It is to be divided into lots of equal value, corresponding exactly to the number of citizens.333
Natural disadvantages shall be compensated for by an increase in the size of the lot, and part of each allotment shall be near, and part at a distance from the city, that all may be on an equal footing, and alike ready to defend against invasion.334
In order that no citizen may lose his lot, and no man may possess more than one, very stringent regulations are advised.335
and no citizen, in any manner whatsoever, may become owner of more than one lot.339
The living of the other members of the family is arranged for by a provision for a general distribution of the product of the soil, in imitation of the Cretan law.340
The annual product of grain and cattle shall be divided into three equal parts, one for citizens, one for their servants, and one for the artisans, metics, and strangers. The first two parts shall not be subject to sale, but each head of a family shall receive from them enough to nourish his family and slaves.
It is evident from all these regulations that Plato’s citizens do not actually own their lots, but merely enjoy the usufruct of them from the state on certain conditions. He takes away with one hand what he gives with the other. Under such a system all his precautionary measures could not have prevented the growth of an even more oppressive poverty, unless the growth of population could be checked.