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