Rpublic vs The Laws It is similar in that both dialogues concern the making of a city in speech but different in that the one city is ideal and the other a real practical city The city of the Laws is described as second best as opposed to the city of the Republic This is a mistake the city of the Republic is a copy of an ideal not an ideal for Plato it s always impossible to create a city identical with the life of gods in The Laws the city is a copy too and the first best city isn t the city of Republic but the city of gods and their childrens