In the Laws, Plato theorizes citizenship as simultaneously a political, ethical, and aesthetic practice.

His reflection on citizenship finds its roots in a descriptive psychology of human experience, with sentience and, above all, volition seen as the primary targets of a lifelong training in the values of citizenship.

In the city of Magnesia described in the Laws erôs for civic virtue is presented as a motivational resource not only within the reach of the ordinary citizen, but also factored by default into its educational system.

Supporting a vision of perfect citizenship based on an internalized obedience to the laws, and persuading the entire polity to consent willingly to it, requires an ideology that must be rhetorically all-inclusive.

In this city ordinary citizenship itself will be troped as a performative action: Magnesia's choral performances become a fundamental channel for shaping, feeling and communicating a strong sense of civic identity and unity.