Plato, Laws 680a

νόμων τίς ποτʼ ἦν χρεία καὶ τίς ἦν νομοθέτης αὐτοῖς. καὶ καλῶς γε εἴρηκας. ἆρʼ οὖν ἐκεῖνοι μὲν οὔτʼ ἐδέοντο νομοθετῶν οὔτε πω ἐφίλει κατὰ τούτους τοὺς χρόνους γίγνεσθαι τὸ τοιοῦτον; οὐδὲ γὰρ γράμματα ἔστι πω τοῖς ἐν τούτῳ τῷ μέρει τῆς περιόδου γεγονόσιν, ἀλλʼ ἔθεσι καὶ τοῖς λεγομένοις πατρίοις νόμοις ἑπόμενοι ζῶσιν. εἰκὸς γοῦν. πολιτείας δέ γε ἤδη καὶ τρόπος ἐστίν τις οὗτος. τίς;

what possible need of laws the men of that time had, and who their lawgiver was. Excellent. Shall we suppose that those men had no need of lawgivers, and that in those days it was not as yet usual to have such a thing? For those born in that age of the world’s history did not as yet possess the art of writing, but lived by following custom and what is called patriarchal law. That is certainly probable. But this already amounts to a kind of government. What kind?