Maps and genealogy -- Introduction -- A note on the line drawings -- Act I. The first visit. Tyrants and kings -- Syracusan tables -- 'Adamantine bonds' -- Act II. The second visit. 'Wolf-love' -- One night in piraeus -- The dionysioflatterers -- The education of Glaucon -- Act III. The third visit. Return to Charybdis -- The evils of change -- Act IV. Revolution. 'Drunken and sober tyrants' -- The 'naval mob' -- The fury's broom -- Act V. Restoration. The second-best state -- The music teacher -- Acknowledgments -- Notes -- Bibliography -- Illustration credits -- Index

Plato and the Tyrant by James Romm reexamines Plato not as a detached philosopher, but as an active political figure who sought to implement his ideas in the real world. Drawing on Plato's personal letters, Romm details his involvement with the tyrants of Syracuse and how this experience shaped his political philosophy, especially in The Republic. The book reveals how Plato's attempt to guide rulers with philosophy ended in personal and political disaster, offering a dramatic and insightful new perspective on the origins of Western political thought