In this chapter, with reference to Plato dialogues, the features of Atlantis' city, religion, political organization and habits are described and commented.

We don't know too much about Atlantis' political, social systems and degree of development since the only dialogue which speaks about it, the Critias, is briefing and incomplete and it features mostly geographical information..

Generally Atlantis is introduced as a happy island, a place where nature generously provides each sort of animal and plant and where the clime is always hailing, allowing two crops every year. We exhaustly told about the gepographical position and timeline of Atlantis in the first section of the site (expecially in its first and sixth part), where the probable identification with South America has been argued. Here we just say that, in accordance with Plato, Atlantis was bigger than Lybia and Asia  and was in front of the Pillars of Heracles, in the ocean which he called Atlantic. The whole island was divided in to 10 kingdoms, each one ruled by a king since in earlier Times Poseidon (the first king) had  five couple of twins who inherited the Atlantean empire. Kings had full powers in their kingdom over people and things (like the Inca) but obviously they had even to respect some laws and used to gather in the capital of the island each 5 and 6 years (for respecting even and odd numbers) for swearing loyalty to them. The capital city, built by Poseidone once the gods handed out Earth's continents among them, flouroshed in a hignland surrounded by mountains and comunicated through a 50 stadia (9 km) canal with an inland sea. The city's plan (1) was peculiar: the acropolis, which was on a scarce relieve, was ringed alternatively by three canals of water and two of land. The outer ring of land was reinforced by walls covered by copper, the second by walls covered by tin and lthe wall encircling the acropolis glittered of orichalcum. Ships could navigate through these canals and they had docks and covers. The rings of land were linked through bridges. The walls featured even some guard towers. the diamter of the acropolis was five stadia (about 900 meters). Houses were built mixing three different kinds of stone: withe, red and black. The most sumptuous building was placed in the Acropolis and  it was a temple consacrated to Poseidon and Cleito, the mortal being he married before giving birth to the Empire of Atlantis. It was sheltered by a golden enclosure, adorned by statues and coverd with silver in the outer walls, while inside it was decored with gold, orichalcum, ivori and silver again. There were lot of military arsenals for protecting this building. Inside the acropolis there was even a racecourse for horses and some tanks of water which was distributed to the outer zones by acqueducts. In the rings of lans there were various schools and even some for riding horses. The greatest number of houses, shops and public places was outside the outer water ring. In fact there was still a zone enclosed by a circular wall, measuring at least 50 stadia from the acropolis, intersected by the canal which brought water from the sea to the city.

Multicolored stones and metals were the main bircks of Atlantis architecture. Another feature involved the greatness of some buildings . On one side we've Poseidon's temple, 177 meters long and on the other we've very large and deep canals. The canal going from the sea to the city was 29 meters deep and 88 meters large. The net of canals which went trough the rectangular plain (2) where the city was located was still mastodontic. There was a canal which run along all the contourn of the plain and so it was long (being the plain 2000x3000 stadia) 10000 stadia, about 1776 kms. Inside the plain other canals were placed giving shape to a regular grid, 20 kms far from each other. Close to the capital there were even some oblique canals convoying waters towards the city.

Canals, being navigable thanks to their dimensions, were useful not only for irrigation but even for carrying resources, such as wood, brought from the numerous forests placed in the mountains around the plain. resources, which were very abundant, were picked and distributed in districts, the elementary organization unity in the plain. Moreover, since Atlantean empire had even a military organization, each one of 60000 districts had the following features:

"The leader was required to furnish for the war the sixth portion of a war-chariot, so as to make up a total of ten thousand chariots; also two horses and riders for them, and a pair of chariot-horses without a seat, accompanied by a horseman who could fight on foot carrying a small shield, and having a charioteer who stood behind the man-at-arms to guide the two horses; also, he was bound to furnish two heavy armed soldiers, two slingers, three stone-shooters and three javelin-men, who were light-armed, and four sailors to make up the complement of twelve hundred ships. Such was the military order of the royal city-the order of the other nine governments varied, and it would be wearisome to recount their several differences."
 

 As we already told, 10 kings ruled the entire island, and got a meeting every 5 and 6 years in the capital city. This event took place in the temple of Poseidon, where there was an obelisk of orichalcum. In this one the laws of the empire had been cut out by Poseidon himself. The kings were loyal to such laws and, during the meeting, they renewed their loyalty taking an oath follwed by the sacrifice of a bull. In fact, inside the sanctuary, there were some free bulls, which were captured by the kings using wood weapons and nets. Once a bull had been captured its throat was cut in front of the obelisk pouring out some drops of blood in dedicated cups, which were eventually offered to the gods. Then the kings used to burn its body  and drinked from the cup swearing loyalty to the laws.

A council was expected to took place after the sacrifice, and kings discussed about eventual breakings of the law. A king could be condamned only if the number of kings admitting his guilt were in majority. Besides the king ruling in the plain had a particular leadership since Atlas, eldest son of Poseidon, once ruled there. Anyway kings had to help each other, never leave arms against them and decided alltogether concerning the military behaviour of the empire.

All these habits could  be applied until the kings were virtuous and acted in favour of common benefit. Throughout centuries their godlike features, being mixed to human ones, decayed, so that kings begun to follow the path of vice and became corrupted. Then Zeus, god of the gods, decided it was time to punish the empire of Atlantis. Plato only wrote he convoked the council of gods for taking a decision. Probably Zeus spoke about the catastrophe (mentioned in the Timaeus) which would have put an end to Atlantis.

Few time before the natural disaster which stroke it to death, Atlantis had a war with Mediterranean popolations since it was decided to subdue all of them after conquering Spain, Italy and North Africa. Plato spoke about a war with Athens, guiding the Mediterranean popolations, and that was won by ancient Greeks, considered by Plato  military and virtuous people.