3):
    • Plato, Phaedo, 79d
    • Plato, Meno, 96c
    • Plato, Timaeus, 45d
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