It could be considered the outward expression of the inward conclusions of the soul. And, though Plato never held office, he was politically committed. His longest work, Laws, is also devoted to his enlightened social and political views. Plato simply refused to participate in a hopeless situation and become a martyr unnecessarily. An exact date is not known.
Most scholars believe the dialogue was written more or less without interruption by another work.
At the time, as during all of Plato's adult life, the Athenian city-state was in decline. Plato, in the sanctum of the Academy, continued his inquiries and his prolific writing despite external skepticism from the Sophists who governed the state. These men, treated ironically several times in The Republic, doubted the validity of any unified theory of knowledge and the existence of absolutes. However, there is little controversy over text's authenticity.