Written over 2300 years ago, this cornerstone of political philosophy retains an astonishing degree of relevancy and applicability to the modern world. The prose takes the form of a friendly debate (with occasional humorous excursions into antagonism when Thrasymachus takes offense a few times) between four or five men, ostensibly on elucidating the nature of justice. Well, besides discussing justice, Plato launches into a description of his ideal state along with a somewhat comprehensive analysis of the various forms of government known to the ancient Greeks: the Spartan timarchy, oligarchy, democracy, and tyranny. I found these sections of the work to be lucid and educational.
In addition, Plato lays the groundwork for his philosophy of the "forms", which are fleshed out in some of his later works. This bit gets heavy and at times incomprehensible; I skimmed some of it.
There are certain assumptions that Socrates (the primary mouthpiece in The Republic) makes that I suppose were taken for granted to the ancient Greeks, such as how weather was assumed to be at the whim of the gods or the importance of animal sacrifice. These assumptions are used to further some logical arguments and arrive at a conclusion, which of course wouldn't pass muster today.
Overall, a very readable and well-written treatise that serves the secondary purpose of proving to the layman how advanced the ancient Greek world was in its thinking.
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Plato as an introduction to Philosophy
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on June 16, 2016