Abstract
In book II of Plato’s Republic, Socrates discusses the cities of necessity and luxury
(372d-373a). Discussions of these cities have often focused on citizens desiring
more than they need, which creates a demand for luxury. Yet the second part of the
equation, which is not usually recognized, is that there must be sufficient supply to
meet this demand. The focus of this article is on the importance of supply in the
discussion of the first two cities in book II of the Republic. This article argues that
the way Plato models the cities makes it the case that a surplus above levels of
necessity will be generated from time to time. That the unwanted surplus cannot be
spontaneously disposed of entails that the first two cities are institutionally
incomplete. A government is needed in order to coordinate the disposal of the
surplus supply the city will produce.