De Re Publica
{"WorkMasterId":5428,"WpPageId":261121,"ParentWpPageId":193745,"Slug":"de-re-publica","Url":"https://chrisdeasy.com/theos/humanities/philosophy/philosophers/cicero-marcus-tullius-cicero/de-re-publica/","RelativeUrl":"theos/humanities/philosophy/philosophers/cicero-marcus-tullius-cicero/de-re-publica/","HasFullText":true,"RawHtmlLength":299825,"CleanHtmlLength":243715,"Kicker":"Philosophy Work","Title":"De Re Publica","Deck":"Cicero adapts Greek political theory to Roman constitutional memory, defending mixed government, justice, civic duty, and the commonwealth as a moral partnership.","BackLink":{"Text":"Back to Cicero","Url":"https://chrisdeasy.com/theos/humanities/philosophy/philosophers/cicero-marcus-tullius-cicero/"},"AuthorCard":{"Label":"Author","Title":"Cicero (Marcus Tullius Cicero)","Url":"https://chrisdeasy.com/theos/humanities/philosophy/philosophers/cicero-marcus-tullius-cicero/","MediaHref":"","ImageSrc":"https://chrisdeasy.com/wp-content/uploads/cicero-marcus-tullius-cicero-01-borghese-portrait-bust-1.jpg","ImageAlt":"Borghese portrait bust identified as Cicero","FilterTerra":"Eastern Mediterranean","ClickText":"Cicero (Marcus Tullius Cicero)","ClickHref":"https://chrisdeasy.com/theos/humanities/philosophy/philosophers/cicero-marcus-tullius-cicero/","Copies":["106 BCE – 43 BCE","Arpinum, Roman Republic","Roman statesman, orator, lawyer, and philosopher who turned Greek ethics, skepticism, theology, rhetoric, and republican political thought into enduring Latin civic philosophy."]},"ContextCards":[{"Label":"Period","Key":"Period:1","Title":"Ancient History","DateText":"3000 BCE – 499 CE","Url":"https://chrisdeasy.com/theos/humanities/philosophy/eras-of-thought/philosophers-of-ancient-history/"},{"Label":"Era","Key":"Era:3","Title":"Classical Antiquity","DateText":"500 BCE – 499 CE","Url":"https://chrisdeasy.com/theos/humanities/philosophy/eras-of-thought/philosophers-of-ancient-history/philosophers-of-classical-antiquity/"},{"Label":"Composition","Title":"51 BCE","Url":"","DateText":""}],"DateNote":"Displayed year is a conventional or proxy ordering date; this work survives incompletely, and the public page marks the fragmentary or unfinished status instead of implying a complete text.","GeoCards":[{"Label":"Region","Key":"Region:1"},{"Label":"Terra Avita","Key":"TerraAvita:2"},{"Label":"Terra Avita Region","Key":"TerraAvitaRegion:6"},{"Label":"Modern Country","Key":"Country:ITA:2"}],"OriginalTitle":"De re publica","Language":"Latin","DisciplineCards":[{"Label":"Primary Discipline","Key":"Discipline:political-philosophy"},{"Label":"Secondary Discipline","Key":"Discipline:ethics"}],"Tradition":"Roman Academic skepticism, republican political philosophy, rhetoric, ethics, theology, and Latin philosophical prose","FullText":{"Title":"Full Text","Copy":"Public-domain full text from Project Gutenberg eBook #54161 .","Url":"","Label":"","Kicker":"","Cards":[]},"CoreThesis":["Cicero adapts Greek political theory to Roman constitutional memory, defending mixed government, justice, civic duty, and the commonwealth as a moral partnership."],"Classification":{"AlternateTitles":"On the Republic; The Republic","KeyConcepts":"republic; mixed constitution; justice; commonwealth; statesmanship; Scipionic circle; civic duty","Methodology":"Direct Cicero work page grounded in ancient authorship and scholarly evidence; editions, translations, letters, anthologies, and catalogs remain evidence or Other Voices.","Structure":"Standalone Cicero work page with visible date and status notes; fragmentary, lost, or unfinished works are marked as such and no page claims full-text availability."},"Arguments":["Cicero adapts Greek political theory to Roman constitutional memory, defending mixed government, justice, civic duty, and the commonwealth as a moral partnership."],"Influence":{"InfluencedBy":"Plato, Aristotle, the Stoics, Epicureanism, Philo of Larissa, Antiochus of Ascalon, Carneades, Panaetius, Roman law, and republican political practice.","InfluenceOn":""},"Significance":["Accepted as a direct Cicero political-philosophical dialogue; the page marks the work as fragmentary and treats Somnium Scipionis inside the parent work rather than as a separate child page.","Cicero adapts Greek political theory to Roman constitutional memory, defending mixed government, justice, civic duty, and the commonwealth as a moral partnership."],"EvidenceNote":["Accepted as a direct Cicero political-philosophical dialogue; the page marks the work as fragmentary and treats Somnium Scipionis inside the parent work rather than as a separate child page."],"MainSections":[{"Kind":"RawSection","Title":"Full Versions","BodyHtml":"\u003cdiv class=\"dz-philo__full-version-grid\"\u003e\n \u003carticle class=\"dz-philo__full-version-card\"\u003e\n \u003cp class=\"dz-philo__full-version-provider\"\u003eProject Gutenberg\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003ch3 class=\"dz-philo__full-version-title\"\u003eProject Gutenberg eBook #54161\u003c/h3\u003e\n \u003cp class=\"dz-philo__full-version-meta\"\u003eHtmlText · Imported\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003ca class=\"dz-philo__full-version-link\" href=\"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/54161\"\u003eOpen full version\u003c/a\u003e\n \u003c/article\u003e\n \u003c/div\u003e"},{"Kind":"TextSection","Title":"Core Thesis","Paragraphs":["Cicero adapts Greek political theory to Roman constitutional memory, defending mixed government, justice, civic duty, and the commonwealth as a moral partnership."]},{"Kind":"FieldSection","Title":"Classification","Fields":[{"Label":"Alternate Titles","Value":"On the Republic; The Republic"},{"Label":"Key Concepts","Value":"republic; mixed constitution; justice; commonwealth; statesmanship; Scipionic circle; civic duty"},{"Label":"Methodology","Value":"Direct Cicero work page grounded in ancient authorship and scholarly evidence; editions, translations, letters, anthologies, and catalogs remain evidence or Other Voices."},{"Label":"Structure","Value":"Standalone Cicero work page with visible date and status notes; fragmentary, lost, or unfinished works are marked as such and no page claims full-text availability."}]},{"Kind":"TextSection","Title":"Arguments","Paragraphs":["Cicero adapts Greek political theory to Roman constitutional memory, defending mixed government, justice, civic duty, and the commonwealth as a moral partnership."]},{"Kind":"FieldSection","Title":"Influence","Fields":[{"Label":"Influenced By","Value":"Plato, Aristotle, the Stoics, Epicureanism, Philo of Larissa, Antiochus of Ascalon, Carneades, Panaetius, Roman law, and republican political practice."},{"Label":"Influence On","Value":"Roman rhetoric, Latin philosophical vocabulary, Augustine, Boethius, Renaissance humanism, republican political thought, natural-law traditions, civic ethics, skeptical epistemology, and early modern education."}]},{"Kind":"TextSection","Title":"Significance","Paragraphs":["Accepted as a direct Cicero political-philosophical dialogue; the page marks the work as fragmentary and treats Somnium Scipionis inside the parent work rather than as a separate child page.","Cicero adapts Greek political theory to Roman constitutional memory, defending mixed government, justice, civic duty, and the commonwealth as a moral partnership."]},{"Kind":"TextSection","Title":"Evidence Note","Paragraphs":["Accepted as a direct Cicero political-philosophical dialogue; the page marks the work as fragmentary and treats Somnium Scipionis inside the parent work rather than as a separate child page."]},{"Kind":"RawSection","Title":"Full Text","BodyHtml":"\u003cp class=\"dz-philo__section-copy dz-philo__full-text-source\"\u003ePublic-domain full text from \u003ca href=\"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/54161\"\u003eProject Gutenberg eBook #54161\u003c/a\u003e.\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003carticle class=\"dz-philo__full-text-body\"\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"tnotes covernote\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"c000\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eTranscriber\u0027s Note:\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"c000\"\u003eThe cover image was created by the transcriber and is placed in the public domain.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"figcenter id001\"\u003e\r\n\u003cimg alt=\"\" class=\"ig001\" src=\"https://chrisdeasy.com/wp-content/uploads/gutenberg-de-re-publica-cicero-marcus-tullius-cicero-i-001.jpg\" id=\"img_images_i_001.jpg\"\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"ic001\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cspan lang=\"la\"\u003eSpecimen palimpsesti vaticani.\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cem\u003eImbert’s Lithographic Facsimile.\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv\u003e\r\n\u003ch1 class=\"c001\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"xlarge\"\u003eTHE\u003c/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e REPUBLIC OF CICERO,\u003cbr\u003e \u003cspan class=\"xlarge\"\u003eTRANSLATED FROM THE LATIN;\u003c/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cspan class=\"large\"\u003eAND ACCOMPANIED WITH A\u003c/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cspan class=\"xlarge\"\u003eCRITICAL AND HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION.\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/h1\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"nf-center-c1\"\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"nf-center c002\"\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv\u003eBY\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"c003\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"xlarge\"\u003eG. W. FEATHERSTONHAUGH, \u003cspan class=\"sc\"\u003eEsq.\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"c003\"\u003eFELLOW OF THE GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF LONDON; OF THE AMERICAN PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY; OF THE LYCEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY OF NEW-YORK, \u0026amp;C. \u0026amp;C. \u0026amp;C.\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"figcenter id002\"\u003e\r\n\u003cimg alt=\"\" class=\"ig001\" src=\"https://chrisdeasy.com/wp-content/uploads/gutenberg-de-re-publica-cicero-marcus-tullius-cicero-i-002.jpg\" id=\"img_images_i_002.jpg\"\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"nf-center-c1\"\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"nf-center\"\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv\u003e\u003cspan class=\"xlarge\"\u003eNEW-YORK:\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv\u003e\u003cspan class=\"large\"\u003ePUBLISHED BY G. \u0026amp; C. CARVILL, 108 BROADWAY.\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv\u003e\u003cspan class=\"large\"\u003e1829.\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"chapter\"\u003e\r\n\u003ch2 class=\"c004\" id=\"SOUTHERN\"\u003eSOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW-YORK, ss.\u003c/h2\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"c005\"\u003eBe it remembered, that on the 23d day of January, A. D. 1829,\r\nin the fifty-third year of the Independence of the United States of\r\nAmerica, G. \u0026amp; C. Carvill, of the said district, hath deposited in\r\nthis office the title of a book, the right whereof they claim as proprietors,\r\nin the words following, to wit:\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"c000\"\u003e“The Republic of Cicero, translated from the Latin; and accompanied\r\nwith a Critical and Historical Introduction. By G.\r\nW. Featherstonhaugh, Esq., Fellow of the Geological Society\r\nof London; of the American Philosophical Society; of the Lyceum\r\nof Natural History of New-York, \u0026amp;c. \u0026amp;c. \u0026amp;c.”\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"c000\"\u003eIn conformity to the Act of Congress of the United States, entitled,\r\n“An Act for the encouragement of learning, by securing the copies\r\nof maps, charts, and books, to the authors and proprietors of such\r\ncopies, during the times therein mentioned;” and also, to an Act, entitled,\r\n“An Act, supplementary to an Act, entitled an Act for the\r\nencouragement of learning, by securing the copies of maps, charts,\r\nand books, to the authors and proprietors of such copies, during the\r\ntimes therein mentioned, and extending the benefits thereof to the\r\narts of designing, engraving, and etching historical and other prints.”\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"lg-container-r\"\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"linegroup\"\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"group\"\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"line in34\"\u003eFRED. I. BETTS,\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"line\"\u003e\u003cem\u003eClerk of the Southern District of New-York\u003c/em\u003e.\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003ch3 class=\"c006\" id=\"ERRATA\"\u003eERRATA.\u003c/h3\u003e\r\n\u003ctable class=\"table0\" data-summary=\"ERRATA\"\u003e\r\n\u003ctbody\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\r\n\u003ctd class=\"c007\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"sc\"\u003eIntroduction\u003c/span\u003e,\u003c/td\u003e\r\n\u003ctd class=\"c008\"\u003ep. \u003ca href=\"#Page_22\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e22\u003c/a\u003e, line 12, dele “then.”\u003c/td\u003e\r\n\u003c/tr\u003e\r\n\u003ctr\u003e\r\n\u003ctd class=\"c007\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"sc\"\u003eDo.\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\r\n\u003ctd class=\"c008\"\u003ep. \u003ca href=\"#Page_27\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e27\u003c/a\u003e, line 16, for “requires,” read “require.”\u003c/td\u003e\r\n\u003c/tr\u003e\r\n\u003c/tbody\u003e\u003c/table\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"nf-center-c1\"\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"nf-center\"\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv\u003eSleight \u0026amp; George, Printers, Jamaica, L. I.\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"chapter\"\u003e\r\n\u003ch2 class=\"c004\" id=\"TO\"\u003eTO\u003cbr\u003e RODERICK IMPEY MURCHISON, \u003cspan class=\"sc\"\u003eEsq.\u003c/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cspan class=\"large\"\u003eF. R. S., F. G. S., \u0026amp;c. \u0026amp;c. \u0026amp;c.\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/h2\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"c005\"\u003eI dedicate these pages to you, my\r\ndear \u003cspan class=\"sc\"\u003eMurchison\u003c/span\u003e, that you may have a\r\nrenewed assurance of my great esteem\r\nand friendship for you. I should have\r\nhad a livelier satisfaction in doing so, if\r\nthe part I have had in the production of\r\nthem, were more worthy of your refined\r\ntaste. I hope to offer some compensation,\r\nhowever, in the assurance, that you\r\nwill find in them many congenial opinions\r\nand principles.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"lg-container-r\"\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"linegroup\"\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"group\"\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"line\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"sc\"\u003eG. W. Featherstonhaugh.\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"lg-container-l\"\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"linegroup\"\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"group\"\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"line\"\u003eNew-York, January 21, 1829.\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"chapter\"\u003e\r\n\u003ch2 class=\"c004\" id=\"Contents\"\u003eCONTENTS\u003c/h2\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"lg-container-b c002\"\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"linegroup\"\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"group\"\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"line\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"#SOUTHERN\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003eSOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW-YORK, ss.\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"line in2\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"#ERRATA\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003eERRATA.\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"line\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"#TO\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003eTO RODERICK IMPEY MURCHISON, Esq.\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"line\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"#PREFACE\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003ePREFACE.\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"line\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"#INTRODUCTION\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003eINTRODUCTION.\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"line\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"#I\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003eBOOK I.\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"line\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"#II\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003eBOOK II.\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"line\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"#III\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003eBOOK III.\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"line\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"#IV\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003eBOOK IV.\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"line\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"#V\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003eBOOK V.\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"chapter\"\u003e\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pageno\" id=\"Page_5\"\u003e5\u003c/span\u003e\r\n\u003ch2 class=\"c004\" id=\"PREFACE\"\u003ePREFACE.\u003c/h2\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"c005\"\u003eI am not aware that any translation of\r\nthe Republic of Cicero into the English\r\ntongue has been made.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"c000\"\u003eBelieving that it cannot but excite a\r\ndeep interest with generous minds, as\r\nwell on account of the high nature of the\r\nsubject, the illustrious name of Cicero,\r\nas of the great motives which led him to\r\ncompose this work, I venture to offer a\r\ntranslation of it to the public.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"c000\"\u003eIn this extensive republic, where every\r\nindividual reads, it appears peculiarly\r\nproper, that an English dress should be\r\ngiven to a work, of which almost every\r\npage teaches that public happiness depends\r\nupon individual virtue.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"c000\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pageno\" id=\"Page_6\"\u003e6\u003c/span\u003eCicero’s definition of a republic, that it\r\nis an association of the people for the\r\ndefence and advancement of the common\r\ninterest; will be understood here, which\r\nmay be doubtingly said of any other republics\r\nnow in existence.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"c000\"\u003eA bare translation of the fragments of\r\nthis mutilated work, unassisted by any\r\ncommentary, could not but have been unsatisfactory.\r\nThe deficiencies of the original\r\nare somewhat compensated to us,\r\nnot alone in the grandeur of thought\r\nwhich pervades it, but in the majesty of\r\ndiction, precise, elevated, as it frequently\r\nis, and always governed by the most refined\r\ntaste. It would be a vain effort to\r\nattempt the dignity of the Latin tongue,\r\nwhen adorned with the elegancies of the\r\nCiceronian style. Humbly as the translation\r\nmay deserve to be considered, it will\r\nperhaps be deemed sufficiently faithful:\r\nand that the translator has not altogether\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pageno\" id=\"Page_7\"\u003e7\u003c/span\u003efailed in pointing out to grave and reflecting\r\nminds, the immediate cause of the\r\nruin of a noble Republic.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"c000\"\u003eHe has therefore prefixed a brief historical\r\nintroduction; the which, whether it\r\nwill be thought too long, or not sufficiently\r\ndetailed, will probably depend upon\r\nthe reader’s historical recollections. The\r\nmotive for drawing it up was to render\r\nthe work more generally useful and acceptable.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"chapter\"\u003e\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pageno\" id=\"Page_9\"\u003e9\u003c/span\u003e\r\n\u003ch2 class=\"c004\" id=\"INTRODUCTION\"\u003eINTRODUCTION.\u003c/h2\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"c005\"\u003eThe imperfect manuscript, a translation of which is\r\nnow presented to the American public, was discovered\r\nin the Library of the Vatican, by Professor Angelo\r\nMai; a person of singular ingenuity in the detection of\r\nthose Palimpsests whose contents were written upon ancient\r\nwritings partially erased. A fac simile of part of\r\nthe MSS. accompanies this work. The Republic of\r\nCicero was greatly cherished by those who lived in and\r\nnear his times; of which occasional evidences are found\r\nin the writings of antiquity. But the tyranny of the\r\nemperors bridled the Romans so soon after its appearance,\r\nthat Horace, Virgil, Seneca, Quintilian, Pliny,\r\nand even Tacitus, have not dared to praise it, lest they\r\nshould bring down vengeance upon themselves. It is\r\nremarkable that while despotism was rapidly extinguishing\r\nphilosophy and letters, and the very existence of\r\nthese precious monuments of better times was scarcely\r\nthought of; the Christian religion was gradually raising\r\nup amidst the persecutions of the primitive church,\r\nnew champions for truth and justice; to whose works\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pageno\" id=\"Page_10\"\u003e10\u003c/span\u003ewe are indebted for many valuable fragments of the\r\nbest writers of antiquity, and for almost all the passages\r\nof Cicero’s Republic which we were acquainted with,\r\nuntil the late discovery of professor Mai. It is in the\r\nworks of St. Augustin and of Lactantius that these\r\npassages most abound; and they are appealed to by\r\nthem as most eloquent arguments, in support of just\r\ngovernment, and virtuous conduct. Scipio’s Dream,\r\nforming the only part of the sixth book which has been\r\npreserved, and which is one of the most splendid passages\r\nthat has been saved from antiquity, has long had\r\na place in the works of Macrobius, a writer at the beginning\r\nof the fifth century, addicted to the Pythagorean\r\nmysticisms; and who has preserved it probably on account\r\nof the occult astronomical relation of numbers\r\ncontained in it. Notwithstanding the mutilated state\r\nof the MSS., the order of the books is distinctly preserved,\r\nthe general plan of the work is obvious, and we\r\nhave much greater reason to rejoice at what we possess,\r\nthan to regret what is wanting. The disordered state\r\nof the government and the republic at large, evidently\r\nsuggested to Cicero this patriotic and bold attempt to\r\nstem the influence of bad men, and raise the falling\r\nliberties of his country. In this highly philosophical\r\ndiscourse he sought to recall the Romans from the interests\r\nof ambitious individuals, and fix their attention\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pageno\" id=\"Page_11\"\u003e11\u003c/span\u003eupon the greater interests of the country, where each\r\nman had a stake: to revive their veneration for the simplicity\r\nof the early institutions of Rome, and for the\r\nmen who had made themselves illustrious by their virtues:\r\nand to guard the people more effectually against\r\nthe innovations and factions now succeeding each other\r\nwith so much rapidity, he invests those ancient times\r\nwith a perfection, that the attractions of his eloquence\r\nalone can excuse.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"c000\"\u003eOf the original simplicity of the government, some\r\nevidences are afforded by this work; as where it is stated\r\nthat lands were assigned to the sovereign, and cultivated\r\nfor him by the people, that he might have nothing to do\r\nbut administer justice. The principal men too of the\r\nstate in those early times lived in the vicinity of Rome,\r\ncultivating a small possession. The illustrious names\r\nof Fabius, Lentulus, Cicero, \u0026amp;c., were perhaps given\r\nto those husbandmen who excelled in the cultivation of\r\nthose vegetables; such was the opinion of Pliny.\u003ca id=\"r1\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca class=\"c009 pginternal\" href=\"#f1\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e[1]\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"c000\"\u003eThe censor had the power of reprimanding those\r\nwhose fields were slovenly cultivated. Many customs\r\nof those antique times are found in Cato’s curious\r\nTreatise on Rural Affairs. “Our ancestors constituted\r\nand ordained thus in their Laws: A thief was\r\ncondemned to double restitution; an usurer to quadruple.\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pageno\" id=\"Page_12\"\u003e12\u003c/span\u003eYou may judge from this how much worse a citizen\r\nthey deemed the usurer to be than the thief. And\r\nwhen they praised a worthy man, they spoke thus\r\nof him: ‘that he was a good farmer, an excellent\r\nhusbandman.’ He that was commended in these terms,\r\nwas thought to be praised enough.”\u003ca id=\"r2\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca class=\"c009 pginternal\" href=\"#f2\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e[2]\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e And again speaking\r\nof a good husbandman, he says, “He should part\r\nwith his old cattle, his weaned calves and lambs, his\r\nwool, his skins, his old carts and worn out irons, his old\r\nslaves, and his sick ones; and if he has got any thing\r\nelse he does not want, let him sell it. A father of a\r\nfamily ought always to sell and never to buy.” Dion\r\nsays that a messenger summoned the patricians by name,\r\nbut that the people were convened \u003cem\u003eby the blowing of a\r\nhorn\u003c/em\u003e.\u003ca id=\"r3\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca class=\"c009 pginternal\" href=\"#f3\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e[3]\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e But the splendid military government which\r\nsoon grew up, gave both state employment and riches\r\nto that class once distinguished for their industry and\r\nfrugality. Agriculture was abandoned to slaves, and\r\nmen branded for crimes: it was no longer deemed an\r\nhonourable employment. Luxury and habits of profusion\r\nmade it necessary for conspicuous men to acquire\r\nthe means of indulging in them, at the expense of principle\r\nand patriotism. At length when sensual gratifications\r\nbecame dearer to a majority of the Romans than\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pageno\" id=\"Page_13\"\u003e13\u003c/span\u003eliberty, the republic was overthrown, and military despotism\r\naccomplished the circle of military influence;\r\nextinguished every spark of light and liberty; stripped\r\nthe empire of its moral and physical power, and left it\r\nunmindful of its past glorious existence, to perish in a\r\nblind and helpless old age.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"c000\"\u003eMarcus Tullius Cicero was born at Arpinum, a city\r\nof the Samnites, which had long enjoyed the freedom\r\nof Rome. His family was an ancient one, and of the\r\nequestrian order; which comprehended the most respectable\r\ngentry of the empire, who were only inferior\r\nin rank to the patricians. Having assumed the manly\r\ngown at his sixteenth year, he immediately began to acquire\r\na knowledge of the laws of his country, under\r\nthe two Scævolas, eminent persons of that day. The\r\nMarsian war, and the civil broils of Marius and Sylla, the\r\nformer of whom was also a native of Arpinum, occurred\r\nduring the prosecution of his civil studies; and although\r\nthey gave some interruption to them, yet these violent\r\ncontentions falling immediately under his observation,\r\nhe became at an early period accustomed to consider\r\nthe political situation of his country. These circumstances\r\nno doubt had some influence in deciding his\r\nfuture career; although the rare natural activity of his\r\nmind would perhaps have led him under any situation to\r\nthe investigation of all moral and physical relations.\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pageno\" id=\"Page_14\"\u003e14\u003c/span\u003ePrompted by this impulse, he now began the study of\r\nGrecian philosophy under the learned Athenians who\r\nfled to Rome from the persecutions of Mithridates, and\r\nafterwards perfected himself in it under Molo the\r\nRhodian; a man so distinguished, that he was permitted\r\nto address the Roman Senate in the Greek tongue\r\nwithout an interpreter. About the age of twenty-six,\r\nwith his mind filled with all the knowledge taught at that\r\nperiod, he first began to plead at the Forum. His celebrated\r\nsuccessful defence of S. Roscius was made soon\r\nafter, in which he braved, what the other Roman orators\r\nhad not dared to do, the resentment of Sylla. By this\r\nbold measure, the generosity of his character, as well\r\nas the force of his talents, were developed, and his reputation\r\nestablished as the most powerful orator of\r\nRome. He visited Athens not long after this period,\r\npartly to avoid the displeasure of Sylla, and partly to\r\nrenew the study of philosophy, which he here pursued\r\nwith great ardour. His friend Atticus, who was at\r\nAthens at the same time, had embraced the Epicurean\r\ndoctrines; but Cicero appears at this early period to\r\nhave believed in a future state; a doctrine which at a\r\nlater period he has most eloquently recorded in his celebrated\r\nDream of Scipio. At the end of two years, he\r\nreturned to Rome, greatly improved by his intercourse\r\nwith the philosophers and orators of Greece and Asia.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"c000\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pageno\" id=\"Page_15\"\u003e15\u003c/span\u003eIn his thirty-first year, and not long after his marriage,\r\nhe was elected to the quæstorship, which opened\r\nhis way to the Senate. One of the provinces of Sicily\r\nfell to him by lot, and he exercised his quæstorial functions\r\nwith such moderation and ability, as to induce the\r\nSicilians to confer extraordinary honours upon him at\r\nthe termination of his year; when he returned to Rome,\r\ndetermined henceforward to withdraw himself as little\r\nas possible from the eyes of the Roman people. In his\r\nthirty-seventh year he received the unanimous suffrages\r\nof all the tribes for the edileship, which introduced him\r\ninto the magistracy. The exhibition of the shows and\r\ngames, which was the province of the ediles, was conducted\r\nby Cicero with great satisfaction to the people,\r\nand without injuring materially his own private fortune.\r\nIn this he achieved a difficult point, which marks his\r\ngreat prudence and address. So great had the affection\r\nof the people now become for him, that at three\r\ndifferent elections for prætor, he was each time placed\r\nat the head of the list by the unanimous vote of all the\r\ncenturies. In his forty-third year, having been very\r\ndiligent in strengthening his interest, he became a candidate\r\nfor the consulship with others; among whom\r\nwere L. Sergius Cataline: but such was his popularity\r\nthat he was saluted consul by acclamation of the people\r\nbefore the votes were counted. He received also a\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pageno\" id=\"Page_16\"\u003e16\u003c/span\u003estrong support from the patricians, who had uniformly\r\nbeen opposed to his advancement; but Cicero’s reputation\r\nfor knowledge and probity was so great, and the\r\ntimes were becoming so critical, that they deemed the\r\ngovernment safe in his hands. The patricians at this\r\ntime were of the faction of Sylla, to which also Cataline\r\nbelonged: and the Tribunes and the people were\r\nof the Marian faction; at the head of which was Julius\r\nCæsar, a near relation to Marius. Although Cæsar,\r\nand Cicero were both on the popular side, yet they were\r\nnot united upon any common principles of order. Cæsar\r\nwas always individually opposed to him: and when\r\nCicero being consul, was endeavouring in the senate\r\nto bring the associates of Cataline to punishment;\r\nCæsar defended them, and even indirectly encouraged\r\ntheir cause, by declaring his disbelief in the immortality\r\nof the soul. The suppression of this conspiracy\r\nof Cataline, Cethegus, Lentulus and many others,\r\namong whom Cæsar was generally numbered, raised the\r\nreputation of Cicero to the greatest height. By his\r\nincessant vigilance, Rome was saved from the horrors\r\nof a general massacre and pillage. The greatest honours\r\nwere paid him by the senate and equestrian order:\r\nand for the first time the sublime epithet of “Father of\r\nhis Country” was addressed to a Roman citizen in the\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pageno\" id=\"Page_17\"\u003e17\u003c/span\u003esenate, in the person of Cicero.\u003ca id=\"r4\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca class=\"c009 pginternal\" href=\"#f4\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e[4]\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e This great action of\r\nhis life he most feelingly alludes to in the introduction\r\nto his first book of the Republic. “Nor is my name\r\nforgotten,” \u0026amp;c. The feelings too which the circumstances\r\nattending the very last act of his consulship excited\r\nin him, are eloquently pourtrayed in a passage immediately\r\nfollowing. It was the custom for the consul\r\nat the expiration of his office, to make a speech in the\r\nassembly of the people, and to swear that he had executed\r\nhis duties with fidelity. When he was already in\r\nthe rostra, and was about to address the whole people\r\nassembled on this interesting occasion; Metellus, a\r\nnew tribune, prompted by the officious spirit of popular\r\nauthority, which often delights to mortify the great and\r\ngood, forbade the consul to address the people,\r\nalleging that Cicero having caused Lentulus and the rest\r\nto suffer death without being heard in their defence, did\r\nnot deserve to be heard himself. Whereat with an\r\nenthusiastic presence of mind peculiar to himself, he\r\nswore with a loud voice that he had saved the republic:\r\nand the multitude moved by a generous feeling which\r\nthe demagogues had no time to tamper with, more\r\nthan atoned to him for the intended affront from their\r\ntribune, by a simultaneous shout that he had sworn\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pageno\" id=\"Page_18\"\u003e18\u003c/span\u003enothing but the truth,\u003ca id=\"r5\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca class=\"c009 pginternal\" href=\"#f5\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e[5]\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e and by accompanying him from\r\nthe Forum to his own house.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"c000\"\u003eIn this most glorious year of his life, and at the very\r\ntime when he was occupied in saving his country, Octavius\r\nCæsar was born; by whose arts and influence\r\nCicero, as well as the republic, were not more than\r\ntwenty years after destroyed. And although he had\r\nacted so noble a part toward his country, which under\r\nhis government had been saved from the most profligate\r\nattempt that had yet been made upon its liberties; and\r\nenjoyed the highest rank in the senate, and the first\r\nconsideration from all good men; corruption had now\r\nreached such a height, that pre-eminence in virtue, shining\r\nforth in so active a citizen as Cicero, who was constantly\r\nthwarting the designs of bad men, served but to\r\nunite their efforts against him. He became henceforward\r\nthe object of their hatred and vengeance. Cæsar,\r\nwho did not believe in a future state, and who consequently\r\nhad no principle to restrain him, was constantly\r\nplotting means to usurp the government. Pompey, in\r\nwhose interest Cicero had always been, and who at the\r\nclose of the Mithridatic war had become the most powerful\r\nman in the Republic, was afraid to disoblige the\r\nnumerous enemies of Cicero, and declined even to\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pageno\" id=\"Page_19\"\u003e19\u003c/span\u003estrengthen him by a public approbation of the measures\r\nhe had taken to suppress the conspiracy of Catiline.\r\nThe luxurious and the corrupt, who far outnumbered\r\nthe rest, were willing to sell the republic and themselves\r\nto the highest bidders. The people were as usual the\r\ntools of demagogues. Every thing conspired to accelerate\r\nthe downfall of the republic. In the face of these\r\nfearful odds stood Cicero, a large majority of the senate,\r\nand of the equestrian order, which comprehended the\r\nindependent landholders and gentry of the Roman nation:\r\nand with but little other support than the satisfaction\r\nof being engaged in the noblest of causes, the\r\nmaintenance of regular government. It is most painful\r\nto look back upon the history of the degradation of\r\nsuch a people; corrupted and ruined by their blind admiration\r\nof that falsest of all idols, military glory.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"c000\"\u003eAn event occurred the year after his consulate, which\r\nbrought him into a new conflict with some of the worst\r\nof these men. P. Clodius, at this time a quæstor, a\r\nvicious and debauched young man of family, and who\r\npossessed many personal advantages, had an intrigue\r\nwith Cæsar’s wife Pompeia. Satiated with ordinary\r\nvoluptuousness, he disguised himself as a woman, and\r\nentered the house of Pompeia in the night time, when\r\nshe with other distinguished Roman matrons, was celebrating\r\nthe mysteries of the Bona Dea, or Patroness of\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pageno\" id=\"Page_20\"\u003e20\u003c/span\u003eChastity. He was discovered and fled. Such was the\r\nrespect in which these mysteries, at which women alone\r\nofficiated, were held, that the profanation excited the\r\nutmost indignation throughout the city. Even Cæsar\r\nfound it necessary to put away his wife. The senate\r\ndirected the consuls to prepare a law for the trial of\r\nClodius before the people, which was resisted by one of\r\nthe tribunes friendly to Clodius. At length it was\r\nagreed that a law should be passed to try him before the\r\nprætor and a select number of judges. Clodius rested\r\nhis defence upon an alibi, which he endeavoured to sustain\r\nby witnesses. When Cicero was called to give his\r\ndeposition, he was insulted by the mob which adhered\r\nto Clodius; but such was the veneration in which he\r\nwas held, that the judges stood up, and received him\r\nwith great honour. He testified that Clodius had been\r\nwith him in his house in Rome on the very day of the\r\npollution. Cæsar who was also called, said that he was\r\nignorant of the whole affair; although it occurred in his\r\nown house, and in the presence of his mother and sister,\r\nwho had deposed to the truth of the accusation.\r\nBeing asked, why then he had put away his wife? he\r\nanswered, “Because those who are connected with me,\r\nmust be as free from suspicion as from crime.”\u003ca id=\"r6\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca class=\"c009 pginternal\" href=\"#f6\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e[6]\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"c000\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pageno\" id=\"Page_21\"\u003e21\u003c/span\u003eThat the wife of Cæsar must be free even from suspicion,\r\nis a saying that has passed down to our days:\r\nyet too many who have heard it are ignorant of the\r\ncircumstances attending its origin. We read the commentaries\r\nof Cæsar at school, and are fired with admiration\r\nat his talents and successes. We are thus prepared\r\nto pity his death and the manner of it. But the\r\nmilitary and political glories of Cæsar, can never furnish\r\nan apology for a profligate private life; and a memorable\r\nsaying is stripped of every attraction, when we\r\nknow that it was uttered by the lips of a perjured atheist.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"c000\"\u003eIn a letter to Atticus, Cicero draws a curious picture\r\nof the judges selected to try this famous cause; a majority\r\nof whom appears to have been packed from the\r\noutcasts of all the orders, and to have been paid for the\r\noccasion. Clodius was acquitted by a majority of thirty-one\r\nvoices over twenty-five. Upon their appointment\r\nsome of them had requested a guard from the\r\nsenate to protect them from the mob. Upon which\r\noccasion, Catulus a distinguished member of the senate,\r\nvery facetiously asked one of the judges, “why they\r\nwanted a guard, and whether it was to protect the money\r\nwhich Clodius had bribed them with?”\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"c000\"\u003eAfter his acquittal, Clodius was wont to attempt to\r\nthrow ridicule upon Cicero in the senate, finding it vain\r\nto encounter him in argument, and hoping to divert in\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pageno\" id=\"Page_22\"\u003e22\u003c/span\u003esome degree the force of his attacks. “So the judges”\r\nsaid Clodius, “would give no credit to your oath.”\r\n“Twenty-five of them did,” replied Cicero: “the rest\r\nwould give you none it seems, but made you pay beforehand.”\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"c000\"\u003eAfter the return of Pompey to Rome, as well as of\r\nCæsar from Spain, a triumvirate of interests was formed\r\nbetween these two and Crassus: each having his\r\nown ascendancy in view. Cæsar, to make the interest\r\nit was thus intended to direct against the independence\r\nof the republic, still stronger, made overtures to Cicero,\r\nwho declined connecting himself with them. At length\r\nCæsar openly declared against him, and favoured the\r\nelection of Clodius to the tribunate, in the which he\r\nsucceeded. Being now in authority, he brought\r\nforward the law, that whoever had taken away the life\r\nof a Roman citizen, uncondemned, should be interdicted\r\nbread and water. This was directed against\r\nCicero, in relation to his consular acts respecting the\r\nconspirators; and affected him so much, that although\r\nthe law was in general terms, and his name was not\r\nmentioned in it, he changed his garments, and appeared\r\nabroad sordidly dressed to attract the compassion of\r\nthe people. The young Romans of liberal character,\r\nto the number of twenty thousand also changed their\r\ndress, and accompanied him; soliciting the favour of\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pageno\" id=\"Page_23\"\u003e23\u003c/span\u003eall in authority, and of the people, against the passage\r\nof this law. But the combination of bad men proved\r\ntoo strong against him, and Pompey having refused his\r\nprotection, Cicero was induced by the advice of his\r\nfriends, to withdraw himself into a temporary exile from\r\nRome. This humiliating event took place in his forty-ninth\r\nyear. During his absence his residences both in\r\ntown and country, which were upon a scale commensurate\r\nwith his dignity, were despoiled; and together with\r\nthe furniture appropriated by the consuls and by Clodius.\r\nAt length the daring insolence of that tribune,\r\nand the perpetual broils he occasioned, began to indispose\r\nall men against him, except his immediate profligate\r\nretainers. Advantage was taken of this to propose\r\nin the senate the recall of Cicero; which finally prevailed\r\nat a very numerous convocation of the senators\r\nand magistrates; Clodius alone giving a dissenting\r\nvoice. At its final passage into a law by the Roman\r\npeople, the field of Mars was crowded with their assembled\r\ncenturies. Such was the public veneration for him,\r\nthat voters from every town in Italy were present to insure\r\nthe passage of a law which restored so great a\r\nbenefactor to his country. All the centuries concurred\r\nin an act thus most solemnly passed by the whole Roman\r\npeople. In anticipation of the event, he left Dyrrhachium\r\nin Macedonia, and soon after his arrival at\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pageno\" id=\"Page_24\"\u003e24\u003c/span\u003eBrundisium, where his daughter Tullia had come to\r\nmeet him, he received the welcome news from Rome.\r\nHis journey was a continued triumph, and he was received\r\non his arrival at the city in the most enthusiastic\r\nmanner. An insufficient sum of money was voted to\r\nhim to rebuild his mansions. When he had almost\r\nfinished his palatine house, it was attacked by one of\r\nClodius’ mobs, and destroyed. Broils and slaughters\r\nwere now so common in the streets of Rome, that\r\ngladiators were retained to assist in these feuds; in\r\nwhich the consuls of the same year were sometimes\r\nopposed to each other. Cicero who had now reached\r\nhis fifty-first year, was again made to feel how unremitting\r\nis the hatred of enemies, and uncertain the support\r\nof friends. Public virtue appeared to him to have\r\nno longer any value in the eyes of the Romans. He\r\nsaw that every man attended more to his private safety\r\nand advancement, than to the public peace and dignity\r\nof the city; and perceiving the necessity of a powerful\r\nprotector for himself and family in his old age, he appears\r\nfrom one of his letters to have determined to\r\nconform himself in every thing to the pleasure of Pompey.\r\nWe also see him from time to time engaged in\r\nagreeable services to Cæsar, with whom Pompey was\r\nyet connected. Experience and persecution appear to\r\nhave induced him to adopt a course foreign to the character\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pageno\" id=\"Page_25\"\u003e25\u003c/span\u003eof the perfect citizen he has pourtrayed in his\r\nrepublic. In his fourth epistle to Atticus, he says\u003ca id=\"r7\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca class=\"c009 pginternal\" href=\"#f7\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e[7]\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e “If\r\nthey will not be friendly to me who possess no power,\r\nI must endeavour to make those like me who have the\r\npower of being useful. ‘I told you so long ago,’ you\r\nwill say; I know that you did, and I was an ass for\r\nnot taking your advice.” The opinion too of his friend\r\nCælius, would have great weight with most men, in such\r\ndisturbed times. “It cannot have escaped you, that\r\nthe duty of men amidst domestic dissensions, is to espouse\r\nthe honestest side, as long as the contention is\r\nof a civil nature, and force is not used. But when it\r\ncomes to wars and camps, they should take the strongest\r\nside, and consider that the best which is the most\r\nsafe.”\u003ca id=\"r8\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca class=\"c009 pginternal\" href=\"#f8\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e[8]\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"c000\"\u003eThe influence of Cæsar was now becoming very conspicuous.\r\nHis military career in Gaul, his generosity,\r\nand the universality of his talents, gave him at length a\r\npre-eminence over Pompey in the public estimation.\r\nPompey and Crassus had entered into the consulship\r\nwith little observance of constitutional forms; and,\r\nwith as little deference to the senate, had caused provinces\r\nto be assigned to them for five years. Spain\r\nand Africa to Pompey. Syria and the fatal Parthian\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pageno\" id=\"Page_26\"\u003e26\u003c/span\u003ewar to Crassus. This triumvirate had now almost the\r\nwhole Roman military force at their command.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"c000\"\u003eIt was in the spring of the next year, that Cicero at\r\nhis Cuman villa, began his famous work on government.\r\nHe was now advancing into his fifty-fourth year, and it\r\nappears that he had completed his work before he entered\r\nupon his command in Cilicia. His military career\r\nwas distinguished by great activity and judgment. He\r\nwas saluted emperor by the army upon one of his military\r\nsuccesses, and returned gladly to Rome at the end\r\nof the year. During the remainder of his eventful life,\r\nhe appears to have found comfort only in the cultivation\r\nof philosophy and letters. The corruption of the Romans,\r\nthe ruin of the republic, the death of his beloved\r\ndaughter, and his separation from the wife he had lived\r\nwith thirty years, embittered his days. He was too\r\nconspicuous a man not to be affected by all the political\r\nchanges which took place. Crassus perished in the\r\nParthian war; and Cæsar, as soon as he felt himself\r\nstrong enough, crossed the Rubicon, which was the\r\nlimit of his military command, and marched upon Rome,\r\nfrom which Pompey and the senate ingloriously fled.\r\nCicero at length felt himself also constrained to follow\r\nthe fortunes of Pompey, because he believed the dignity\r\nof the Roman name was alone to be found under his\r\nbanners. And when the battle of Pharsalia left Cæsar\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pageno\" id=\"Page_27\"\u003e27\u003c/span\u003esole master of the Roman world, he submitted to Cæsar,\r\nbecause there was no other government to submit\r\nto. But he rejoiced in his death, of which he was a\r\nspectator, and to the last, gave all the aid in his power\r\nto the patriots who sought to raise the liberties of his\r\ncountry. In his latter days, he showed an invincible\r\nspirit, defying the profligate Anthony in the plenitude of\r\nhis power. And when the assassins of the second and\r\nmore bloody triumvirate surprised him, he ordered his\r\nservants to set down the litter in which they were carrying\r\nhim, and forbade them to defend him. Then undauntedly\r\nstretching out his neck, he bade his executioners\r\ndo their pleasure; happy to escape from so much\r\nmisery, to the immortality he had always believed in.\r\nThis occurred when he was just entering his sixty-fourth-year.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"c000\"\u003eThis rapid sketch of the transactions of Cicero’s\r\ntimes, will, it is hoped, not be deemed impertinent, but\r\nmay rather be considered as assisting the general reader\r\nto form an adequate estimate of the great object which\r\nCicero had in view, when he drew up this celebrated\r\ntreatise, which was to revive the veneration of the\r\nRoman people for their ancient institutions, now in danger\r\nfrom the machinations of lawless men, at the head of\r\nwhom was Cæsar, who denying in the senate a future\r\nexistence, expressed his contempt for all religion. But\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pageno\" id=\"Page_28\"\u003e28\u003c/span\u003eit has been objected to Cicero that he was insincere,\r\nand that he called upon his countrymen to venerate what\r\nwas often the object of his ridicule. The leading men\r\nof Rome who formed the sacerdotal order, from the\r\nearliest periods and under all circumstances maintained\r\ntheir influence over the people, chiefly by that religion\r\nthey had been brought up in the veneration of, and\r\nespecially by the observance of auspices. But in time\r\nthe credulity of the Romans began to relax. Men like\r\nCicero had for their religion the glorious doctrine of the\r\nimmortality of the soul, and a great majority of his enlightened\r\nequals no doubt entertained his opinions.\r\nOthers, and among them was his brother Quintus, from\r\nvarious motives, as has always been the case in the\r\nhistory of superstitions, persevered in the prejudices\r\nthey had received from education. Prejudices acquired\r\nin infancy from our earliest and dearest protectors, and\r\nto relinquish which, seems to require the relinquishment\r\nof all reverence for those we most venerate. When\r\ntherefore Cicero ridicules the religious observances of\r\nhis times, it is to enlightened men he sometimes addresses\r\nhimself; just as men have in all times laughed\r\nat absurdities they do not care publicly to assail: and\r\nat other times he may have used his ridicule to expose\r\nthe most stupid superstitions indiscriminately to all.\r\nWhen in his Republic he praises the institution of\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pageno\" id=\"Page_29\"\u003e29\u003c/span\u003eauspices, however he may be charged with inconsistency,\r\nit was done from great and public motives, and\r\nnot from selfish ones. There is no hypocrisy in this\r\nconduct, as we understand the word; and if we examine\r\nthe whole bearing of Cicero’s life, the policy which the\r\ncircumstances of it, sometimes obliged him to, will not\r\noffend liberal minds. In estimating therefore the\r\ncharacter of Cicero, it is well to remember Dr. Middleton’s\r\nremark in his preface “and in every thing especially\r\nthat relates to Cicero, I would recommend the\r\nreader to contemplate the whole character, before he\r\nthinks himself qualified to judge of its separate parts, on\r\nwhich the whole will always be found the surest comment.”\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"c000\"\u003eThe first book is the most complete of the whole six:\r\nthe opening however is imperfect. Cicero in his own\r\nperson enters into a discussion whether governments\r\nshould be administered by contemplative philosophers,\r\nor by active practical men. He recapitulates the arguments\r\non both sides of the question, often discussed\r\nby the ancients, and decides the question in consonance\r\nwith those feelings which had governed his very active\r\nlife. The eloquence and force of some of the passages\r\nare inimitable. They will be applicable to all times as\r\nlong as civil government exists among men. But in\r\nthis country where the experiment of a popular government\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pageno\" id=\"Page_30\"\u003e30\u003c/span\u003eis trying upon so comprehensive a scale, the grandeur\r\nof the sentiments deserves the attention of every\r\nman. As where he states as an argument of those who\r\nshun active occupations, that it is dangerous to meddle\r\nwith public affairs in turbulent times, and disgraceful to\r\nassociate with the low and disreputable men who are\r\nconspicuous at those periods; that it is vain to hope to\r\nrestrain the mad violence of the vulgar, or to withdraw\r\nfrom such a contest without injury; “As if,” he adds\r\nwith a generous enthusiasm, “there could be a more\r\njust cause for good and firm men, endowed with noble\r\nminds, to stand forth in aid of their country, than\r\nthat they may not be subject to bad men; nor suffer the\r\nrepublic to be lacerated by them, before the desire of\r\nsaving it may come too late.”\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"c000\"\u003eAfter disposing of this question, he proceeds with\r\ngreat address to open the plan of his work, and presents\r\nin all the beautiful simplicity of the times, Scipio, his\r\nfriend Lælius, with some of their most accomplished\r\ncotemporaries, seated, not in the gorgeous saloon of a\r\nLucullus or Crassus, but in the sunny part, because it\r\nwas the winter season, of the lawn of Scipio’s country\r\nplace; where they had convened to pass the Latin holidays\r\nin discussing philosophical questions. Here, upon\r\nan inquiry being instituted into the cause of two suns\r\nreported to have been seen in the heavens, occasion is\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pageno\" id=\"Page_31\"\u003e31\u003c/span\u003efound to introduce in a very pleasing manner, the astronomical\r\nknowledge of the day, which Cicero was well\r\nversed in. Scipio is made here to deliver a magnificent\r\npassage, beginning at the 17th section. “Who can\r\nperceive any grandeur in human affairs,” \u0026amp;c.\u003ca id=\"r9\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca class=\"c009 pginternal\" href=\"#f9\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e[9]\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e This\r\ninquiry about celestial phenomena, which appeared so\r\nforeign to a philosophical investigation on the principles\r\nof government, is admirably closed and without the\r\nabruptness being perceived, by Lælius asking how it\r\ncan interest him that Scipio should be solicitous about\r\nthe two suns, “when he does not inquire the cause why\r\ntwo senates, and almost two people exist in one republic.”\r\nAt the general request Scipio consents to deliver\r\nhis opinion of government. He defines a republic to be\r\nthe “public thing,” or common interest of all: and\r\nhe shews most satisfactorily that human beings congregate\r\nnot on account of their weakness, but that they are\r\nled thereto by the social principle, which is innate in\r\nman, and leads him even in the midst of the greatest\r\nabundance to seek his fellow. He successively examines\r\nthe despotic, the aristocratic, and democratic\r\nforms of government: their advantages and disadvantages;\r\nand concludes that a fourth kind of government,\r\nmoderated and compounded from those three is most to\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pageno\" id=\"Page_32\"\u003e32\u003c/span\u003ebe approved. This is subsequently recurred to and enlarged\r\nupon. Many persons will be surprised that the\r\nbalanced representative form of government, which has\r\nbut in modern times received the sanction of the wisest\r\nnations, should have been shadowed forth in an apparently\r\nspeculative opinion, two thousand years ago.\r\nWe must however remember, that in the numerous small\r\nindependent states of Greece; their various forms of\r\ngovernment, the tyranny of their kings, the oppression\r\nof the aristocracies, and the violence of the people, had\r\nproduced many discussions among their writers. Few\r\nof these have come down to us. Yet Cicero was familiar\r\nwith them, and it is evident that his plan of a mixed\r\ngovernment was drawn from this source. There is\r\na passage to this effect preserved in the Anthology of\r\nStobæus, of Hyppodamus. He says that royalty, which\r\nis a copy of divinity, is insufficient, on account of the\r\ndegeneracy of human nature. That it must be limited\r\nby an aristocracy, where the principle of emulation leads\r\nmen to excel each other: and that the citizen also\r\nshould be admitted into that mixed government as of\r\nright: but cautiously, as the people are apt to fall into\r\ndisorders. These opinions also flattered the Romans,\r\nfor in fact it was substantially their own form of government,\r\nwhich consisted of consuls, patricians, and the\r\npeople and their tribunes.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"c000\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pageno\" id=\"Page_33\"\u003e33\u003c/span\u003eScipio in the 43d section, gives an eloquent passage\r\nfrom Plato, where the excesses of the multitude are\r\npainted in the strongest language; a passage which\r\nmight well have been inspired by the French revolution.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"c000\"\u003eScipio opens the second book with the origin of the\r\nRoman people, adopting the received opinions concerning\r\nthe early history of Rome, of Romulus, and\r\nthe succeeding kings. These opinions have of late,\r\nbeen much controverted. Niebuhr whose erudition appears\r\nto be inimitable, whatever success he may be\r\nthought to have had in shaking them, has substituted nothing\r\nsatisfactory in their place, at least as far as we\r\nmay gather from his first volume. One thing may be\r\nsafely asserted, that Cicero might well present in his\r\nrepublic, those traditions of the times, as the real history\r\nof his country, because the Roman people were\r\nacquainted with no other. He could not call upon\r\nthem to venerate the founders of Rome and their institutions,\r\nand tell them at the same time they had never\r\nexisted. Niebuhr himself strengthens the account\r\ngiven at section 19, Book II., of the Greek descent of\r\nthe first Tarquin, by observing that the clay vases made\r\nat Tarquinii were painted, and resembled in colour\r\nand drawing some discovered near Corinth. He says\r\nthey are found only in the district of Tarquinii, and\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pageno\" id=\"Page_34\"\u003e34\u003c/span\u003ethat the circumstance implies a peculiar intercourse\r\nbetween Corinth and Tarquinii.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"c000\"\u003eIn the 22d section of the 2d Book, is another passage\r\nwith which Niebuhr is not satisfied, and which\r\neven Professor Mai terms “\u003cspan lang=\"la\"\u003evexatissimum locum\u003c/span\u003e.”\r\nCicero says the Roman people were distributed by Servius\r\ninto six classes, whose entire elective force was\r\none hundred and ninety-three centuries. To give the\r\nlanded proprietors who were rated in the first class,\r\na majority of this number, or ninety-seven votes, three\r\ncenturies of horse with six suffrages, meaning those inscribed\r\nin the great census or register, in contradistinction\r\nto the horsemen set apart from the mass of the\r\nwhole people; the century of carpenters, and the first\r\nclass, constituted together eighty-nine centuries.\r\nEight more centuries taken from the other five classes\r\nand added to this number, made ninety-seven, being a\r\nmajority of one over ninety-six, and thus in Cicero’s\r\nwords “\u003cspan lang=\"la\"\u003eConfecta est vis, populi universa\u003c/span\u003e.” The unwearied\r\nerudition of Niebuhr, to which great deference\r\nis due, is not satisfied with the simplicity of this statement\r\nof the Roman Constitution, but assails it with an\r\nunusual bitterness of critical spirit. He supposes the\r\npassage from its genuine state to have been corrupted\r\nby successive transcribers and commentators, to the\r\norder in which Professor Mai has thought proper to\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pageno\" id=\"Page_35\"\u003e35\u003c/span\u003egive it to the public, and that in its original state it\r\nstood thus. “\u003cspan lang=\"la\"\u003eNunc rationem videtis esse talem ut\r\nprima classis, addita centuria quæ ad summum usum\r\nurbis fabris tignariis est data: LXXXI centurias habeat;\r\nquibus ex CXIV centuriis, tot enim reliquæ\r\nsunt, equitum centuriæ cum sex suffragiis solæ si accesserunt\u003c/span\u003e,”\r\n\u0026amp;c.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"c000\"\u003e“Now you will perceive the plan was such, that the\r\nfirst class, a century being added from the carpenters\r\non account of their great utility to the city, consisted of\r\neighty-one centuries; to which if from the one hundred\r\nand fourteen centuries, for so many remain, only the\r\ncenturies of horse with six suffrages are added,” \u0026amp;c.\r\nI forbear to add his very curious reasons for this proposed\r\nrestoration, and which, not to be deemed extravagant,\r\nrequire to be judged by those familiar with the\r\nemendations of ancient MSS. It will be perceived,\r\nhowever, that he makes the whole number of centuries\r\nto consist of one hundred and ninety-five; and that he\r\ngives the landed proprietors a majority of ninety-nine\r\nover the ninety-six centuries belonging to the other five\r\nclasses, which appears superfluous in a system which\r\naimed at the appearance of moderation, “\u003cspan lang=\"la\"\u003ene superbum\r\nesset\u003c/span\u003e.” Substantially the system appears to have been\r\nthis. The Roman people were distributed into six\r\nclasses, having one hundred and ninety-three centuries\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pageno\" id=\"Page_36\"\u003e36\u003c/span\u003eor votes. The first class consisting of men of rank\r\nand property, with the centuries of horse, had ninety-six\r\nvotes; leaving ninety-seven votes to the other five\r\nclasses. In order, however, to give the ascendancy to\r\nthe first class in the least offensive way, the century of\r\nblacksmiths and carpenters was added to the first class,\r\nunder pretence of their great utility to the city; but\r\nreally because they were dependent upon the first class\r\nand the cavalry for employment, and could be relied\r\nupon. In this manner the first class secured a majority\r\nof ninety-seven votes. The second book closes with\r\na declaration from Scipio, that unless the most perfect\r\njustice is observed, no government can prosper.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"c000\"\u003eThe third book opens with a philosophical analysis\r\nof the faculties of man, introductory to the great principle\r\nof the immutable nature of justice, which it appears\r\nwas fully discussed in this book, of which so\r\nsmall a portion is preserved. A splendid picture is\r\ndrawn in the second section of an accomplished statesman,\r\nsuch as Cicero himself had aimed to be, and\r\nwhich from a passage in one of his letters to Atticus,\r\nappears to have been farther elaborated in the sixth\r\nbook. It relates to a triumph about which he felt some\r\nanxiety after his government of Cilicia. “If this idea\r\nof a triumph which even you approve, had not been\r\ninfused into me, you would not have had to look far for\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pageno\" id=\"Page_37\"\u003e37\u003c/span\u003ethe perfect citizen described in the sixth book.”\u003ca id=\"r10\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca class=\"c009 pginternal\" href=\"#f10\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e[10]\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e Philus\r\nis called upon to defend the cause of injustice after\r\nthe manner of Carneades the Greek sophist. The powerful\r\npassage contained in the seventeenth section is delivered\r\nby him. It was reserved for Lælius to close the\r\ndiscussion as the advocate of justice. Scarce any part\r\nof his discourse is preserved. Some fragments have,\r\nhowever, been collected by Professor Mai, preserved\r\nby Nonius the Philologist, and by Lactantius. In\r\nthe one, Lælius is made to declare, that the Roman\r\nyouth ought not to be permitted to listen to Carneades,\r\nwho if he thought as he spoke, was a bad man; and if\r\nhe was not, as he preferred to believe, his discourse\r\nwas nevertheless detestable. One of the passages\r\nfrom Lanctantius is that well known exposition of eternal\r\nright, or natural law of justice of which conscience\r\nis the voice.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"c000\"\u003e“There is indeed a law, right reason, which is in accordance\r\nwith nature; existing in all, unchangeable,\r\neternal. Commanding us to do what is right, forbidding\r\nus to do what is wrong. It has dominion over\r\ngood men, but possesses no influence over bad ones.\r\nNo other law can be substituted for it, no part of it can\r\nbe taken away, nor can it be abrogated altogether.\r\nNeither the people or the senate can absolve us from\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pageno\" id=\"Page_38\"\u003e38\u003c/span\u003eit. It wants no commentator or interpreter. It is not\r\none thing at Rome, and another thing at Athens: one\r\nthing to-day, and another thing to-morrow; but it is a\r\nlaw eternal and immutable for all nations and for all\r\ntime. God, the sole Ruler, and universal Lord, has\r\nframed and proclaimed this law. He who does not\r\nobey it, renounces himself, and is false to his own nature:\r\nhe brings upon himself the direst tortures, even\r\nwhen he escapes human punishments.”\u003ca id=\"r11\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca class=\"c009 pginternal\" href=\"#f11\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e[11]\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"c000\"\u003eThe fourth book of which a mere fragment is preserved,\r\nappears to have treated of domestic manners,\r\nthe education of youth, and of Roman life, public and\r\nprivate. We have lost here many fine pictures of the\r\nsimplicity of Roman manners, at that flourishing period\r\nof the republic, as well as of the progress of luxury,\r\nwhich was not inconsiderable. A fragment of this\r\nbook is preserved in Nonius, where Scipio opposes the\r\ncollection of a revenue, necessary perhaps to make\r\ngood those deficiencies which extravagance had produced.\r\n“\u003cspan lang=\"la\"\u003eNolo enim eundem populum imperatorem et\r\nportitorem esse terrarum. Optimum autem et in privatis\r\nfamiliis et in republica vectigal duco esse parsimoniam.\u003c/span\u003e”\r\n“I am not willing that the same people should\r\nbe the sovereigns and the toll-gatherers of the world.\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pageno\" id=\"Page_39\"\u003e39\u003c/span\u003eI look upon economy to be the best revenue for the republic,\r\nand for private individuals.”\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"c000\"\u003eThe fifth book is also a mere fragment. St. Augustin\r\nhas preserved some notices of it, from which it appears\r\nthat it treated very much of the ancient Roman institutions,\r\nwith a view to show the degeneracy of the times\r\nin which Cicero wrote. In the fifth section of this\r\nbook, he speaks of the comfortable enjoyment of life\r\ndepending upon legal marriages and lawful children;\r\nfrom whence perhaps we may gather the obligation\r\nwhich the dissolute manners of the times had laid him\r\nunder, of asserting the value of these ties, as well as\r\nhis own veneration for them.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"c000\"\u003eOf the sixth book no part whatever has come down\r\nto us with this MSS: but the important fragment on a\r\nfuture state preserved in Macrobius, warrants our supposing\r\nthat he was naturally led in a treatise so highly\r\nphilosophical, to pass from the consideration of human\r\nmorals, to the great object which moral conduct has in\r\nview: the resisting of human weakness, for the sake of\r\nfitting the immortal part of our nature for a higher condition\r\nof being. The dream of Scipio, encumbered as\r\nit is by some of the pedantry of the schools, is a production\r\nof the highest order, upon this most sublime of\r\nall subjects.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003chr class=\"c010\"\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"footnote\" id=\"f1\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"c000\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"label\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"#r1\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e1\u003c/a\u003e. \u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pageno\" id=\"Page_40\"\u003e40\u003c/span\u003eHis. Nat. 18. 3. 1.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"footnote\" id=\"f2\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"c000\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"label\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"#r2\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e2\u003c/a\u003e. \u003c/span\u003eCato de Re Rustica. \u003cspan lang=\"la\"\u003eMajores enim nostri, \u0026amp;c.\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"footnote\" id=\"f3\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"c000\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"label\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"#r3\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e3\u003c/a\u003e. \u003c/span\u003eDio. 11. 8. Gellius xv. 27.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"footnote\" id=\"f4\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"c000\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"label\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"#r4\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e4\u003c/a\u003e. \u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan lang=\"la\"\u003eRoma patrem patriæ Ciceronem libera dixit.\u003c/span\u003e Juv. 8.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"footnote\" id=\"f5\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"c000\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"label\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"#r5\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e5\u003c/a\u003e. \u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan lang=\"la\"\u003eMagna Voce me vere jurasse juravit.\u003c/span\u003e Ep. fam. 5. 2.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"footnote\" id=\"f6\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"c000\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"label\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"#r6\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e6\u003c/a\u003e. \u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan lang=\"la\"\u003eQuoniam, inquit, meos tam suspicione quam crimine judico carere\r\noportere.\u003c/span\u003e Suet. J. Cæs. 74.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"footnote\" id=\"f7\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"c000\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"label\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"#r7\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e7\u003c/a\u003e. \u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan lang=\"la\"\u003eSed quoniam qui nihil possunt, \u0026amp;c.\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"footnote\" id=\"f8\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"c000\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"label\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"#r8\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e8\u003c/a\u003e. \u003c/span\u003eEp. fam. 8. 14.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"footnote\" id=\"f9\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"c000\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"label\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"#r9\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e9\u003c/a\u003e. \u003c/span\u003e“\u003cspan lang=\"la\"\u003eQuid porro aut præclarum putet in rebus humanis.\u003c/span\u003e” Lib. 1.\r\nxvii.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"footnote\" id=\"f10\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"c000\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"label\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"#r10\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e10\u003c/a\u003e. \u003c/span\u003eLet. to Att. vii. 3.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"footnote\" id=\"f11\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"c000\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"label\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"#r11\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e11\u003c/a\u003e. \u003c/span\u003eLact. Inst. vi. 8.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pageno\" id=\"Page_41\"\u003e41\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"ph1\"\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"nf-center-c1\"\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"nf-center c011\"\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv\u003eCICERO’S REPUBLIC.\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"figcenter id002\"\u003e\r\n\u003cimg alt=\"\" class=\"ig001\" src=\"https://chrisdeasy.com/wp-content/uploads/gutenberg-de-re-publica-cicero-marcus-tullius-cicero-i-002.jpg\" id=\"img_images_i_002.jpg_1\"\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"chapter\"\u003e\r\n\u003ch2 class=\"c004\" id=\"I\"\u003eBOOK I.\u003c/h2\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"c005\"\u003eI. For without the strong feeling of patriotism, neither\r\nhad G. Duelius, Aulus Atilius or L. Metellus freed\r\nus from the terror of Carthage; or the two Scipios extinguished\r\nwith their blood the rising flame of the second\r\npunic war. Quintus Maximus would not have weakened,\r\nnor M. Marcellus have crushed the one which was\r\nspringing up with still greater strength: or P. Africanus\r\nturning it from the gates of this city, have borne it\r\namid the walls of our enemies. Yet it was not thought\r\nunbecoming in M. Cato, an unknown and a new man,\r\nby whom all of us who emulate his course are led as a\r\nbright example of industry and virtue, to enjoy the repose\r\nof Tusculum, that healthy and convenient situation.\r\nThat insane man, however, as some have considered\r\nhim, preferred when urged by no necessity, to\r\ncontend amid those waves and tempests to extreme old\r\nage; rather than pass his days in the most agreeable\r\nmanner, amid so much ease and tranquillity. Men without\r\nnumber I omit, each of whom were benefactors to\r\nthe State, and who are not far removed from the remembrance\r\nof this generation. I forbear to commemorate\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pageno\" id=\"Page_42\"\u003e42\u003c/span\u003ethem, lest any one should reproach me with neglecting\r\nto speak of himself or his immediate friends. This one\r\ntruth I would mark, that nature has so strongly implanted\r\nin man the necessity of virtue, and so powerful\r\nan inclination to defend the common welfare, that this\r\nprinciple overcomes all the blandishments of voluptuousness\r\nand ease.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"c000\"\u003eII. Yet to possess virtue, like some art, without\r\nexercising it, is insufficient. Art indeed, when not effective,\r\nis still comprehended in science. The efficacy\r\nof all virtue consists in its use. Its greatest end is the\r\ngovernment of states, and the perfection not in words\r\nbut in deeds, of those very things which are taught in the\r\nhalls. For nothing is propounded by philosophers,\r\nconcerning what is esteemed to be just and proper, that\r\nis not confirmed and assured by those who have legislated\r\nfor states. For from whence springs piety, or from\r\nwhom religion? Whence the law, either of nations, or\r\nthat which is called civil? Whence justice, faith,\r\nequity? Whence modesty, continence, the dread of\r\nturpitude, the love of praise and esteem? Whence\r\nfortitude in trouble and dangers? From those who\r\nhaving laid a foundation for these things in early education,\r\nhave strengthened some of them by the influence\r\nof manners, and sanctioned others by the influence of\r\nlaws. Of Xenocrates, one of the noblest of philosophers,\r\nit is said, that when he was asked what his disciples\r\nlearnt of him, he replied “to do that of their own\r\nchoice, which the laws enjoined them to do,” therefore\r\nthe citizen who obliges every one by the authority and\r\nfear of the law to do that, which philosophers by reasoning,\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pageno\" id=\"Page_43\"\u003e43\u003c/span\u003ewith difficulty persuade a few to do, is to be preferred\r\nto those learned men who only dispute about\r\nthese things. For which of their orations, however exquisite,\r\ncan be compared in value to a well constituted\r\nstate, to public right and to morals. Truly as great\r\nand powerful cities, as Ennius says, are as I think, to\r\nbe preferred to villages and castles; so those who\r\nstand pre-eminent in those cities, in authority and\r\ncounsel, are to be esteemed far before those in wisdom,\r\nwho are altogether ignorant of the conduct of public\r\naffairs. And since we are chiefly urged by a desire to\r\nincrease the possessions of the human race, and seek by\r\nour counsels and labours, to surround the life of man\r\nwith gratification and security, and are incited by the\r\ninstincts of nature to these enjoyments; let us hold the\r\ncourse which was always that of the best men: nor attend\r\nto those signals which speculative philosophers\r\nmake from their retirement, to allure back those who\r\nare already far advanced.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"c000\"\u003eIII. Against these reasons so certain and so clear,\r\nit is urged by those who are opposed to us: first, the\r\nlabour to be undergone in preserving the public welfare;\r\na slight impediment to the zealous and industrious,\r\nnot alone in matters of such high import, but in inferior\r\nthings: whether in studies or in official stations; and\r\nto be despised even in affairs of business. To this they\r\nadd the dangers to which life is exposed, and the dread\r\nof death, which brave men scorn; being wont to view it\r\nas more wretched to waste away by infirmity and old age,\r\nthan to seize an occasion to devote that life to the advantage\r\nof their country, which one day must be rendered\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pageno\" id=\"Page_44\"\u003e44\u003c/span\u003eto nature. It is here however they deem themselves\r\nmost successful and eloquent, when they bring forward\r\nthe calamities of eminent men, and the injuries heaped\r\nupon them by their ungrateful countrymen. Here\r\ncome the instances in Grecian history. Miltiades, the\r\nconqueror and subduer of the Persians, with those\r\nwounds yet streaming, which he received in front, in\r\nthe height of victory: preserved from the weapons of\r\nthe enemy, to waste away his life in the chains of his\r\ncountrymen. And Themistocles proscribed and driven\r\nfrom the country he had freed, flying, not to the harbours\r\nof that Greece he had preserved, but to the barbarous\r\nshores he had harrassed. Nor indeed are instances\r\nwanting among the Athenians of levity and\r\ncruelty towards great numbers of their citizens; instances\r\nwhich springing up repeatedly among them, are\r\nsaid also to have abounded too conspicuously in our\r\ncity. For either the exile of Camillus, the misfortune\r\nof Ahala, the ill will towards Nasica, or the expulsion\r\nof Lenas, or the condemnation of Opimus is remembered:\r\nor the flight of Metellus, the sad overthrow of\r\nC. Marius, the cutting off of the most eminent citizens,\r\nor the destruction of many of them, which soon after\r\nfollowed. Nor indeed is my name forgotten. And I\r\njudge that deeming themselves to owe both life and\r\nease to my peril and counsel, they have a more deep\r\nand tender remembrance of me. But it is not easy to\r\nexplain how they who cross the seas for the sake of\r\nobserving or describing * * *\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"nf-center-c1\"\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"nf-center\"\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv\u003e[Two pages wanting.]\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"c000\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pageno\" id=\"Page_45\"\u003e45\u003c/span\u003eIV. * * * * At the expiration of my\r\nconsulship, when in the assembly of the Roman people,\r\nI swore that the republic had been saved by my exertions,\r\nwhich they confirmed by universal acclamation, I\r\nwas requited for the cares and vexations of every injury.\r\nAlbeit my reverses had more honour than pain\r\nattached to them, and less disquietude than glory.\r\nGreater was my pleasure at receiving the approbation\r\nof good men, than my regret at observing the satisfaction\r\nof the bad. But had it happened otherwise, as I\r\nsaid, what complaint could I make? Nothing unforeseen\r\ncould have occurred, nor more grievous than I\r\nmight have expected for so many of my deeds. For I\r\nwas one who could well have gathered greater fruits\r\nfrom ease than others, on account of the agreeable variety\r\nof the studies I had pursued from my childhood;\r\nand if any disaster had overtaken the republic, I need\r\nnot have sustained a greater share of it, but have divided\r\nit equally with the rest. I hesitated not to oppose\r\nmyself to those stormy tempests, and almost raging\r\nwaves, for the sake of preserving my fellow citizens,\r\nand of accomplishing at my own risk the common\r\nsafety of all. For our country has not produced us, or\r\neducated us under a law, that she is entitled to no support\r\non our part, lending herself as it were to our convenience\r\nonly; furnishing a secure refuge, and a tranquil\r\nand peaceful asylum to our indolence: but rather\r\nholds as pledges to her, to be employed for her benefit,\r\nthe many and great faculties of our mind, genius, and\r\nreason; and only permits us to appropriate to our private\r\npurposes, that portion of them, of which she stands\r\nin no need.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"c000\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pageno\" id=\"Page_46\"\u003e46\u003c/span\u003eV. The pretences which are urged for the enjoyment\r\nof indolence are not to be listened to. As\r\nwhen it is stated that the public affairs are meddled\r\nwith by men worthy of no confidence, with whom it is\r\ndisgraceful to associate: yet to contend against whom\r\nis a miserable and dangerous effort, especially when the\r\nmultitude is excited. For which reason a prudent man\r\nought not to take the reins, when he is not able to restrain\r\nthe mad and untameable violence of the vulgar:\r\nor a generous man expose himself to the lashes of\r\ncontumely in a strife with low and outrageous adversaries:\r\nor a wise man hope to withdraw from such a contest\r\nwithout injury. As if there could well be a more\r\njust cause for good and firm men, endowed with noble\r\nminds, to stand forth in aid of their country, than that\r\nthey may not be subject to bad men; nor suffer the republic\r\nto be lacerated by them, before the desire of saving\r\nit may come too late.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"c000\"\u003eVI. But who can approve of their exception, that a\r\nwise man ought not to take upon him any part of the\r\npublic affairs, unless an occasion of extraordinary need\r\nshould drive him to it? as if indeed a greater necessity\r\ncould ever have happened to any one, than occurred to\r\nmyself. How could I have been useful then, had I\r\nnot been consul? and how could I have been consul,\r\nhad I not pursued that course of life from my\r\nyouth, which belonging to the equestrian rank, in\r\nwhich I was born, enabled me to attain the first honours\r\nof the state? No man therefore can assume at pleasure\r\nthe ability of aiding in the public service, however\r\nurgent the danger may be, unless he stands in that relation\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pageno\" id=\"Page_47\"\u003e47\u003c/span\u003eto his country, which fits him for the occasion.\r\nAnd it appears to me most marvellous, that in the discourse\r\nof learned men, they who declare themselves\r\nunable to steer in a calm sea, because they have never\r\nbeen taught, nor have ever studied the subject, talk of\r\ntaking the helm in the midst of the greatest storms.\r\nFor these very men openly declare, and pride themselves\r\ngreatly upon it, that they have never studied or taught\r\nthe mode of establishing or protecting the public interest;\r\nwhich they think the exclusive province, not of\r\nlearned and erudite men, but of those who are practised\r\nin these matters. What consistency is there then in\r\npromising to aid the republic in times of peril, when\r\nthey are incapable of the easier task of directing it in the\r\ncalmest moments? And although, in truth, the philosopher\r\nis not wont of his own accord, to consider the\r\ndetails of state affairs, unless called upon by the times\r\nto do it, when indeed he will not decline what duty imposes\r\non him; nevertheless, I judge the knowledge of\r\nstate affairs is least to be neglected by a wise man; that\r\nevery thing may be familiar to him, for he cannot tell\r\nthe moment, when it may be necessary for him to avail\r\nhimself of his knowledge.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"c000\"\u003eVII. These things I have somewhat enlarged upon,\r\nbecause the discussion proposed and undertaken by\r\nme in this work, was on government: and in order to\r\nprevent its being without effect, it was necessary in the\r\nfirst instance, to remove every doubt as to the duty of\r\nengaging in the public service. Nevertheless if there\r\nare any who are governed by the opinions of philosophers,\r\nlet them turn their attention for a while, and listen\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pageno\" id=\"Page_48\"\u003e48\u003c/span\u003eto those who enjoy a proud pre-eminence among\r\nlearned men, even when they have not borne any charge\r\nin the republic; still whom I deem from the extent of\r\ntheir studies, and their writings on government, to have\r\nbeen invested with functions appertaining to the public\r\ninterest. But those seven, whom the Greeks call wise,\r\nI perceive have almost all been greatly engaged in public\r\naffairs. For there is no one thing in which human\r\nworth is more nearly allied to the power of the gods,\r\nthan to found new states, or to preserve those already\r\nfounded.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"c000\"\u003eVIII. Concerning which matters, since it hath happened\r\nto me, to be deemed something worthy of memory\r\nin my administration of public affairs, and to possess\r\nsome talent for unfolding them; not only in practice,\r\nbut being versed too in the art of speaking and\r\nteaching: while of those before me, some were perfect\r\nin debate, yet unknown by their deeds; others of respectable\r\nparts for business, without the talent of oratory.\r\nStill it is not my intention here to bring forward\r\nany new system invented by myself, but to repeat a discussion,\r\nthat took place at a certain period of our history,\r\namong our most illustrious and wise men, which\r\nwas related to me a long time ago in my youth, by P.\r\nRutilius Rufus, when we were at Smyrna together: in\r\nthe which I think scarce any point was omitted that belongs\r\nto the consideration of these great matters.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"c000\"\u003eIX. When P. Africanus, the son of Paulus, established\r\nLatin holidays in his gardens, during the consulate\r\nof Tuditanus, and Aquilius; and his most intimate\r\nfriends had promised to visit him frequently at\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pageno\" id=\"Page_49\"\u003e49\u003c/span\u003ethat season. On the morning of the first day, Q. Tubero,\r\nthe eldest son of his sister, came. Pleased with\r\nhis visit, and kindly addressing him “What! Tubero,”\r\nsaid he, “is it you so early? I should have thought\r\nthese holidays would have given you a favourable opportunity\r\nof pursuing your literary inquiries.” “Why in\r\ntruth,” replied he, “I can apply all my leisure to my\r\nbooks, for they are always disengaged. But to find\r\nyou at leisure, is very remarkable; especially at this time\r\nso critical for the republic.” “So help me Hercules,”\r\nsaid Scipio, “however you find me, it is more idle in\r\nappearance than in truth.” “You must now,” said Tubero,\r\n“relax your mind a little also, for several of us\r\nhave determined if it is not inconvenient to you, to\r\nspend some of our leisure with you.” “With all my\r\nheart,” replied Scipio, “provided we may acquire some\r\ninformation thereby on philosophical subjects.”\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"c000\"\u003eX. “Since you invite and encourage me to it yourself,”\r\nsaid Tubero, “let us first converse, Africanus,\r\nbefore the others come, about the meaning of this double\r\nsun which has been spoken of in the senate. For\r\nthose who declare that they have seen two suns, are\r\nneither few in number, nor insignificant persons: so\r\nthat it appears to be of less importance to doubt the\r\nfact, than to inquire into the cause of it.” “Would\r\nthat we had with us our excellent Panætius,” said Scipio,\r\n“who among other objects of knowledge, was so\r\ndiligent an inquirer about celestial phenomena. As to\r\nmyself, Tubero—for to you I will freely declare what I\r\nthink; I am not drawn in to adopt in matters of this\r\nsort, the opinions of our friend, who pronounces things\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pageno\" id=\"Page_50\"\u003e50\u003c/span\u003ewhich are scarcely within the reach of conjecture, to be\r\nas manifest, as if he beheld them with his eyes, or could\r\nlay his hands upon them. On which account I am accustomed\r\nto consider Socrates much wiser, who leaves\r\nthe consideration of such things aside, and teaches that\r\nthe phenomena about which nature may be interrogated,\r\nare either beyond the force of human reason, or irrelevant\r\nto the conduct of human affairs.” “I know not,”\r\nrejoined Tubero, “what authority there is for the fact,\r\nthat Socrates rejected all discussion upon such matters,\r\nand confined himself to the moral conduct of human\r\nlife. For what author is to be commended, as more ample\r\non that head than Plato; in whose writings, in many\r\nplaces, it is the custom of Socrates in discussing morals,\r\nthe virtues, and finally public affairs; to allude\r\nstudiously to the science of numbers, to geometry, and\r\nto harmony, after the Pythagorean mode.” Scipio answered,\r\n“these things are as you say; but I dare say\r\nyou have heard, Tubero, that Plato after the death of\r\nSocrates, was carried by the love of knowledge first\r\ninto Egypt, afterwards into Italy and Sicily, that he\r\nmight obtain an insight into the discoveries of Pythagoras.\r\nThat he associated much with Archytas the\r\nTarentine, and with Timæus of Locram. That he acquired\r\nthe commentaries of Philolaus, and perceiving\r\nthat the name of Pythagoras was at that time in great\r\nreputation in those places, he dedicated his time to the\r\ndisciples of Pythagoras and to their opinions. But as\r\nhe had loved Socrates alone, and wished to make all\r\nthings conducive to his reputation, he interwove very\r\nskilfully the subtlety and humour of the Socratic style\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pageno\" id=\"Page_51\"\u003e51\u003c/span\u003ewith the mysteries of Pythagoras, and with many\r\nbranches of the arts.”\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"c000\"\u003eAs Scipio ceased to speak, he suddenly saw L. Furius\r\napproaching, and as soon as he had kindly saluted\r\nhim, he took him by the hand, and placed him on his\r\ncouch. And as P. Rutilius the accomplished preserver\r\nof this conversation appeared at the same time, saluting\r\nhim also in the same manner, he bade him be seated\r\nnear to Tubero. “What are you engaged in,” said\r\nFurius; “hath our arrival broken in upon your conversation?”\r\n“Not in the least,” replied Africanus,\r\n“for it is precisely about matters, such as Tubero has\r\njust been introducing, that thou art wont diligently to\r\ninquire into, and to investigate. And indeed our friend\r\nRutilius was in the habit occasionally of discussing\r\nthings of this kind with me, when we were under the\r\nwalls of Numantia.” “What is the subject you have\r\nfallen upon?” said Philus. “These two suns,” replied\r\nhe, “respecting which I am desirous of hearing your\r\nopinion.”\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"c000\"\u003eXII. As he spoke this, a boy announced that Lælius\r\nwas approaching, having already left his house;\r\nupon which Scipio having dressed himself, left his\r\nchamber, and had made but a few paces in the portico,\r\nwhen he saluted Lælius who was approaching, and those\r\nwho were with him: Spurius Mummius, to whom\r\nhe was particularly attached; Fannius, and Quintus\r\nScævola, sons-in-law of Lælius, highly gifted young\r\nmen of the quæstorial age. And having welcomed\r\nthem all, he made another turn on the portico, placing\r\nLælius in the middle; for in their friendship it was a\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pageno\" id=\"Page_52\"\u003e52\u003c/span\u003esort of law between them, that Lælius did homage to\r\nScipio as to a god, on account of his glorious pre-eminence\r\nin war; while in his turn Scipio, in private life,\r\npaid to Lælius all the reverence due to a parent, on\r\naccount of his superior years. And having chatted a\r\nlittle together in various places, Scipio, who was very\r\nmuch enlivened and gratified with their arrival, was\r\npleased to have them seated in a sunny place in a little\r\nmeadow, on account of its being the winter season;\r\nwhich as they were about to do, M. Manilius came, a\r\nprudent and agreeable person, and very dear to them\r\nall; who being cordially saluted by Scipio and the rest,\r\ntook his seat next to Lælius.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"c000\"\u003eXIII. “It does not seem to me necessary,” said\r\nPhilus “that we should seek another subject of conversation\r\non account of those who are arrived, but\r\nthat we should observe more accuracy, and say something\r\nworthy of their ears.” “What subject were\r\nyou upon,” said Lælius, “and what discussion are we\r\ncome to be present at?” “Scipio was inquiring of\r\nme,” replied Philus, “what my opinion was respecting\r\nthe fact of two suns having been seen.”\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"c000\"\u003eLælius. “Why truly Philus, is there no longer any\r\nthing left for us to inquire about, touching our own domestic\r\naffairs, or those appertaining to the republic,\r\nthat we must be exploring the things that are passing\r\nin the heavens?” “Dost thou then think,” replied he,\r\n“that it does not concern our own mansions, to know\r\nwhat is passing, and what is done in that vast one, not\r\nthe one surrounded by our walls, but that which constitutes\r\nthe universe, and which the gods have given to us\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pageno\" id=\"Page_53\"\u003e53\u003c/span\u003efor a domicile, and a common country with themselves.\r\nEspecially when if we are ignorant of them, many and\r\nvery high matters will be hidden from us. As to myself,\r\nthe contemplation and knowledge of these things\r\ndelight me, as certainly as it does you, Lælius, and all\r\nwho are eager in the pursuit of knowledge.” “I offer\r\nno impediment,” said Lælius, especially at this holiday\r\ntime; but shall we hear any thing, or are we come too\r\nlate?”\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"c000\"\u003ePhilus. “Nothing has been discussed yet, and as\r\nthe subject is entire, I freely concede to you, Lælius,\r\nthe right of expressing your sentiments first.”\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"c000\"\u003eLælius. “Let us rather hear you, unless Manilius\r\nthinks, that some decree by way of compromise between\r\nthese two suns may be adjusted; so that each\r\nmay keep possession of its own part of the firmament.”\r\n“You love still to banter that science, Lælius, in which\r\nI am proud to excel,” replied Manilius, “and without\r\nwhich no one could know his own possession from anothers.\r\nBut of that by and by. Let us now listen\r\nto Philus, who I perceive has a case of greater difficulty\r\nreferred to him, than ever came before me or P. Mucius.”\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"c000\"\u003eXIV. “I shall lay nothing new before you,” said Philus,\r\n“nor any thing discovered or thought of by myself.\r\nI remember, however, that C. Sulpicius Gallus, a very\r\nlearned man as you know; when this same phenomenon\r\nwas stated to have been seen, being by chance in the\r\nhouse of M. Marcellus, who had been in the consulate\r\nwith him; ordered a sphere to be placed before\r\nhim, which the ancestor of M. Marcellus had taken\r\nfrom the conquered Syracusans, and brought out of\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pageno\" id=\"Page_54\"\u003e54\u003c/span\u003etheir wealthy and embellished city; the only thing he\r\nhad possessed himself of among so great a spoil. I\r\nhad heard a great deal of this sphere, on account of the\r\nfame of Archimedes, but did not admire the construction\r\nof it so much; for another which Archimedes also had\r\nmade, and which the same Marcellus had placed in the\r\ntemple of virtue, was more elegant and remarkable in\r\nthe general opinion. But subsequently, when Gallus\r\nbegan very scientifically to explain the nature of the\r\nmechanism; the Sicilian appeared to me to possess\r\nmore genius, than human nature would seem to be capable\r\nof. Gallus said, that the other solid and full\r\nsphere was an old invention, and was first wrought\r\nby Thales of Miletas: but afterwards was delineated\r\nover with the fixed stars in the heavens by Eudoxus,\r\nthe Cnidian, a disciple of Plato. The which adorned\r\nand embellished as it was by Eudoxus, Aratus\r\nwho had no knowledge of astronomy, but a certain\r\npoetical faculty, many years afterwards extolled in\r\nhis verses. The mechanism of this sphere, however, on\r\nwhich the motions of the sun, moon, and those five\r\nstars which are called wandering and irregular, are\r\nshown; could not be illustrated on that solid sphere.\r\nBut what appeared very admirable in this invention of\r\nArchimedes was, that he had discovered a method of\r\nproducing the unequal and various courses, with their\r\ndissimilar velocities, by one revolution. When Gallus\r\nput this sphere in motion, the moon was made to succeed\r\nthe sun by as many revolutions of the brass circle,\r\nas it actually took days to do in the heavens. From\r\nwhich the same setting of the sun was produced on the\r\nsphere as in the heavens: and the moon fell on the very\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pageno\" id=\"Page_55\"\u003e55\u003c/span\u003epoint, where it met the shadow of the earth, when the\r\nsun from the region * * * *\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"nf-center-c1\"\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"nf-center\"\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv\u003e[About ten pages wanting.]\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"c000\"\u003eXV. * * * * * for he was a man I was\r\nvery much attached to, and I know that my father Paulus\r\nesteemed and placed the highest value on him. I\r\nremember when I was but a boy, being with my father,\r\nwho was then consul in Macedonia; that while we\r\nwere encamped, our army was struck with a religious\r\ndread, because the full and splendid moon in the serenity\r\nof the night, was suddenly eclipsed. He being then\r\nour lieutenant, the year just before that in which he was\r\ndeclared consul, did not hesitate the following day, to\r\npronounce openly in the camp, that it was no prodigy.\r\nAnd that what had then taken place, would always occur\r\nin future at those particular periods, when the position\r\nof the sun was such, that its rays could not fall\r\nupon the moon. “But how could he,” asked Tubero,\r\n“make men half wild, comprehend such matters, or\r\nventure to speak of them before the unenlightened?”\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"c000\"\u003eScipio. “Indeed he did, and with great * * * *\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"nf-center-c1\"\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"nf-center\"\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv\u003e[About two pages wanting.]\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"c000\"\u003e* * * * * there was neither a haughty ostentation,\r\nnor any thing in his speech unbecoming a grave\r\npersonage; and he accomplished a point of great importance,\r\nin removing from the disturbed minds of the\r\nmen, the influence of an idle and fearful superstition.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"c000\"\u003eXVI. There was an occurrence similar to this during\r\nthe great war, which the Athenians and Lacedemonians\r\nwaged against each other with so much inveteracy.\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pageno\" id=\"Page_56\"\u003e56\u003c/span\u003eDarkness being suddenly produced by the obscuration\r\nof the sun, and a prodigious fear taking possession of\r\nthe minds of the Athenians. Pericles, the first man in\r\nthe city, in authority, in eloquence, and in council;\r\ntaught the citizens what he had himself learnt from\r\nAnaxagoras, whose pupil he had been: that it was an\r\nunavoidable appearance at the particular period, when\r\nthe moon had placed herself immediately before the\r\norb of the sun: and although it did not take place every\r\nlunar period; it could nevertheless be occasioned only\r\nby the moon’s motion. Having convinced them by\r\nreasoning, he delivered the people from their apprehension.\r\nFor it was then a strange and unknown reason\r\nto give for an eclipse, that the sun and moon were in\r\nopposition to each other, which it is said, was first observed\r\nby Thales the Milesian. At a later period, this\r\nhad not escaped our Ennius, who wrote about the year\r\n350 of the building of Rome, in the nones of June;\r\nthat “\u003cem\u003ethe moon and night stood before the sun\u003c/em\u003e.” So\r\ngreat, however, is the advancement of knowledge in\r\nthese matters, that from this day, which we find noted\r\nin the principal annals, and by Ennius; the previous\r\noccultations of the sun are fixed up to that which took\r\nplace in the reign of Romulus, in the nones of the fifth\r\nmonth. During which darkness, Romulus, whom the\r\nlaws of nature indeed would have carried to the tomb,\r\nis said to have been borne by his virtue to heaven.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"c000\"\u003eXVII. Then Tubero, “Dost thou not perceive\r\nAfricanus, that what appeared otherwise to thee a while\r\nago * * * * * *\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"nf-center-c1\"\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"nf-center\"\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv\u003e[About two pages wanting.]\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"c000\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pageno\" id=\"Page_57\"\u003e57\u003c/span\u003e* * * * * * “Who can perceive any grandeur\r\nin human affairs, whose eyes are accustomed to survey\r\nthe empire of the gods? What are temporal things in\r\nthe eyes of those conversant with eternal ones? What\r\nis there glorious to the contemplation of him, who looks\r\nat the small size of the earth; first as to its whole extent,\r\nthen to that part of it which men inhabit? And\r\nyet we, confined to so small a portion of it, unknown to\r\nmost nations, hope our name will be diffused to its utmost\r\nlimits. What are lands, and houses, and flocks,\r\nand immense masses of gold and silver to him who neither\r\nconsiders them desirable nor calls them so: the\r\nfruition of which appears to him trifling, the use unsatisfactory,\r\nthe possession uncertain: and which are\r\noften in the hands of the most contemptible of men?\r\nHow fortunate may that man be esteemed, who alone\r\nclaims a share in all things, not as the privilege of a\r\ncitizen, but of a philosopher: not by civil rights, but by\r\nthe common law of nature, which forbids any one to be\r\nthe proprietor of aught, of the proper use of which he\r\nis ignorant! Who considers our consulships and high\r\noffices, not to be sought after for the sake of personal\r\nadvantage or glory; not as things to be coveted, but to\r\nbe undertaken as duties. The man finally who can say\r\nthat of himself which my ancestor Africanus, as Cato\r\nwrites, was wont to say, “that he never was more busy\r\nthan when he was doing nothing; and that he never\r\nwas less alone, than when nobody was with him.”\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"c000\"\u003eFor who can deem Dionysius to have accomplished\r\na greater thing, when by the greatest exertion he snatched\r\ntheir liberties from the citizens, than Archimedes his\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pageno\" id=\"Page_58\"\u003e58\u003c/span\u003ecountryman, who appearing to be occupied in nothing,\r\nproduced this sphere of which we were but now conversing?\r\nAre they not more alone, who find no one in\r\nthe forum or in the crowd who chooses to talk with\r\nthem, than those who without any witness can converse\r\nwith themselves; or as it were, be present at the\r\ncouncils of the most learned men, when they solace\r\nthemselves with their discoveries and writings? Who\r\nin truth can imagine any one to be more rich, than the\r\nman who has no wants, beyond the simple calls of nature;\r\nor more powerful than him, who has attained the\r\npossession of al that he desires; or more blessed than\r\nhim who is freed from all anxiety of mind? or what\r\nman’s fortune is better established than his, who\r\ncan carry along with him, or out of a shipwreck as men\r\nare wont to say, all his possessions? What command,\r\nwhat office, what kingdom can be preferred to that condition\r\nof mind, which looking down upon all things human,\r\nand esteeming them to be the objects of an inferior\r\nwisdom, turns ever to the contemplation of those\r\nthings that are divine and eternal: persuaded that they\r\nonly deserve to be called men, who are refined by the\r\nsciences of humanity? That which has been said of Plato,\r\nor of some other sage, appears to me therefore very\r\nexcellent. Who being borne by a tempest to unknown\r\nlands, and cast on a desert shore, while his companions\r\nwere apprehensive on account of their ignorance of the\r\nplace, is said to have perceived geometrical figures described\r\non the sand. Which when he saw, he bade\r\nthem all be of good heart, for he had seen vestiges of\r\nmen. Not that he judged so from the cultivation of the\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pageno\" id=\"Page_59\"\u003e59\u003c/span\u003efields which he beheld, but from these indications of\r\nscience. For all these reasons, Tubero, learning, and\r\nlearned men, and these thy studies have always been\r\npleasing to me.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"c000\"\u003eXVIII. Then said Lælius, “I am not bold enough,\r\nScipio, to speak of these things: nor even to thee, or\r\nPhilus, or Manilius * * * * *\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"nf-center-c1\"\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"nf-center\"\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv\u003e[Two pages wanting]\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"c000\"\u003e* * * * in his paternal house we\r\nhave had a friend, worthy to be imitated by him.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"c000\"\u003e“Ælius Sextus, conspicuously discreet and wise.”\r\nThat he was conspicuously discreet and wise, is said by\r\nEnnius, not because he sought after what he was not\r\nable to discover, but because he answered those who\r\nmade inquiries of him, in a manner to solve their difficulties\r\nand anxieties, in whose mouth when arguing\r\nagainst the studies of Gallus, were always these words\r\nof Achilles, in Iphigenia.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"lg-container-b c012\"\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"linegroup\"\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"group\"\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"line\"\u003e“Astrology, its signs; how are they read in heaven?\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"line\"\u003eWhen goat or scorpion, or ferocious names arise,\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"line\"\u003eThe obvious earth is shunned, to scrutinize the skies.”\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"c000\"\u003eHe also said, for many times and willingly I listened to\r\nhim, that Zethus the author of Pacuvius, was too great\r\nan enemy to science. The Neoptolemus of Ennius\r\npleased him more; who says that he likes to philosophize\r\nbut only with a few; not willing to give himself\r\nup to it altogether. But if the studies of the Greeks\r\ndelight you so much, there are others freer and more\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pageno\" id=\"Page_60\"\u003e60\u003c/span\u003eeasily diffused, which we may bring to the use of life, or\r\neven to that of the republic. As for these arts, their\r\nvalue consists, if in any thing, in stimulating and\r\nsharpening the genius of young boys; enabling them in\r\nthis manner the better to comprehend greater things.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"c000\"\u003eXIX. “I do not dissent from you, Lælius,” said Tubero,\r\n“but ask what you understand by greater things?”\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"c000\"\u003eLælius. “I will tell you in good faith, although you\r\nmay somewhat despise me for it; since it is you who\r\nare asking Scipio about these celestial matters. As\r\nfor myself, I think those things most worthy of our\r\nattention, which lay immediately before our eyes. How\r\ncan it interest me that the grandson of L. Paulus by the\r\nmother’s side, born of such a noble and illustrious\r\nfamily in this republic, should seek for reasons why two\r\nsuns have been seen, when he does not inquire the\r\ncause why two senates, and almost two people exist in\r\none republic? For as you perceive the death of Tiberius\r\nGracchus, and even before that event, the whole\r\nproceedings of his tribunate were dividing one people\r\ninto two parties: those who are the detractors of Scipio\r\nalso, and are envious of him, urged on at first by\r\nP. Crassus and Appius Claudius, keep up notwithstanding\r\ntheir death, an opposition to us in the senate, through\r\nthe influence of Metellus and P. Mucius. Nor will\r\nthey suffer him to come forward, who is alone equal to\r\nso dangerous a crisis, amidst the factious and dangerous\r\nassociations made under the Roman name: amidst\r\nviolated compacts, and the new matters daily stirring by\r\nthe seditious triumvirs, to the consternation of good and\r\nrespectable men. Wherefore young men, if you will\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pageno\" id=\"Page_61\"\u003e61\u003c/span\u003elisten to me, entertain no apprehensions about this\r\ndouble sun: for either it is nothing at all, or if it is\r\na reality, as far as it has been observed, there is nothing\r\ninjurious in it. Either we can know nothing\r\nabout such matters, or even if we could know all about\r\nthem, we should not be better or happier for that knowledge.\r\nBut one senate and one people we may have;\r\nthat is practicable. And if it is not done, we shall suffer\r\nfor it. And we know it is otherwise, and that if it\r\nwere effected, we should have more stability, and be\r\nhappier and better.”\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"c000\"\u003eXX. Then Mucius. “What is it we have to learn,\r\nin your opinion, Lælius, that we may be able to effect\r\nwhat you require of us?”\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"c000\"\u003eLælius. “Those sciences whose tendency is to\r\nenable us to be useful to the state; for I deem that to\r\nbe the most pre-eminent gift of wisdom, as well as the\r\nnoblest fruit of virtue and duty. Wherefore that these\r\nholidays may be productive of conversations in an especial\r\nmanner useful to the republic, let us entreat Scipio\r\nto impart to us, what he deems to be the happiest condition\r\nof a state. Afterwards we can consider other\r\nmatters, the knowledge of which I hope will bring us to\r\nthe subject before us, and will unfold the causes of the\r\npresent condition of things.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"nf-center-c1\"\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"nf-center\"\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv\u003e[Two pages wanting.]\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"c000\"\u003eXXI. * * * * * not for that cause alone I\r\nwished it, but because I thought it proper that the first\r\nperson in the republic should first speak on public affairs;\r\nand because I remembered that you were accustomed\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pageno\" id=\"Page_62\"\u003e62\u003c/span\u003efrequently to discuss with Panætius before Polybius,\r\ntwo Greeks extremely versed in civil affairs; and\r\nthat you had proved by various reasonings the excellence\r\nof that form of government, which our ancestors\r\nhad transmitted to us from so distant a period. In the\r\nwhich matter, you, being more competent to it, will do\r\nan agreeable thing to us all, (for I speak also for the\r\nrest,) if you will unfold to us your opinion of the commonwealth.”\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"c000\"\u003eXXII. “I cannot,” he began, “say that I have been\r\nin the habit of turning my mind more intensely and diligently\r\nto the consideration of any subject, than the\r\nvery one which you now propose to me, Lælius. For\r\nwhen I perceive that every artificer who truly excels in\r\nhis vocation, is filled with anxiety, care, and zeal, lest\r\nany one should surpass him in his art. I, whose chief\r\nduty, bequeathed to me by my parents and ancestors, is\r\nthe conduct and administration of the republic, must\r\nconfess myself more indolent than any artisan, if I bestowed\r\nless attention on the greatest of arts, than he\r\ndoes on the most insignificant. But neither am I satisfied\r\nwith the writings on this subject which the first and\r\nwisest among the Greeks have left to us; while I hesitate\r\nto establish my own conclusions in preference to\r\ntheirs. Wherefore I intreat you, not to listen to me as\r\none entirely ignorant of the affairs of the Greeks, nor\r\nas one who gives them the preference to our own writers,\r\nparticularly in matters of this kind; but as one\r\nliberally brought up by the diligence of distinguished\r\nparents, and ardent in the love of knowledge from his\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pageno\" id=\"Page_63\"\u003e63\u003c/span\u003eyouth; yet nevertheless much more formed by domestic\r\nexperience, than by literary studies.”\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"c000\"\u003eXXIII. “I doubt,” said Philus here, “whether any\r\none has ever excelled you in genius. We know to\r\nwhat studies you have always been partial, and that in\r\nyour acquaintance with the great affairs of the state,\r\nyou have surpassed every one: wherefore if as you\r\nsay, your mind has been particularly turned to matters\r\nwhich have now become almost a science: I feel very\r\nmuch indebted to Lælius, feeling a hope that what you\r\nwill say will be more instructive, than all those things\r\nwhich the Greeks have written for us.” “You are\r\ncreating” replied he, “much expectation from my discourse,\r\nwhich is a very great weight upon one, who is\r\nabout to speak of matters of importance.” “However\r\ngreat it may be,” said Philus, “you will throw it off as\r\nyou are accustomed to do; nor is there any danger that\r\na dissertation from you on government will be deficient\r\nin any requisite.”\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"c000\"\u003eXXIV. “I will do what you desire, as well as I am\r\nable,” rejoined Scipio, “and will begin the discussion\r\nin conformity with the rule which I think ought to be\r\nobserved in the examination of all things, if you would\r\navoid error. That the name of the subject in discussion\r\nbeing agreed upon, the meaning of the name shall\r\nbe defined. If this be found to be appropriate, the\r\nmatter can be entered upon at once; for unless this be\r\nperfectly understood at first, we never can understand\r\nwhat we are disputing about. Wherefore since it is of\r\nthe republic we are inquiring, let us first examine what\r\nthat is we are inquiring about.” Lælius having shown\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pageno\" id=\"Page_64\"\u003e64\u003c/span\u003ehis acquiescence. “I do not intend, however,” said\r\nAfricanus, “in a matter so clear and familiar, to begin\r\nwith the very origin of things; the first conjunction of\r\nthe sexes; then their progeny and descendants, as some\r\nof our learned men are accustomed to do: nor shall I\r\ngo into continual definitions of terms—what they are—and\r\nhow many varieties of them. When I address\r\nwise men, who in war and in peace, have taken a glorious\r\npart in the affairs of a great republic, I shall not\r\nexpose myself in such a manner, that the very thing under\r\ndiscussion shall be more intelligible, than my own\r\nexplanation of it. Neither do I take upon me to pursue\r\nthe subject in every direction, as a master would:\r\nnor can I promise to do it so effectually, that no omission\r\nwhatever shall escape me.” “It is exactly such a\r\ndiscourse as you promise, that I am in expectation of,”\r\nsaid Lælius.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"c000\"\u003eXXV. “A republic or commonwealth then,” said\r\nScipio, “is the wealth or common interest of the people.\r\nEvery assemblage of men however, gathered together\r\nwithout an object, is not the people, but only an assemblage\r\nof the multitude associated by common consent,\r\nfor reciprocal rights, and reciprocal usefulness.\r\nThe leading cause of this congregating, is not to be\r\nascribed so much to his weakness, as to the social principle\r\ninnate with man. Our species is not a solitary\r\nand wandering one, but is so created that even when\r\nenjoying the greatest affluence * * * *\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"nf-center-c1\"\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"nf-center\"\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv\u003e[Two pages wanting.]\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"c000\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pageno\" id=\"Page_65\"\u003e65\u003c/span\u003eXXVI. * * * * rather intuitive; for no\r\noriginal institution of the social state has been found,\r\nnor of the other moral virtues. These congregations\r\ntherefore made for the purposes I have explained, established\r\ntheir first seat in some particular place for a\r\nresidence. Which after being fortified by their labours\r\nand by its position, and fitted with temples and public\r\nsquares, the re-union of dwellings constructed after\r\nthis manner, they called a town or city. Every people\r\ntherefore, formed by the assemblage of such a multitude\r\nas I have described, every city which is the settlement\r\nof a people, every commonwealth which as I have\r\nsaid, is the wealth of the people, must in order to be\r\npermanent, be governed by some authority. That\r\nauthority however must always have a strong relation to\r\nthe causes from whence the commonwealth derived its\r\norigin. It may then be delegated to one, or to some\r\nselected persons; or it may be borne by the whole\r\nmultitude of the people. When therefore authority\r\nover all things, is in the control of one man, we call\r\nhim king; and a commonwealth so ordered, his kingdom.\r\nWhen the authority is exercised by selected\r\npersons, then such a state is said to be under the government\r\nof the better class. But there is also a popular\r\nform of government, for so it is called, where all\r\nthings are ruled by the people. And of any of these\r\nthree modes, if the chain is in any manner kept together,\r\nwhich at first united men into the social pact for the\r\nsake of the common interest, I would not indeed call\r\nthe mode perfect, nor say that in my opinion it was the\r\nbest, but that it was to be tolerated, and that one might\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pageno\" id=\"Page_66\"\u003e66\u003c/span\u003ebe preferable to another. For whether under a just and\r\nwise king, or chosen eminent citizens, or the people\r\nthemselves, although this last is least to be approved of,\r\nsetting aside the irregularities occasioned by the bad\r\npassions of some men, any one may see that a steady\r\ngovernment might be preserved.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"c000\"\u003eXXVII. In kingdoms however, the governed are\r\ntoo much deprived of common rights, and of power.\r\nUnder the better class, the multitude can scarcely be\r\npartakers of liberty, as they are not admitted either to\r\nthe public councils or offices: and when the government\r\nis conducted by the people, although it be justly and\r\nmoderately administered, yet equality itself becomes\r\ninjustice, seeing that it admits of no degrees of rank.\r\nTherefore, although Cyrus the Persian, was a most just\r\nand wise king, yet such a commonwealth, (for as I said\r\nbefore, it is the common property,) governed by the nod\r\nof one man, does not appear to me very desirable.\r\nAnd although the Massilians our clients are governed\r\nwith great justice, by their chosen chief men, nevertheless\r\nin that condition of a people, there is something\r\nresembling slavery. And the Athenians at a certain\r\nperiod having abolished the Areopagus, conducted every\r\nthing by ordinances, and decrees of the people; yet as\r\nthey had no distinctions in dignity, their state was without\r\nits ornament.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"c000\"\u003eXXVIII. And this I say of these three kinds of\r\ngovernment, not of the agitations and disturbances incidental\r\nto them, but of their tranquil and regular state.\r\nThose varieties are principally remarkable for the defects\r\nI have alluded to. Then they have other pernicious\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pageno\" id=\"Page_67\"\u003e67\u003c/span\u003efailings, for every one of these governments is travelling\r\na dangerous road, bordering on a slippery and precipitous\r\npath. To a king so commendable, or if you\r\nchoose, since I especially name him; to the amiable\r\nCyrus; a parallel springs up in the cruel Phalaris, with\r\nall his capricious tyranny; into whose similitude the\r\ngovernment of one man so easily slides with a downward\r\ncourse. To the administration of the city of the\r\nMassilians by their select chiefs, may be opposed the\r\nplot and faction of the Thirty, which took place at a\r\ncertain period among the Athenians. Nor need we\r\nlook farther; the very Athenian people having assumed\r\nthe power over all things, and giving license to the fury\r\nof the multitude * * * * * *\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"nf-center-c1\"\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"nf-center c002\"\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv\u003e[Two pages wanting.]\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"c000\"\u003eXXIX. * * * * * * and this great mischief\r\narises whether under the rule of the better class,\r\nor under a tyrannical faction, or under the regal government;\r\nand even frequently under the popular form. At\r\nthe same time from the various forms of government of\r\nwhich I have spoken, something excellent is wont to\r\nemanate. For the changes and vicissitudes in public\r\naffairs, appear to move in a circle of revolutions; which\r\nwhen recognized by a wise man, as soon as he beholds\r\nthem impending, if he can moderate their course in\r\nthe administration of affairs, and restrain them under\r\nhis control; he acts truly the part of a great citizen,\r\nand almost of a divine man. Therefore I think a fourth\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pageno\" id=\"Page_68\"\u003e68\u003c/span\u003ekind of government, moderated and mixed from those\r\nthree of which I first spoke, is most to be approved.”\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"c000\"\u003eXXX. “I know” said Lælius, “that such is your\r\nopinion Africanus, for I have often heard you say so.\r\nNevertheless, unless it is troublesome to you, I should\r\nbe glad to learn which you judge best of these three\r\nkinds of government. For either it will throw some\r\nlight upon * * * * * *\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"nf-center-c1\"\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"nf-center\"\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv\u003e[Two pages wanting.]\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"c000\"\u003eXXXI. * * * * * * every government\r\npartakes of the nature and will of him who administers\r\nit. So that in no other state, save where the power of\r\nthe people predominates, has liberty any home. Liberty\r\nthe sweetest of all blessings, and which if it is not\r\nequal for all, is not liberty. For what equality can there\r\nbe, I do not mean in kingdoms where slavery has no\r\ndoubtful character: but in those states where all are\r\nnominally free: there indeed they give their votes, confer\r\ncommands, magistracies and are solicited and intreated.\r\nBut in truth they only part with that, however\r\nrepugnant it may be to them, which must be conferred:\r\nthings which they cannot retain, which is the reason\r\nwhy others seek to possess them. For they are invested\r\nwith no command, have no public authority, nor are\r\ncalled to be judges in the tribunals: privileges which\r\nbelong either to ancient families, or are purchased by\r\nmoney. Among a free people however, as at Rhodes\r\nor Athens, there is no citizen who * * * * *\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"nf-center-c1\"\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"nf-center\"\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv\u003e[Two pages wanting.]\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"c000\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pageno\" id=\"Page_69\"\u003e69\u003c/span\u003eXXXII. Some assert, that when one or more in a state\r\nbecomes conspicuous by his opulence or riches, disdain\r\nand pride soon break out: and the weak and indolent yield\r\nand bend under the arrogance of riches. But if the people\r\nare able to preserve their rights, they think no condition\r\nof things could be more excellent, more free, or\r\nmore happy. For in their hands would be the laws, the\r\ntribunals, war, peace, treaties, and the properties and\r\nlives of all the citizens. This sort of government they\r\nthink is properly called one republic, that is the common\r\ninterest of the people. Wherefore it is, that the\r\npeople are wont to restore commonwealths to liberty\r\nfrom the domination of kings, and patricians; not that\r\nkings are believed to be necessary to a free people, or\r\nthat the better class are the source of power and wealth.\r\nAnd they deny that these advantages should not be conceded\r\nto a free people on account of the excesses of\r\nuncivilized nations: for where the people are unanimous,\r\nand every thing tends to the public safety and\r\nliberty, nothing can be more unchangeable, nothing\r\nmore firm. Unanimity in such a commonwealth is\r\nvery easy, where the common effort is for the public\r\ngood. But from opposing interests, where one man\r\nclashes with another, discord arises. Wherefore when\r\nthe senate had possession of the government, the condition\r\nof the state was never sound. In kingdoms the\r\ndisadvantages are still greater; of them Ennius said\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"lg-container-b c012\"\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"linegroup\"\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"group\"\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"line\"\u003e“No holy confidence or fellowship reigns there.”\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"c000\"\u003eWherefore as the law is the bond of civil society, and\r\nequal rights form that of the law, by what power can a\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pageno\" id=\"Page_70\"\u003e70\u003c/span\u003ecommunity of citizens be maintained, where their condition\r\nis not an equal one? If therefore it is not expedient\r\nto equalize fortunes; if the powers of mind cannot\r\nbe equalized in all, certainly then an equality of\r\nrights ought to exist, among those who are citizens of\r\nthe same republic. For what is a state but a community\r\nof rights? * * * * *\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"nf-center-c1\"\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"nf-center\"\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv\u003e[Two pages wanting.]\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"c000\"\u003eXXXIII. * * other governments however are deemed\r\nby them not to deserve those names, which they have\r\nchosen to arrogate to themselves. For why should I\r\ncall a man who is greedy of rule, or of the sole command,\r\nand who is trampling upon an oppressed people,\r\nking, which is the title of the good Jupiter, rather\r\nthan tyrant? A tyrant may be clement as well as a\r\nking may be oppressive; the matter really interesting to\r\nthe people is, whether they are to serve under a gentle\r\nor a severe master: for as to being any thing but servants,\r\nthat is not to be avoided. How could Lacedemon,\r\nwhen she was thought to excel in the science of government,\r\npossess only good and just kings, when she was\r\nobliged to take any king who was sprung from the royal\r\nblood? And the better class, who can endure them,\r\nwho have arrogated to themselves in their own assemblies,\r\na name not conceded to them by the people? For\r\nwho is the man to be pronounced best, in learning, in\r\nthe arts, in studies? * * * * *\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"nf-center-c1\"\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"nf-center\"\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv\u003e[Four pages wanting.]\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"c000\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pageno\" id=\"Page_71\"\u003e71\u003c/span\u003eXXXIV. * * * * If it was done by lot, the\r\ngovernment would be overthrown; like a ship, at whose\r\nhelm, some passenger taken at hazard was placed. A\r\nnation can entrust its affairs to whom it may choose; and\r\nif it wishes to remain free, it will choose from among\r\nthe best. For certainly the security of states is found\r\nin the counsels of the best citizens; especially as nature\r\nhas not only ordained that they should preserve an\r\ninfluence over the weak by their conspicuous virtue and\r\ncourage, but also that the weak should resign themselves\r\nto the government of great minds. This most desirable\r\nstate of things, they say, is prevented by the erroneous\r\nopinions of men who, through ignorance of that\r\nvirtue, which belongs to but few, and is seen and appreciated\r\nonly by few, deem those who are sprung from\r\na noble race, or who are opulent and wealthy, to be the\r\nbest men. Under this vulgar error, when the power,\r\nnot the virtues of a few, have got possession of the\r\ngovernment; those chiefs tenaciously preserve the\r\ntitle of better class; a name however to which the substance\r\nis wanting. For riches, titles, and power, devoid\r\nof wisdom, of the knowledge of self-government, and\r\nthat of the government of others, exhibit nothing but insolent\r\nand disgraceful pride. Nor can the condition of\r\nany city be more deplorable, than where the richest men\r\npass for the best. But what can be more delightful than\r\na state virtuously governed? What more illustrious\r\nthan the man, who while he governs others, is himself\r\nthe slave of no bad passions? Who, while he calls upon\r\nthe citizens to observe the regulations he has formed,\r\nlives up to them all himself? Nor imposes any laws\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pageno\" id=\"Page_72\"\u003e72\u003c/span\u003eupon the people, which he himself obeys not, but who\r\npresents his whole life to his fellow citizens as one unbroken\r\nlaw. If one man could suffice to all things,\r\nthere would be no need of many; and if all men could\r\nperceive what is best, and consent to it, no one would\r\nrequire any chiefs to be elected. The difficulty of\r\ncoming to wise determinations, has transferred the rule\r\nfrom one king to many persons; and the error and\r\nrashness of the people, from the multitude to a few.\r\nThus between the obstinacy of one, and the temerity of\r\nmany, the better class have possessed themselves of the\r\nmiddle and least turbulent of all the situations: by\r\nwhom if the commonwealth is well administered, the\r\npeople relieved from all care and thought, must necessarily\r\nbe happy: enjoying their independence through\r\nthe labours of those, whose duty it is to preserve it to\r\nthem; and who ought never to permit the people to\r\nthink that their interests are neglected by their rulers.\r\nAs to that exact equality of rights, which is held so dear\r\nby a free people; it cannot be preserved: for the people\r\nthemselves, however free and unrestrained they may\r\nbe, are remarkable for their deference to many persons;\r\nand exercise a great preference as it respects men and\r\ndignities. That which is called equality also, is a most\r\nunjust thing in itself: for when the same honour is enjoyed\r\nby the high and by the low, through a whole people,\r\nthat very equality must be unjust; and in those\r\nstates which are governed by the better class, it can\r\nnever happen. These, Lælius, and some other reasons\r\nresembling them, are wont to be urged by those who\r\nchiefly praise that form of government.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"c000\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pageno\" id=\"Page_73\"\u003e73\u003c/span\u003eXXXV. “But which, Scipio, among those three,\r\ndo you chiefly approve of?” said Lælius.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"c000\"\u003eScipio. “You do well to ask, which chiefly of the\r\nthree, since separately I do not approve of any of them;\r\nbut should prefer to every one of them, a government\r\nconstituted out of all three. But if one of them for its\r\nsimplicity may be admired, I should approve of the kingly\r\nform, and give it the highest praise. For the name\r\nof king calls up at once the idea of a father, consulting\r\nwith his citizens as if they were his own children; and\r\nmore anxious to preserve them, than to reduce them to\r\nslavery: it being a great advantage to the weak to be\r\nsustained by the exertions and by the foresight of one\r\npre-eminent and good man. Here however the better\r\nclass profess to do the same thing to more advantage,\r\nand say there is more wisdom with numbers than with\r\none, and at the same time equal justice and faith. But\r\nthe people call out with a loud voice, that they choose\r\nneither to obey one nor many; that nothing is sweeter\r\nto the beasts of the field than liberty, which is wanting\r\nto all who serve either under the better class or under a\r\nking. Thus on the score of personal attachment, kings\r\nattract us. The better class by their wisdom; and liberty\r\non the side of the people. So that in making the\r\ncomparison, it is difficult to say which is preferable.”\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"c000\"\u003eL. “I believe it,” said he, “but if you leave this\r\npoint unfinished, the other parts of the subject can\r\nscarcely be cleared up.”\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"c000\"\u003eXXXVI. S. “Let us imitate therefore Aratus, who\r\nin his introduction to a discourse upon high matters,\r\nthought it best to begin with Jupiter.”\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"c000\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pageno\" id=\"Page_74\"\u003e74\u003c/span\u003eL. “Why with Jupiter? and what has this discussion\r\nto do with the verses of Aratus?”\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"c000\"\u003eS. “Insomuch, that the opening of our debate may\r\nbe honoured with the name of him, whom all, learned\r\nand unlearned, consent with one voice, to be the one\r\nking of all the gods and men.” “What then!” said\r\nLælius. “What do you believe in but the things which\r\nare before your eyes?” replied he. “This opinion has\r\nbeen established for the conduct of life, by those who\r\nhave had the direction of public affairs; that the belief\r\nmight prevail, that one king ruled in heaven, who with\r\nhis nod, as Homer says, could tumble down Olympus;\r\nand that he should be considered as the King and Father\r\nof all. Great is the authority for it, and many the\r\nwitnesses, inasmuch as all have concurred in it. Nations\r\ntoo have agreed, as we find in the decrees of\r\nprinces, that the regal form of government was most excellent,\r\nsince they imagine the gods themselves to be\r\nunder the government of one king. And if we have\r\nbeen told that this and similar opinions have sprung from\r\nfables and the errors of the ignorant, let us listen to\r\nthose who may be considered almost the common\r\nteachers of erudite men; who as it were, saw these\r\nvery things with their eyes, which we scarcely are acquainted\r\nwith, when we hear of them.” “And who\r\nare they?” said Lælius. “They,” replied he, who in\r\ntheir investigations of the nature of all things, have\r\nperceived a design in the universal structure of this\r\nworld * * * * * *\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"nf-center-c1\"\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"nf-center\"\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv\u003e[Four pages wanting.]\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"c000\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pageno\" id=\"Page_75\"\u003e75\u003c/span\u003eXXXVII. * * * * * * “But if you desire\r\nit Lælius, I can give you authorities in no wise barbarous,\r\nnor of too remote an antiquity.”\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"c000\"\u003eL. I should be glad to have them.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"c000\"\u003eS. You are aware that it is now somewhat less than\r\nfour hundred years since this city has been governed\r\nwithout kings.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"c000\"\u003eL. That is true; rather less.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"c000\"\u003eS. What then are four hundred years, for the age of\r\na city or state; is it such a long period?\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"c000\"\u003eL. It can hardly be called an adult age.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"c000\"\u003eS. Then there was a king in Rome four hundred\r\nyears ago?\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"c000\"\u003eL. And a very superb one.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"c000\"\u003eS. Who before him?\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"c000\"\u003eL. A most just one; and from that period up to\r\nRomulus, who reigned six hundred years from the present\r\ntime.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"c000\"\u003eS. Then he is not so very remote.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"c000\"\u003eL. Not at all. The institutions of Greece were\r\nalready on the wane.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"c000\"\u003eS. I submit to you now, whether Romulus was the\r\nking of a barbarous people?\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"c000\"\u003eL. If as the Greeks say, all men were either Greeks\r\nor Barbarians; then I am afraid he must be esteemed\r\na king of a barbarous people. But if that epithet is\r\nappropriate to a difference of manners, rather than to\r\nlanguages, I think the Greeks not less barbarians than\r\nthe Romans.” “In relation to the matter of which we\r\nspeak,” said Scipio, “it is intelligence we are looking for,\r\nrather than men. If a discreet people therefore, not of\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pageno\" id=\"Page_76\"\u003e76\u003c/span\u003ea very ancient period, have preferred the government of\r\nkings, I am availing myself of testimony which cannot\r\nbe deemed savage, uncivilized, or of a barbarous antiquity.”\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"c000\"\u003eXXXVIII. “I perceive Scipio,” said Lælius, “that\r\nyou are sufficiently provided with testimony. But with\r\nme, as with good judges, sound argument prevails\r\nmore than witnesses.” “Make use of an argument\r\nthen,” replied Scipio, “which your knowledge of yourself\r\ncan suggest to you.” “What knowledge,” said he.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"c000\"\u003eS. Why as when by chance it happens to you to be\r\nangry with some one.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"c000\"\u003eL. That occurs oftener than I could wish.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"c000\"\u003eS. What! when you are in anger, do you suffer\r\nyour mind to fall under the domination of that passion?\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"c000\"\u003eL. No, so help me Hercules. I rather imitate Archytas,\r\nthe Tarentine; who on arriving at his country\r\nhouse, and being greatly offended at perceiving his\r\norders had been disobeyed, “You are a miserable\r\nwretch,” said he to his farmer, “and I would have you\r\nflogged to death if I were not angry.” “Excellent,”\r\nsaid Scipio. “Archytas wished to calm his anger by\r\nreflection, considering that degree of it which was not\r\nunder the control of reason, to be leading on to a sort\r\nof sedition of the mind. To it add avarice, ambition,\r\nthe passion for glory, and for sensual pleasures; and it\r\nwill appear that there exists in the minds of men, a sort\r\nof regal controlling power, to wit, reflection. For that\r\nis the best part of the mind, and where its authority\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pageno\" id=\"Page_77\"\u003e77\u003c/span\u003eprevails, there is no room for sensuality, for anger, or\r\nfor rashness.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"c000\"\u003eL. So it is.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"c000\"\u003eS. Do you approve therefore of a mind so disposed?\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"c000\"\u003eL. There is nothing I admire more.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"c000\"\u003eS. Then you really do not think, reflection being\r\ndriven away; that voluptuousness or the angry passions,\r\nwhich are without end, should have the mastery\r\nin all things.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"c000\"\u003eL. Indeed I can conceive of nothing more wretched,\r\nthan such a state of mind; nor of a man more debased\r\nthan when under such government.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"c000\"\u003eS. You prefer then all parts of the mind, to be under\r\nsome government, the government of reflection?\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"c000\"\u003eL. I certainly prefer it.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"c000\"\u003eS. Why therefore do you hesitate in your opinion\r\nabout public affairs; where if the administration is\r\ntransferred to many, there will be no one, as I now understand\r\nit, to take the command. And it seems that\r\nif authority is not one thing, it is nothing at all.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"c000\"\u003eXXXIX. “I would ask,” said Lælius, “of what\r\nconsequence it is to us, whether one or many, if justice\r\nis dispensed by the latter.” “Since I find Lælius,” said\r\nScipio, “that my witnesses have made no great impression\r\non you, I shall not desist from making use of yourself\r\nas a witness to prove what I say.” “Me,” said\r\nhe, “in what way?”\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"c000\"\u003eS. Why adverting to the directions you so earnestly\r\ngave to your family, when we were lately at Formianum;\r\nto obey only the orders of one person.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"c000\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pageno\" id=\"Page_78\"\u003e78\u003c/span\u003eL. Oh! my farmer!\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"c000\"\u003eS. Well, at home, I suppose, several are entrusted\r\nwith the management of your affairs?\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"c000\"\u003eL. No, only one.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"c000\"\u003eS. What, your whole establishment! does no one\r\nbut yourself manage it?\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"c000\"\u003eL. Just so.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"c000\"\u003eS. Do not you therefore accede to the same conclusion\r\nin public affairs: that the government of a\r\nsingle person, if it is a just one, is the best?\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"c000\"\u003eL. I am brought to the conclusion, and must almost\r\nassent to it.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"c000\"\u003eXL. You will be more inclined to that opinion, said\r\nScipio, when omitting the analogies of one pilot, one\r\nphysician, who if they are any way skilled in their arts,\r\nought one to have the control of the ship; the other of\r\nthe patient, in preference to many; I come to the consideration\r\nof greater matters.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"c000\"\u003eL. What are they?\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"c000\"\u003eS. Are you not aware that the name of king became\r\nodious to this people, on account of the oppression and\r\npride of one man, Tarquin?\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"c000\"\u003eL. Yes, I am aware.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"c000\"\u003eS. Then you are aware of what haply in the course\r\nof this discussion, I may find occasion to speak.\r\nTarquin being driven out, the people exulted with a\r\nmarvellous sort of insolence of freedom. At one time\r\ndriving innocent people into exile; at another, confiscating\r\nthe property of many. Next came annual consuls.\r\nThen the fasces prostrated before the people—appeals\r\nin all cases. Then the mutiny of the plebeians—then\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pageno\" id=\"Page_79\"\u003e79\u003c/span\u003ea complete revolution in every thing, placing\r\nall things in the power of the people.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"c000\"\u003eL. It is as you say. “It is true,” said Scipio—“in\r\npeace and tranquillity, some license may be permitted\r\nwhen there is nothing to fear, as at sea sometimes, or\r\nin a slight fever: but like him who is at sea, when suddenly\r\nthe ocean puts on its terrors, or the sick man,\r\nwhen his complaint oppresses him, and the assistance\r\nof one is implored: so our people in time of peace,\r\ninterfere in internal affairs, threaten the magistrates, refuse\r\nsubmission to them, denounce them and provoke\r\nthem; yet in war obey them as they would a king, preferring\r\ntheir safety to the indulgence of their passions.\r\nAlso in our more important wars, our countrymen have\r\nconstantly preferred the command to be in the hands of\r\none, without any colleague; the extent of whose power\r\nis indicated by his name. For a dictator is so called\r\non account of every thing being dictated by him. But\r\nin our books, Lælius, you see also that he is called\r\nmaster of the people.”\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"c000\"\u003eL. It is so. “Wisely therefore did those ancients,”\r\nsaid Scipio * * * *\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"nf-center-c1\"\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"nf-center\"\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv\u003e[Two pages wanting.]\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"c000\"\u003eXLI. * * * When a people is deprived of a\r\njust king, as Ennius says, after the death of one of the\r\nbest of kings,\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"lg-container-b c012\"\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"linegroup\"\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"group\"\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"line\"\u003e“Long were their bosoms moved with deep regret;\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"line\"\u003eOft they together call upon his manes.\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"line\"\u003eOh, godlike Romulus! the bounteous gods\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"line\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pageno\" id=\"Page_80\"\u003e80\u003c/span\u003eWhat a protector did they give in thee?\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"line\"\u003eOh father, parent, blood derived from heaven!”\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"c000\"\u003eThose whom the laws enjoined them to obey, they did\r\nnot call lords or masters; finally, not even kings, but\r\nguardians of the country, fathers and gods. Nor without\r\ncause, for what is added,\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"lg-container-b c012\"\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"linegroup\"\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"group\"\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"line\"\u003e“Thou broughtest us into the realms of light!”\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"c000\"\u003eThey thought that life, honour, and every comfort was\r\ngiven to them by the justice of a king. And the same\r\ninclinations would have remained with their posterity, if\r\nthe character of their kings had not changed. But you\r\nperceive that kind of government was ruined by the injustice\r\nof one man.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"c000\"\u003eL. I do perceive it, and I am desirous of knowing\r\nthe course of these changes, not only in our own\r\ncountry, but in all governments.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"c000\"\u003eXLII. “It will be for you,” said Scipio, “when I\r\nshall have given my opinion of that kind of government\r\nwhich I prefer, to give a more accurate account of the\r\nmutations in governments; although I do not think\r\nthem much to be apprehended in the form I am inclined\r\nto. But a regal form of government is particularly\r\nand most certainly exposed to change. When a king\r\nbegins to be unjust, that form of government perishes\r\nat once. The tyrant is, at the same time, the worst of\r\nall conditions of government, and the nearest to the\r\nbest. Whom, if the better class have overturned, which\r\nfor the most part happens, the commonwealth possesses\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pageno\" id=\"Page_81\"\u003e81\u003c/span\u003ethat second class of the three. And this is a sort of\r\nroyalty; a paternal government of the principal people,\r\nfor the benefit of the rest. But if the people cast out or\r\nslay the tyrant; rejoicing in their own deed, they are\r\nmore moderate, as long as they know and feel the\r\nvalue of being so, in their endeavour to protect the commonwealth\r\nconstituted by themselves. But when the\r\npopulace have bent their force against a just king, and\r\nhave stripped him of his kingdom; or even, as it happens\r\nvery often, have tasted the blood of the better\r\nclass, and have prostrated the whole republic in their\r\nmadness; think not that the vexed ocean or the wildest\r\nconflagration, can be more easily kept down, than the\r\nunbridled insolence of the multitude.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"c000\"\u003eXLIII. Then is produced what in Plato is so clearly\r\ndescribed, if I can in any manner express it in Latin, a\r\nthing difficult to be done, but I will endeavour. “It is\r\nthen,” he says, “when the insatiable throats of the\r\npeople, parched with the thirst of liberty, and led on by\r\nrash demagogues, have greedily drank, not temperate\r\nbut too unalloyed draughts of freedom. Then the magistrates\r\nand chiefs, unless they are too lenient and\r\nindulgent, permitting them every excess of liberty; are\r\npursued, impeached, insulted, and called oppressors,\r\nkings, and tyrants.” I think this part of his works is\r\nknown to you.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"c000\"\u003eL. I am well acquainted with it.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"c000\"\u003eS. Then follows, “Those who pay obedience to\r\nthe magistrates, are tormented by the people, are called\r\nvoluntary slaves. But those magistrates who affect to\r\nbe on an equality with the lowest; and other individuals\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pageno\" id=\"Page_82\"\u003e82\u003c/span\u003ewho strive to abolish all distinction between citizens\r\nand magistrates, are exalted with praises, and overwhelmed\r\nwith honours. And in this condition of things,\r\nit follows, of course, that there is an unrestrained\r\nlicense in a government of this kind; so that every private\r\nfamily is without any government: and this evil\r\nextends even to the beasts. At length the father fears\r\nthe son—the son disregards the father: every sort of\r\ndecency is extinguished, that an open license may prevail.\r\nNothing distinguishes the citizen from the stranger.\r\nThe master pays court to his scholars, that he may be\r\nflattered by them. Teachers are despised by their disciples.\r\nYoung persons take upon themselves the authority\r\nof aged ones, who abase themselves to mingle\r\nin their games, lest they become odious and burdensome\r\nto them. At last slaves give themselves all sorts of\r\nliberties. Wives assume the privileges of their husbands.\r\nNay the dogs, the horses, the asses at length\r\nare so infected with liberty, and run kicking about so,\r\nthat it is absolutely necessary to get out of their way.\r\nWherefore from this infinite license these things result,\r\nthat the minds of the citizens become so scornful and\r\nimpatient, that if the least power of government is exercised,\r\nthey become exasperated and will not endure\r\nit; whence they come to despise every kind of law,\r\nthat they may be without the least restraint whatever.”\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"c000\"\u003eXLIV. “You have,” said Lælius, “precisely expressed\r\nPlato’s sentiments.”\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"c000\"\u003eS. Returning therefore to the subject of my discourse.\r\n“It is from this very license,” he says,\r\n“which they deem to be liberty itself, that a tyrant\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pageno\" id=\"Page_83\"\u003e83\u003c/span\u003esprings up as a sapling from a root. For as the destruction\r\nof the better class arises from their overweening\r\npower, so this excess of liberty, effects the slavery\r\nof this free people. Thus all extremes of an agreeable\r\nnature, whether in the seasons, or in the fertility of the\r\nfields, or in our natural feelings, are often converted into\r\ntheir opposites. Especially it occurs in public affairs,\r\nwhere excess of liberty degenerates into public and\r\nindividual slavery. Out of such licentious freedom a\r\ntyrant arises, and the most unjust and severe bondage.\r\nFor by a people so untameable, or rather so outrageous,\r\nsome leader is chosen out of the multitude, in opposition\r\nto the better class, now persecuted and driven from\r\ntheir offices: bold and dishonest, perversely persecuting\r\nthose who have frequently deserved well of their country,\r\nand gratifying the people from his own means and from\r\nthose of others. To whom, that he may be freed from all\r\napprehensions on account of his private condition, authority\r\nis given and continued to him. Surrounded too\r\nby guards, as was the case with Pisistratus at Athens,\r\nat length he becomes the tyrant of the very citizens\r\nwho brought him forward. Who, if he is subdued by\r\nthe good, as often happens, the state is regenerated.\r\nIf by the bad, then a faction is established, another kind\r\nof tyranny. The same state of things too frequently\r\noccurs in that goodly form of government of the better\r\nclass, when the vices of the chiefs have caused them to\r\ndeviate from their integrity. Thus do they snatch the\r\ngovernment of the commonwealth from each other like\r\na ball—tyrants from kings—chiefs or the people from\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pageno\" id=\"Page_84\"\u003e84\u003c/span\u003etyrants; and factions or tyrants from them, nor does\r\nthe same mode of government ever last a long time.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"c000\"\u003eXLV. These things being so, the regal form of\r\ngovernment is in my opinion much to be preferred of\r\nthose three kinds. Nevertheless one which shall be\r\nwell tempered and balanced out of all those three kinds\r\nof government, is better than that; yet there should be\r\nalways something royal and pre-eminent in a government,\r\nat the same time that some power should be placed\r\nin the hands of the better class, and other things\r\nreserved for the judgment and will of the multitude.\r\nNow we are struck first with the great equability of such\r\na constitution, without which a people cannot be free\r\nlong; next with its stability. The three other kinds of\r\ngovernment easily fall into the contrary extremes: as a\r\nmaster grows out of a king; factions from the better\r\nclass; and mobs and confusion from the people. The\r\nchanges too are perpetual which are taking place. This\r\ncannot well happen in such a combined and moderately\r\nbalanced government, unless by the great vices of the\r\nchief persons. For there is no cause for change,\r\nwhere every one is firmly placed in his proper station,\r\nand never gives way, whatever may fall down or be displaced.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"c000\"\u003eXLVI. But I am afraid, Lælius, and you too my very\r\ndiscreet and respected friends, if I continue long in this\r\nstrain, my discourse will appear more like that of a\r\nmaster or teacher to you, than as a conversation with\r\nyou. Wherefore I will speak of matters known to us\r\nall, and which we have all inquired into long ago. For\r\nI am convinced, and believe, and declare, that no kind\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pageno\" id=\"Page_85\"\u003e85\u003c/span\u003eof government, either in the constitution, the planning,\r\nor the practice, is to be compared with that which our\r\nfathers have left to us, and which was adopted by our\r\nancestors. Which if you please, since you have been\r\ndesirous that I should repeat things known to yourselves,\r\nI will shew not only what it is, but that it is the\r\nbest. And with our own government in view, I will if\r\nI can, have a reference to it, in whatever I may say respecting\r\nthe best form of government. The which if\r\nI can follow up and effect, I shall, as I think, amply\r\nfulfil the task which Lælius has imposed on me.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"c000\"\u003eXLVII. “It is your task indeed, Scipio,” said Lælius,\r\n“most truly yours. For who in preference to\r\nyourself may speak of the institutions of our forefathers;\r\nyou being sprung from such illustrious ancestors;\r\nor of the best form of government. The which if we\r\nnow possess it, would hardly be so, if any one stood in\r\na more conspicuous situation than yourself. Or who\r\nmay venture to advise measures for posterity, when\r\nthou, having delivered the city from its greatest terrors,\r\nhast foreseen for the latest times?”\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pageno\" id=\"Page_87\"\u003e87\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"ph1\"\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"nf-center-c1\"\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"nf-center c011\"\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv\u003eCICERO’S REPUBLIC.\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"figcenter id002\"\u003e\r\n\u003cimg alt=\"\" class=\"ig001\" src=\"https://chrisdeasy.com/wp-content/uploads/gutenberg-de-re-publica-cicero-marcus-tullius-cicero-i-002.jpg\" id=\"img_images_i_002.jpg_2\"\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"chapter\"\u003e\r\n\u003ch2 class=\"c004\" id=\"II\"\u003eBOOK II.\u003c/h2\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"c005\"\u003eI. Perceiving them all now eager to listen to him,\r\nScipio thus began to speak. “It was old Cato, to\r\nwhom as you know I was singularly attached, and whom\r\nI admired in the highest degree: to whom, either\r\nthrough the advice of both my parents, or from my own\r\nprepossession, I devoted myself entirely from my youth;\r\nwhose conversation never could satiate me. Such was\r\nthe experience of the man in public affairs, which he\r\nhad for a long time successfully conducted in peace and\r\nwar. His manner of speaking too, a facetiousness\r\nmixed with gravity: his constant desire also to improve\r\nhimself and others; indeed his whole life in harmony\r\nwith his maxims. He was wont to say, that the condition\r\nof our country was pre-eminent above all others\r\nfor this cause. That among other people, individuals\r\ngenerally had respectively constituted the government\r\nby their laws and by their institutes, as Minos in Crete,\r\nLycurgus in Lacedemon. At Athens, where the\r\nchanges were frequent, at first Theseus, then Draco,\r\nthen Solon, then Clisthenes; afterwards many others.\r\nFinally exhausted and prostrated, it had been upheld by\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pageno\" id=\"Page_88\"\u003e88\u003c/span\u003ethat learned man Demetrius, of Phalera. But that the\r\nconstitution of our republic was not the work of one,\r\nbut of many; and had not been established in the life of\r\none man, but during several generations and ages.\r\nFor he said so powerful a mind had never existed; from\r\nwhich nothing had escaped; nor that all minds collected\r\ninto one, could foresee so much at one time, as to comprehend\r\nall things without the aid of practice and time.\r\nFor which reason, as he was wont, so shall my discourse\r\nnow repeat the origin of the people; for I have a pleasure\r\nin using the very words of Cato. But I shall\r\nmore easily follow up my proposition in describing our\r\nown republic to you, in its infancy, its growth, in its\r\nadult, and its present firm and robust state; than if I\r\nwere to create an imaginary one, as Socrates is made to\r\ndo in Plato.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"c000\"\u003eII. When all had approved of this, he proceeded.\r\n“What beginning, therefore, have we of the establishment\r\nof a republic so illustrious and so known to you\r\nall, as the origin of the building of this city by Romulus,\r\nborn of his father Mars? For let us concede to\r\nthe common opinion of men, especially as it is not only\r\nwell established, but also wisely recorded by our ancestors,\r\nthat those who have deserved well of us on account\r\nof our common interest, be deemed not only to\r\nhave possessed a divine genius, but also a divine origin.\r\nHe therefore after his birth, with Remus his brother, is\r\nsaid to have been ordered to be exposed on the Tiber,\r\nby the Alban king, Amulius, apprehensive lest his kingdom\r\nshould be shaken. In which place, having been\r\nsustained by the teats of a wild beast, the shepherds\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pageno\" id=\"Page_89\"\u003e89\u003c/span\u003etook him, and brought him up in the labour and cultivation\r\nof the fields. It is said, that when he had grown\r\nup, he was distinguished above the rest by his corporeal\r\nstrength, and the daringness of his mind. So that all\r\nwho then inhabited the fields, where at this day stands\r\nthe city, obeyed him willingly and without dissent.\r\nAnd being constituted their leader, that we may now\r\ncome from fables to facts, with a strong force he took\r\nAlba-longa, a powerful and well constructed city in\r\nthose times, and put the king Amulius to death.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"c000\"\u003eIII. Having acquired which glory, he is said first to\r\nhave auspiciously thought of building a city, and of establishing\r\na government. In regard to the situation of\r\nthe city, a circumstance which is most carefully to be\r\nconsidered by him, who endeavours to establish a permanent\r\ngovernment; he chose it with incredible skill.\r\nFor neither did he remove to the sea, although it was a\r\nvery easy thing for him with his forces, to march through\r\nthe territory of the Rutulians and Aborigines; neither\r\nwould he build a city at the mouth of the Tiber, to which\r\nplace the king Ancus led a colony many years after.\r\nFor he perceived, with an admirable foresight, that maritime\r\nsituations were not proper for those cities which\r\nwere founded in the hope of continuance, or with a\r\nview to empire. First, because maritime towns were\r\nnot only exposed to many dangers, but to unseen ones.\r\nFor the ground over which an expected enemy moves,\r\nas well as an unexpected one, announces his approach\r\nbeforehand by many indications: by sound itself of a\r\npeculiarly tumultuous kind. No enemy can make a\r\nmarch, however forced, without our not only knowing\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pageno\" id=\"Page_90\"\u003e90\u003c/span\u003ehim to be there, but even who he is, and whence he\r\ncomes. But a maritime enemy and a naval force may\r\nbe before you, ere any one can suspect him to be come.\r\nNor even when he does come, does he carry before him\r\nany indication of who he is, or from whence he comes,\r\nor even what he wants. Finally by no kind of sign\r\ncan it be discerned or determined whether he is a friend\r\nor an enemy.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"c000\"\u003eIV. In maritime cities, too, a sort of debasing and\r\nchangeable manners prevail. New languages and new\r\ncustoms are mingled together, and not only productions\r\nbut manners are imported from abroad; so that nothing\r\nremains entire of the pristine institutions. Even they\r\nwho inhabit those cities are not faithful to their homes,\r\nbut with capricious inclinations and longings are carried\r\nfar from them; and although their persons remain, their\r\nminds are rambling and wandering abroad. Nor did\r\nCarthage or Corinth, long before shaken, owe their ruin\r\nto any thing more than to the unsettled scattering of the\r\ncitizens, who abandoned the study of agriculture and\r\narms through their cupidity of gain and love of roaming.\r\nMany pernicious excitements too to luxury, are\r\nbrought over the sea to cities by commercial importation\r\nor by conquest. Even the very amenity of the\r\nsituation suggests many costly and enervating allurements.\r\nWhat I have said of Corinth, I know not if I\r\nmay as truly say of all Greece; for almost all Peloponnessus\r\nlies on the sea, and except the Phliuntians,\r\nthere are none whose lands do not extend to the coast.\r\nBeyond Peloponnessus, the Enianes, the Dorians, and\r\nthe Dolopians are the only people in the interior.\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pageno\" id=\"Page_91\"\u003e91\u003c/span\u003eWhat shall I say of the islands of Greece? which surrounded\r\nwith billows, float about as it were with the\r\ninstitutions and manners of their cities. These things\r\nas I said before, relate to ancient Greece; but of the\r\ncolonies brought by the Greeks into Asia, Thrace,\r\nItaly, Sicily, and Africa, except Magnesia alone, which\r\nof them is not washed by the ocean? Thus a part of\r\nthe Grecian shores seemed to be joined to the lands of\r\nthe barbarians. For among the barbarians themselves,\r\nnone were a maritime people, except the Etruscans\r\nand the Carthagenians; the one for the sake of commerce,\r\nthe other for the sake of piracy. A most obvious\r\ncause of the evils and revolutions of Greece, arising\r\nfrom the vices of these maritime cities, which awhile\r\nago I slightly touched upon. Nevertheless among\r\nthese evils there is a great convenience. The products\r\nof every distant nation can be wafted to the city you inhabit;\r\nand in return the productions of your own\r\nlands can be sent or carried into whatever countries you\r\nchoose.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"c000\"\u003eV. Who then more inspiredly than Romulus could\r\nsecure all the maritime conveniences, and avoid all the\r\ndefects? placing the city on the banks of a perennial\r\nriver, broadly flowing with an equal course to the sea.\r\nBy which the city might receive what it wanted from the\r\nocean, and return whatever was superfluous. Receiving\r\nby the same channel all things essential to the wants\r\nand the refinements of life, not only from the sea, but\r\nlikewise from the interior. So that it appears to me, he\r\nhad foreseen this city, at some period, would be the seat\r\nand capital of a mighty empire: for a city placed in\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pageno\" id=\"Page_92\"\u003e92\u003c/span\u003eany other part of Italy would not easily have been able\r\nto acquire such a powerful influence.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"c000\"\u003eVI. As to the native defences of the city, who is so\r\nunobservant as not to have them marked and fixed in\r\nhis mind? Such is the alignment and direction of\r\nthe wall, which by the wisdom of Romulus, as well of\r\nsucceeding kings, was bounded on every part by lofty\r\nand craggy hills: so that the only entrance, which was\r\nbetween the Esquiline and the Quirinal hills, was defended\r\nby a huge mound, and a very wide ditch. The\r\ncitadel, surrounded by this craggy and seemingly hewn\r\nrock, had such a gallant position, that in that furious invasion\r\nof the terrible Gauls, it remained safe and intact.\r\nHe choose also a place abounding in springs, and salubrious\r\neven in a pestilent region. For there are hills\r\nwhich while they enjoy the breezes, at the same time\r\nthrow a cool shade upon the vallies.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"c000\"\u003eVII. These things were done too with great celerity.\r\nFor he not only founded a city, which he ordered\r\nto be called Rome, from his own name; but to establish\r\nit, and strengthen the power of the people and his kingdom,\r\nhe adopted a strange and somewhat clownish plan,\r\nbut worthy of a great man, whose providence extended\r\nfar into futurity. When the Sabine virgins, descended\r\nfrom respectable families, were come to Rome to see\r\nthe games, whose first anniversary he had then ordered\r\nto be celebrated in the circus, he ordered them to be\r\nseized during the sports, and gave them in marriage to\r\nthe most honourable families. For which cause, when\r\nthe Sabines had made war upon the Romans, and when\r\nthe success of the battle was various and doubtful, he\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pageno\" id=\"Page_93\"\u003e93\u003c/span\u003estruck a league with Tatius, king of the Sabines, at the\r\nentreaty of the very matrons who had been seized: in\r\nconsequence of which he admitted the Sabines into the\r\ncity: and mutually having embraced each others sacred\r\nrites, he associated their king with him in the government.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"c000\"\u003eVIII. After the death however of Tatius, all the\r\npower came back into his hands: although he had\r\nadmitted some chiefs into the royal council with Tatius,\r\nwho were called fathers, on account of the affection\r\nborne to them. He also divided the people into three\r\ntribes, named after himself, after Tatius, and after Lucumon,\r\na companion of Romulus, who had been slain\r\nin the Sabine war: and into thirty curia, which curia he\r\ncalled by the names of those from among the Sabine\r\nvirgins seized, at whose entreaties the peace and league\r\nhad been formed. But although these things were done\r\nbefore the death of Tatius, yet after that event, his\r\ngovernment became much better established, aided by\r\nthe authority and counsel of the fathers.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"c000\"\u003eIX. In the which he saw and judged as Lycurgus\r\nat Sparta had done, a little while before him: that\r\nstates were better governed by individual command and\r\nroyal power, if the authority of some of the better class\r\nwere added to the energy of that kind of government.\r\nThus sustained, and as it were propped up by the senatorial\r\nauthority, he carried on many wars very successfully\r\nwith his neighbours; and appropriating to himself no\r\npart of the spoil, he never ceased to enrich the citizens.\r\nAt that time Romulus paid in most things attention to\r\nauspices, a custom we still retain, and greatly advantageous\r\nto the republic. For he built the city under\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pageno\" id=\"Page_94\"\u003e94\u003c/span\u003ethe observance of auspices at the very beginning of the\r\nrepublic; and in the establishment of all public affairs,\r\nhe chose an augur from each of the tribes to assist him\r\nin the auspices. He also had the common people\r\nassigned as clients to the principal men, the utility of\r\nwhich measure I will afterwards consider. Fines were\r\npaid in sheep and cattle: for then all property consisted\r\nin flocks, and in possessions of lands, whence the terms\r\npecuniary\u003ca id=\"r12\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca class=\"c009 pginternal\" href=\"#f12\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e[12]\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e and landholders\u003ca id=\"r13\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca class=\"c009 pginternal\" href=\"#f13\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e[13]\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e were derived. He did not\r\nattempt to govern by severity or the infliction of punishments.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"c000\"\u003eX. When Romulus had reigned thirty-seven years,\r\nand had established those two excellent foundations of\r\nthe state, the auspices and the senate, he obtained this\r\ngreat meed: for when he had disappeared upon a sudden\r\nobscuration of the sun, he was deemed to have\r\nbeen placed among the number of the gods. A belief\r\nwhich no mortal had ever inspired without the greatest\r\npre-eminence in virtue. And this is most to be admired\r\nin Romulus, that others who are said to have been deified\r\nout of the mortal state, lived in the less civilized\r\nages of man, when the proneness to fiction was great,\r\nand the unenlightened were easily led to believe in it.\r\nBut during the period of Romulus, not quite six hundred\r\nyears ago, we know that learning and literature existed,\r\nand that the ancient errors peculiar to the uncultivated\r\nages of mankind were removed. For if Rome, according\r\nto an investigation of the annals of the Greeks, was\r\nbuilt in the second year of the seventh olympiad; the\r\nreign of Romulus occurred at that period when Greece\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pageno\" id=\"Page_95\"\u003e95\u003c/span\u003ewas full of poets and musicians; and when but little\r\nfaith would be given to fabulous stories, unless they\r\nwere concerning very ancient things. For one hundred\r\nand eight years after Lycurgus ordained laws to\r\nbe written, the first olympiad was established: which\r\nthrough a mistake in the name, some have thought to\r\nbe founded by Lycurgus. Homer, however, by those\r\nwho take the lowest period, is made to precede Lycurgus\r\nabout thirty years. From which it may be gathered\r\nthat Homer flourished many years before Romulus.\r\nSo that there was scarce room in so intelligent an age,\r\nand amid so many learned men, for any one to establish\r\nfictions. Antiquity sometimes has received fables\r\ncrudely devised, but that age already refined, and especially\r\nderiding improbable events, has rejected * * *\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"nf-center-c1\"\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"nf-center\"\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv\u003e[About 230 letters wanting.]\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"c000\"\u003e* * * * Simonides was born in the\r\nfifty-sixth olympiad, by which the credit given to the\r\nimmortality of Romulus may be more easily understood,\r\nseeing that the institutions of society were then\r\nso well established, organized, and known. But really\r\nso great was the force of his genius and virtue, that\r\nwhat men would have given no credit to for many ages\r\nin favour of any other man, was believed of Romulus\r\nupon the evidence of Proculus Julius, a countryman,\r\nwho at the instigation of the fathers, in order to repel\r\nfrom themselves every suspicion of the death of Romulus,\r\nis said to have declared in the assembly, that he\r\nhad seen Romulus on that mount which is now called\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pageno\" id=\"Page_96\"\u003e96\u003c/span\u003eQuirinal; and that he had commanded him to request\r\nthe people to erect a temple for him upon that hill; that\r\nhe was a god, and was called Quirinus.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"c000\"\u003eXI. “Do not you perceive therefore a new people\r\nnot only sprung from the wisdom of one man, and not\r\nleft crying in leading strings, but already grown up, and\r\nalmost an adult?” “Indeed we perceive it,” said Lælius,\r\n“and that you have entered upon a new method of\r\ndiscussion, which is no where to be found in the writings\r\nof the Greeks. For that pre-eminent person,\u003ca id=\"r14\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca class=\"c009 pginternal\" href=\"#f14\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e[14]\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\r\nwhom no one has excelled in writing, has imagined to\r\nhimself a situation, in which he might construct his\r\ncity after his own pleasure: admirable enough perhaps,\r\nbut foreign to the conduct and the manners of men.\r\nOthers have discussed the subject in relation to the\r\nkinds and causes of governments, but not under any\r\nparticular example of a form of government. You\r\nseem to me to be about to do both, for according to\r\nyour method, you appear to prefer to attribute to others\r\nwhat you yourself have observed, than to imagine a\r\nstate of things, as Socrates is made to do in Plato.\r\nAnd these matters respecting the foundation of the\r\ncity, you suppose to be part of a system, which were\r\nonly adopted by Romulus through necessity or chance.\r\nAnd your discourse is not of a desultory kind, but concerning\r\na particular commonwealth. Wherefore proceed\r\nas you have begun, for already I perceive you are\r\nabout to follow on with the other kings, as perfecting\r\nthe government.”\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"c000\"\u003eXII. “Wherefore,” said Scipio, “when the senate,\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pageno\" id=\"Page_97\"\u003e97\u003c/span\u003ewhich Romulus had instituted out of the better class,\r\nand which had been so much favoured by the king, as to\r\ncause them to be called fathers, and their children patricians;\r\nendeavoured after the death of Romulus, to\r\ncarry on the government itself without any king; the\r\npeople would not endure it, and in their regret for Romulus\r\ndid not cease to demand a king. Upon which the\r\nleading men prudently imagined a mode of interregnum,\r\nnew and unknown to other nations. So that until a\r\nregular king was proclaimed, neither the city should be\r\nwithout a king, nor with one too long a period. Fearing\r\nlest from too long an enjoyment of the government,\r\nthe interrex should be reluctant to lay it down, or strong\r\nenough to maintain himself in it. Even in these times,\r\nthis new people perceived what had escaped the Lacedemonian\r\nLycurgus; who esteemed it best not to\r\nchoose a king, if this were indeed in the power of Lycurgus\r\nto do, but rather to be governed by any one\r\nwhatever descended from the race of Hercules. But\r\nour ancestors, rude as they appear to have been, thought\r\nit behoved them rather to look to royal wisdom and virtue,\r\nthan to descent.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"c000\"\u003eXIII. When the great fame of Numa Pompilius\r\nhad reached them, the people, leaving aside their own\r\ncitizens, called in by the authority of the fathers, a king\r\nnot born among them, and sent to the Curians for a\r\nSabine to reign over Rome. When he arrived, although\r\nthe people had decided that he should be king in the\r\nconventions of the curia, nevertheless he himself had a\r\nlaw passed in the curia concerning his own power; and\r\nas he saw the Romans through the institutions of Romulus\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pageno\" id=\"Page_98\"\u003e98\u003c/span\u003ewere eager after warlike pursuits, he deemed it\r\nproper to wean them somewhat from that propensity.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"c000\"\u003eXIV. And first, the lands which Romulus had acquired\r\nin war, he divided equally among the citizens;\r\nand pointed out to them, that without depopulating and\r\npillaging, they might possess all the necessaries of life,\r\nby the cultivation of their lands. He inspired them\r\nalso with the love of peace and repose, under which justice\r\nand good faith most kindly flourish; and under the\r\nprotection of which, the cultivation of the fields, and\r\nthe gathering of the harvest are most secure. The\r\nsame Pompilius having established auspices of a superior\r\nkind, added two augurs to the ancient number, and\r\nplaced five priests over sacred things from the class of\r\nthe chief men. And having established those laws\r\nwhich we possess in our monuments, he softened, by the\r\nceremonies of religion, minds which were inflamed by\r\nthe habit and inclination of making war. He added\r\nalso Flamens, Salii, and Vestal Virgins; and established\r\nwith great solemnity all the branches of religion:\r\nordaining many ceremonies to be learnt and observed,\r\nbut without any expense. Thus he increased\r\nthe duty of religious observances and diminished the\r\ncost of them. In like manner he established markets,\r\ngames, and all the stated occasions of assembling the\r\npeople together. Under which institutions, he recalled\r\nthe minds of men become fierce and wild in warlike\r\npursuits, to humanity and gentleness. When he had\r\nreigned thirty-nine years in the most perfect peace and\r\nconcord, (in this we follow principally our friend Polybius,\r\nthan whom no one was more accurate in ascertaining\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pageno\" id=\"Page_99\"\u003e99\u003c/span\u003eperiods,) he departed from life; having strengthened\r\nevery thing for the endurance of the government,\r\nby those two conspicuous virtues, religion and clemency.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"c000\"\u003eXV. When Scipio had spoken these words. “Is it\r\ntrue, Africanus,” said Manilius, “what tradition has\r\nbrought down to us, that this king Numa was a disciple\r\nof Pythagoras, or is it certain he was a Pythagorean?\r\nFor often we have heard this, as having been declared\r\nby old people, and understand it also to be the\r\ncommon opinion; yet we do not see it sufficiently\r\nproved by the authority of the public annals.” “It is\r\nfalse,” replied Scipio, “entirely so Manilius! Not false\r\nalone, but ignorantly and absurdly false; for the mendacity\r\nof those assertions is not to be endured, which\r\nwe not only see are not true, but which could never\r\nhave been so. It was in the fourth year of the reign of\r\nLucius Tarquinius Superbus, that Pythagoras is ascertained\r\nto have come to Sybaris and Crotona, and those\r\nparts of Italy. For the sixty-second Olympiad announces\r\nthat very arrival of Pythagoras, and the beginning\r\nof the reign of Superbus. From which it may be\r\nunderstood by a calculation of the reigns, that Pythagoras\r\ntouched first at Italy about a hundred and forty\r\nyears after the death of Numa. Nor has this fact, by\r\nthose who have very diligently investigated the annals of\r\nthe times, ever been thrown into any doubt.” “Immortal\r\ngods,” said Manilius, “how inveterate and great is\r\nthe error of men! Nevertheless, I can be very well\r\npleased in the belief, that our intelligence has not been\r\nderived from abroad, and through foreign arts, but from\r\nnatural and domestic virtues.”\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"c000\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pageno\" id=\"Page_100\"\u003e100\u003c/span\u003eXVI. “You will distinguish that more clearly,” said\r\nAfricanus, “when you perceive how the commonwealth\r\nadvances and comes to the greatest perfection by a\r\nstraight forward and natural course. For in this also\r\nthe wisdom of our ancestors is to be praised; that\r\nmany things derived from abroad, have been rendered\r\nmuch more perfect by us, than they were from whence\r\nthey were brought, and where they first had existence.\r\nYou will see also that the greatness of the Roman people\r\nhas not been confirmed by chance, but by wisdom\r\nand discipline. Fortune indeed being propitious to us.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"c000\"\u003eXVII. King Pompilius being dead, the people upon\r\nthe proposition of an interrex, created Tullus Hostilius\r\nking, in the conventions of the curia; and he, after the\r\nexample of Pompilius, consulted the people in the curia,\r\nconcerning his power. His military glory was great, and\r\nimportant warlike affairs took place. He constructed\r\nedifices for the senate and the curia, and surrounded\r\nthem with military trophies. He established a law also\r\nfor the declaration of war, which most justly decreed by\r\nhim, he made more sacred by the solemnity of Heralds:\r\nso that every war which was not proclaimed and declared,\r\nwas deemed to be impious and unjust. And\r\nobserve how wisely our kings saw that some sort of deference\r\nmust be paid to the people. I might say many\r\nthings on that head. Tullus indeed did not venture to\r\nappear with royal insignia unless at the command of the\r\npeople. For in order that it might be lawful for him to\r\nbe preceded by twelve lictors with their fasces * *\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"nf-center-c1\"\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"nf-center\"\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv\u003e[Two pages wanting.]\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"c000\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pageno\" id=\"Page_101\"\u003e101\u003c/span\u003eXVIII. * * * * * “The government which\r\nyour discourse is establishing, does not creep, but rather\r\nflies towards perfection.” S. “After him, Ancus Martius,\r\ngrandson to Numa Pompilius by his daughter, was\r\nmade king by the people, who had his elevation sanctioned\r\nby a law of the curia. Who having conquered the\r\nLatins in a war, incorporated them into the state. He\r\nalso added the Aventine and Cælian Mounts to the city.\r\nThe lands too which he had conquered he distributed,\r\nand made a public domain of all the forests he had taken\r\non the sea coast. He built a city at the mouth of the\r\nTiber, and planted a colony there. When he had thus\r\nreigned twenty-three years, he died. “This king also\r\nis to be praised,” said Lælius, “but the Roman history\r\nis obscure: for although we know who was the mother\r\nof this king, we do not know who was his father.”\r\nS. “So it is” said he, “but generally the names of the\r\nkings only of those times are conspicuous.”\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"c000\"\u003eXIX. “But it is here that we first perceive the city\r\nto have become more intelligent by extrinsic information.\r\nFor not a gentle stream flowed from Greece into\r\nthis city, but an abundant flood of arts and knowledge.\r\nIt is stated that one Demaratus, a Corinthian, a principal\r\nman, and of much honour and authority in his own city,\r\nand of an easy fortune, not being able to endure\r\nCypselus, the tyrant of the Corinthians, fled with a\r\ngreat deal of money, and betook himself to a flourishing\r\ncity of Etruria, among the Tarquinians. When he had\r\nheard that the domination of Cypselus was confirmed,\r\nbeing an independent and powerful man, he renounced\r\nhis country, and was received a citizen by the Tarquinians:\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pageno\" id=\"Page_102\"\u003e102\u003c/span\u003eand in that city he fixed his home and establishment.\r\nWhere when he had begotten two sons from one\r\nof the Tarquinian matrons, he instructed them in all the\r\narts after the manner of the Greeks * * * *\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"nf-center-c1\"\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"nf-center\"\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv\u003e[Two pages wanting.]\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"c000\"\u003eXX. * * * * * He was well received in the\r\ncity, and became intimate with king Ancus on account\r\nof his learning and liberal knowledge. So much so\r\nthat he shared all his counsels, and might be deemed\r\neven a partner in his kingdom. For there was a great\r\naffability in him, and an extreme readiness in aiding,\r\nprotecting, and doing liberal acts to every citizen. Martius\r\ntherefore being dead, L. Tarquinius was created king\r\nby the united suffrages of the people; for thus he had\r\nchanged his name from his Grecian one, that in every\r\nthing he might be seen to imitate the manners of the\r\npeople. Having caused his accession to be confirmed\r\nby a law, he doubled the pristine number of the fathers;\r\ncalling those whose opinions he first asked, ancient\r\nfathers of the greater families; and those whom he had\r\nadmitted, he called the lesser families. Then he established\r\nthe knights; after the manner that has obtained\r\nunto our day. He could not change the names\r\nof the Titienses, of the Rhamnensians, or the Luceres,\r\nwhen he wished to do so; because Attus Nævius being\r\nthen Augur in great reputation, would not consent to it.\r\nWe see the Corinthians chose formerly to assign cavalry\r\nfor the public service, and to have their expenses defrayed\r\nby taxes on orphans and widows. But to the\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pageno\" id=\"Page_103\"\u003e103\u003c/span\u003eold troops of horse he added others, and made twelve\r\nhundred knights. He doubled this number after he had\r\nsubdued the Equi in war, a powerful and ferocious race,\r\nwhich threatened the affairs of the Roman people. And\r\nwhen he had driven the Sabines from the walls of the\r\ncity, he scattered them with his horse and conquered\r\nthem. It is he whom we understand to have instituted\r\nthe great games, which we call Roman, and to have\r\nmade a vow during the Sabine war, while in battle,\r\nthat he would raise a temple on the capitol to the great\r\nand good Jupiter. He died when he had reigned thirty-eight\r\nyears.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"c000\"\u003eXXI. “Now,” said Lælius, “is that saying of Cato\r\nvery certain, that the constitution of the state is not\r\nthe work of one moment or one man: for it is evident\r\nhow great an accession of good and useful institutions\r\noccurred under each reign. But he comes next, who\r\nappears to me to have looked farther than them all into\r\nthe nature of government.” “So it is,” said Scipio,\r\n“for after him Servius Sulpicius is stated first to have\r\nreigned without the command of the people. He is\r\nsaid to have been born of a Tarquinian slave: she having\r\nconceived him by some client of the king. Brought\r\nup among the number of the servants, when he attended\r\nat the royal table, he did not suppress those sparks\r\nof genius, which even then shone forth in the boy: so\r\nshrewd was he in every thing, whether in business or\r\nconversation. Wherefore Tarquin, who at that time had\r\nonly young children, became so attached to Servius,\r\nthat he was generally thought to be his son; and with\r\ngreat pains instructed him in all those arts, which he\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pageno\" id=\"Page_104\"\u003e104\u003c/span\u003ehimself had been taught, after the very superior manner\r\nof the Greeks. But when Tarquin had perished by\r\nthe plots of the sons of Ancus, Servius, as I before said,\r\nbegan to reign, not by the command, but by the assent\r\nand sufferance of the people. For when Tarquin was\r\nfalsely said to be alive, and sick from the effects of his\r\nwound; he declared the law in royal pomp, and discharged\r\ndebtors with his own money. Conducting\r\nhimself with much courtesy, he declared that he pronounced\r\nthe law at the command of Tarquin. He did\r\nnot commit himself to the fathers, but Tarquin being\r\nburied, he conferred with the people about himself, and\r\nbeing authorised to reign, he had his accession confirmed\r\nby a law of the curia. And first he avenged himself\r\nby war, for injuries received from the Etruscans, * * * * * *\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"nf-center-c1\"\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"nf-center\"\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv\u003e[Two pages wanting.]\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"c000\"\u003eXXII. * * he inscribed eighteen centuries of horse\r\nin the great register. Afterwards having set apart a\r\ngreat number of equestrians from the mass of the whole\r\npeople, he distributed the rest of the citizens into five\r\nclasses, and divided the old from the young: and classed\r\nthem in such a manner, that the suffrages were not\r\nin the power of the multitude, but of the landed proprietors.\r\nHe was careful of what ought always to be observed\r\nin government; that numbers alone should not\r\nhave the ascendency. Which classification if it were\r\nunknown to you, should be explained by me. You will\r\nperceive the plan was such, that the centuries of horse\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pageno\" id=\"Page_105\"\u003e105\u003c/span\u003ewith six suffrages, (a century being added from the carpenters\r\non account of their great utility to the city,) and the\r\nfirst class, make eighty-nine centuries: to which from the\r\none hundred and four centuries, for so many remain;\r\nif only eight are added, the whole power of the people\r\nis obtained: and the much greater multitude comprehended\r\nin the ninety-six centuries remaining, is neither\r\nexcluded from voting, lest it should seem disdainful; nor\r\nis it made too effective, lest it should be dangerous. In\r\nthe which matter he was very circumspect even as to\r\nterms and names. Those from among the wealthy he\r\ncalled “assiduos”\u003ca id=\"r15\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca class=\"c009 pginternal\" href=\"#f15\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e[15]\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e from paying their taxes in money.\r\nThose who possessed no more than one thousand five\r\nhundred pieces of brass, or those who were polled in the\r\nregister without any possessions whatever, he called proletaries;\r\nas if progeny only; that is, as if nothing but population\r\nmight be expected from them. But of those\r\nninety six centuries, more were enumerated in one century,\r\nthan almost in the whole first class. Thus the right of\r\nsuffrage was not prohibited to any one by law, and that\r\nclass had a greater weight of suffrage, which had most\r\nat stake in the preservation of good government. As\r\nto public criers, men hired for parade, clarion players,\r\nhorn players, and proletaries, * * * *\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"nf-center-c1\"\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"nf-center\"\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv\u003e[Four pages wanting.]\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"c000\"\u003eXXIII. * * * * * Was\u003ca id=\"r16\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca class=\"c009 pginternal\" href=\"#f16\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e[16]\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e sixty-five years\r\nmore ancient, being built thirty-nine years before the\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pageno\" id=\"Page_106\"\u003e106\u003c/span\u003efirst olympiad. And the very ancient Lycurgus had\r\nthe same thing in view. This equality therefore, and\r\nthis triple nature of public affairs appears to me to have\r\nbeen common to us and to those people. But what is peculiar\r\nin our republic, and than which nothing can be more\r\nadmirable, I will look very critically into if I am able;\r\nas nothing similar is to be found in any government.\r\nFor these things which I have adverted to, were so\r\nmingled in this state, and among the Lacedemonians,\r\nand the Carthagenians, that they were not properly\r\nbalanced. For in whatever government any one man\r\nenjoys perpetual power, especially royalty, although\r\neven a Senate may exist in it, as was the case at Rome\r\nunder the kings, and in the laws of Lycurgus at Sparta;\r\nand even granting the people some share in the government,\r\nas was the fact under our kings: still that royal\r\nname will stand pre-eminent, nor can a government of\r\nthat kind be any thing but a kingdom, or be called\r\notherwise. But such a form of government is especially\r\nsubject to change for this reason; that it easily\r\nfalls into the most unprofitable courses, precipitated\r\nthereunto by the vices of one man. For the royal\r\nform of government itself, not only is not to be condemned,\r\nbut I know not whether it is not greatly to be\r\npreferred to the other simple forms, if I could approve\r\nof any simple form of government. But only as long\r\nas it preserves its proper character, which is that the\r\nsafety, the equality, and tranquillity of the citizens, are\r\nto be preserved by the justice, the wisdom, and the perpetual\r\npower of one man. Many things however are\r\naltogether wanting to a people subject to a king.\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pageno\" id=\"Page_107\"\u003e107\u003c/span\u003eLiberty among the first: which is not that we may live\r\nunder a just master, but under none at all. * * *\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"nf-center-c1\"\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"nf-center\"\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv\u003e[Two pages wanting.]\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"c000\"\u003eXXIV. For some time fortune prosperously accompanied\r\nthis unjust and cruel master in the administration\r\nof affairs. He subdued all Latium in war, and\r\ntook Suessa, an opulent and well stored Pometian city.\r\nEnriched with great spoils of gold and silver, he accomplished\r\nthe vow of his ancestor in the building of the capitol.\r\nHe established colonies, and according to the institutions\r\nof those from whom he had derived his origin, he\r\nsent magnificent gifts, as offerings of his spoils, to\r\nApollo at Delphos.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"c000\"\u003eXXV. Here the very circle is set in motion, whose\r\nnatural movement and revolution you learn to distinguish\r\nfrom the beginning. For the very head of discretion\r\nin civil matters, upon which all our discourse\r\nturns, is to observe the ways and bendings of public\r\naffairs; so that when you perceive what way any thing\r\ninclines, you may either keep it back, or meet it by\r\nopposing other things to it. For the king of whom I\r\nspeak, having stained himself first with the murder of a\r\ngood king, no longer preserved his integrity of mind,\r\nand wished to inspire fear himself, because he dreaded\r\nevery sort of punishment for his wickedness. Afterwards\r\nborne up with his victories and riches, he exulted\r\nwith insolence, and imposed no restraint on his own\r\nconduct, or the licentiousness of his followers. Wherefore\r\nwhen his eldest son had used violence with Lucretia,\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pageno\" id=\"Page_108\"\u003e108\u003c/span\u003ethe wife of Collatinus, and daughter of Tricipitinus,\r\nand the noble and chaste woman had inflicted death\r\nupon herself on account of that injury; L. Brutus, a\r\nman pre-eminent in mind and courage, released his\r\nfellow citizens from that unjust yoke of a cruel slavery:\r\nwho, although he was a private citizen, sustained the\r\nwhole government, and was the first who taught in this\r\ncity, that no man was to be considered insignificant,\r\nwhen the public liberties were to be preserved. Under\r\nwhich leader and head, the whole city being in commotion,\r\nas well with the recent complaints of the family\r\nand kindred of Lucretia, as with the remembrance of\r\nthe many wrongs done by the haughtiness of Tarquin\r\nhimself, and his sons; the banishment of the king, his\r\nchildren, and his whole race was pronounced.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"c000\"\u003eXXVI. Do not you perceive then how a master\r\nmay spring out of a king, and how a form of government\r\nfrom being good, may become the very worst,\r\nthrough the vice of one man. This is that master over\r\nthe people, whom the Greeks call tyrant; him only\r\nthey esteem a king, who consults like a parent with the\r\npeople, and preserves those over whom he is placed, in\r\nthe most prosperous condition of life. A sort of government\r\nvery good as I have said, but bordering upon\r\nand inclining to a very pernicious one. For when this\r\nking deviates into unjust rule, at once he becomes a\r\ntyrant, and an animal more hideous, more destructive,\r\nand more odious, in the eyes of gods and men cannot\r\nbe conceived: surpassing, although in the human form,\r\nthe most monstrous wild beasts in cruelty. How can\r\nhe be rightly called a man, who observes no fellowship\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pageno\" id=\"Page_109\"\u003e109\u003c/span\u003eof humanity with his fellow citizens, no communion of\r\nlaw with the whole race of man? But a more proper\r\nplace to speak of this will occur, when circumstances\r\nwill suggest to us to speak of those, who have sought\r\nto usurp the Government over free cities.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"c000\"\u003eXXVII. You have here then the origin of a tyrant,\r\nfor the Greeks would have this to be the name of an\r\nunjust king. Our ancestors indeed have called all who\r\nhave had an exclusive and perpetual dominion over the\r\npeople, kings. Thus Spurius Cassius, M. Manilius,\r\nand Spurius Mælius, are said to have wished to establish\r\na kingdom, and even * * * * * *\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"nf-center-c1\"\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"nf-center\"\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv\u003e[Two pages wanting.]\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"c000\"\u003eXXVIII. Lycurgus gave the name of ancients\u003ca id=\"r17\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca class=\"c009 pginternal\" href=\"#f17\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e[17]\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e at\r\nLacedemon, to that too small number of twenty-eight,\r\nto whom he wished the whole authority of counsel to be\r\nconfided, while the sole command should be held by\r\nthe king. Wherefore our ancestors translating and\r\nadopting that term, those whom he called ancients, they\r\ncalled a senate: as we have already stated Romulus to\r\nhave done with the select fathers. Nevertheless, the\r\nroyal title, and its strength and power were always pre-eminent.\r\nImpart too something of power to the people,\r\nas was done by Lycurgus and Romulus, and you\r\nwill not satisfy them with freedom, but you will inflame\r\nthem with the passion of liberty, when you have only\r\npermitted them to taste of power. The fear indeed\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pageno\" id=\"Page_110\"\u003e110\u003c/span\u003ewill always hang over them, lest they should have an\r\nunjust king, which generally happens. The fortune\r\ntherefore of a people is, as I said before, very uncertain,\r\nwhich is placed in the will or conduct of one man.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"c000\"\u003eXXIX. Wherefore this first form, example, and origin\r\nof a tyrant, is found by us in that very government\r\nwhich Romulus instituted with auspices, and not in that,\r\nwhich Plato says Socrates imagined to himself in that\r\nperipatetic discourse. And as Tarquin subverted the\r\nwhole fabric of royalty, not because he grasped a new\r\nsort of authority, but because he made a bad use of it;\r\nso let us oppose to him another; a good man, wise and\r\nexpert in every thing useful and dignified in civil life:\r\na tutor and steward as it were of the commonwealth,\r\nfor so may be called whoever is the ruler and governor\r\nof a state. Imagine to yourselves that you recognise\r\nsuch a man; one who can protect the state, both by his\r\ncounsel and conduct. And since the name of such a\r\nman has not been alluded to in this discourse, and that\r\na character of this kind will be frequently treated of in\r\nwhat remains to be said * * * * * *\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"nf-center-c1\"\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"nf-center\"\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv\u003e[Twelve pages wanting.]\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"c000\"\u003eXXX. * * * * * * Plato described a state\r\nmore to be desired, than to be hoped for upon the smallest\r\nscale. He did not constitute things as they might\r\nexist, but in such a manner as the nature of civil affairs\r\nmight be considered. As to myself, if in any way I\r\nam able to accomplish it, with the same principles\r\nwhich he had in view, I will look, not into the picture\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pageno\" id=\"Page_111\"\u003e111\u003c/span\u003eand shadow of a state, but into a most powerful republic;\r\nthat I may appear to touch, as it were, the true\r\ncause of every public good and evil. After these two\r\nhundred and forty years of regal government, and indeed\r\na little more, including the interregnums, Tarquin\r\nbeing banished, the royal title was as odious to the\r\nRoman people, as it had been regretted after the death,\r\nor rather the disappearance of Romulus, and as much\r\nas they wanted a king then, in like manner, after the expulsion\r\nof Tarquin, they could not endure the name of\r\none.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"c000\"\u003eXXXI. Under this feeling our ancestors then expelled\r\nCollatinus, who was innocent, through apprehension\r\nof his family connexions, and the other Tarquins from\r\ndisgust at their names. From the same cause too P.\r\nValerius ordered the fasces to be lowered when he began\r\nto speak before the people; and had his building\r\nmaterials taken to the foot of the Velia, as soon as he\r\nperceived the suspicions of the people to be raised on\r\naccount of his having begun to build in a more conspicuous\r\npart of the Velia, the very place where King Tullus\r\nhad dwelt. He also, in the which he greatly deserved\r\nthe name of Publicola, had that law passed for the\r\npeople, which was first carried in the meetings of the\r\ncenturies, that no unfriendly magistrate should put to\r\ndeath, or flog any Roman citizen for appealing. The\r\npontifical books however declare appeals to have existed\r\nunder the kings; the augural records show it also.\r\nThe twelve tables too in many laws indicate that it was\r\nlawful to appeal from every judgment and punishment.\r\nWhat is brought down to us by tradition, of the Decemvirs\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pageno\" id=\"Page_112\"\u003e112\u003c/span\u003ewho wrote the laws, being created without any appeal,\r\nsufficiently shows that the other magistrates had\r\nnot the power of judging without appeal. The law,\r\ntoo, which for the sake of concord passed in the consulate\r\nof Lucius Valerius Potitus, and M. Horatius Barbatus,\r\nmen very justly popular; sanctioned the principle,\r\nthat no magistrate should be created without appeal.\r\nNor did the Portian laws, which are three as you know of\r\nthe three Portii, contain any thing new except the confirmation\r\nof it. Publicola therefore, upon the law in favour\r\nof appeal being published, immediately ordered the axes\r\nto be taken from off the fasces, and the next day had\r\nSp. Lucretius appointed to him as his colleague: being\r\nhis superior in age, he ordered his own lictors to go to\r\nhim; and first established the custom that lictors should\r\nprecede each of the consuls, alternate months, lest the\r\nensigns of command among a free people, should be as\r\nnumerous as in a kingdom. There was something more\r\nthan mediocrity in this man, as I consider him: who having\r\ngiven a moderate liberty to the people, preserved\r\nmore easily the authority of the chiefs. Nor do I repeat\r\nthese things, now so old and obsolete to you, without\r\ncause. I select examples of men and things drawn\r\nfrom illustrious persons and times, to which the remainder\r\nof my discourse shall be applied.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"c000\"\u003eXXXII. In such a manner the senate governed the\r\ncommonwealth in those days, that though the people\r\nwere free, still they interfered in but few things. Public\r\naffairs were principally managed under the authority,\r\nand by the rules and customs of the senate. And although\r\nthe consuls possessed their power only for a\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pageno\" id=\"Page_113\"\u003e113\u003c/span\u003eyear, it was royal in its nature and effect. And this\r\nwas strenuously preserved, as necessary to the preservation\r\nof the influence of the nobles and principal\r\nchiefs, that nothing should be established in the meetings\r\nof the people, which was not sanctioned by the\r\nauthority of the fathers. In these very times too, T.\r\nLarcius was appointed dictator, about ten years after the\r\nfirst consuls. A new kind of authority, very much resembling,\r\nas we perceive, the royal power. But all\r\ngreat matters were conducted by the authority of the\r\nprincipal men, the people submitting to it. And great\r\nevents took place in those times in war, under renowned\r\nmen in the supreme command, from among those very\r\ndictators and consuls.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"c000\"\u003eXXXIII. But what belongs to the very nature of\r\nthings, as that a people emancipated from kings, should\r\ntake a little more power to themselves; was brought\r\nabout not long after, about the sixteenth year, in the\r\nconsulate of Postumus Cominus, and Sp. Cassius.\r\nNot in the right way perhaps, but it is of the nature of\r\npublic affairs frequently to deviate from what is right.\r\nFor observe what I said in the beginning, that unless\r\nan equable compensation prevails in a state, in the\r\nlaws, in offices, in emoluments; so that the magistrates\r\nenjoy their proper degree of power; the chief men\r\ntheir authority in council, and the people their liberties,\r\nsuch a state of the government cannot remain unchanged.\r\nFor when the city was in commotion on account\r\nof the pressure of their debts, the people first\r\noccupied the Sacred Mount, then the Aventine. Nor\r\ncould the discipline even of Lycurgus keep the Greeks\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pageno\" id=\"Page_114\"\u003e114\u003c/span\u003ewithin those restraints. In the reign of Theopompus,\r\nat Sparta, those five whom they call Ephori; the ten\r\ntoo in Crete, who are called Cosmoi; arose against the\r\nroyal power, as the tribunes of the people did against\r\nthe consular authority.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"c000\"\u003eXXXIV. Perhaps there was a mode by which our\r\nancestors might have relieved the pressure of the law of\r\ndebt, which had not escaped Solon, the Athenian, some\r\nshort time before, and which our senate adopted not\r\nlong after, when on account of the infamous conduct of\r\na creditor, the citizens were liberated from the general\r\noppression, and voluntary bondage on account of debt\r\nabolished in future.\u003ca id=\"r18\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca class=\"c009 pginternal\" href=\"#f18\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e[18]\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e And always at such periods,\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pageno\" id=\"Page_115\"\u003e115\u003c/span\u003ewhen the common people are exhausted by contributions\r\nin times of public calamity, some relief and remedy is\r\nto be devised for the common safety. Which the senate\r\nhaving neglected to do, sufficient cause was given to\r\nthe people to create two tribunes during a sedition\r\nof the plebeians, with intent to weaken the power and\r\nauthority of the senate; which nevertheless remained\r\na grave and great body, bringing forward in the service\r\nof the state the wisest and bravest men, and strengthening\r\nit by arms and counsel. And their authority was\r\nthe greater, because far excelling all others in honour,\r\nthey were less conspicuous for voluptuousness, and not\r\nmuch signalized by their wealth. Their high worth\r\nalso was the more esteemed in the state, because in\r\nprivate life they diligently assisted individuals by their\r\nadvice, and by substantial services.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"c000\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pageno\" id=\"Page_116\"\u003e116\u003c/span\u003eXXXV. In which situation of the republic, the\r\nquæstor accused Sp. Cassius, who enjoyed the highest\r\ndegree of favour with the people, and was contriving a\r\nusurpation of the government; and as you have heard,\r\nwhen his own father stated himself to be satisfied of his\r\nguilt, the people assenting to it, he put him to death.\r\nIt was a grateful thing also to the people, when Sp.\r\nTarpeius, and A. Aternius, consuls, about fifty-four\r\nyears after the first consuls, carried a law in the meetings\r\nof the centuries concerning fines. Twenty years\r\nafterwards when L. Papirius, and P. Pinarius, censors,\r\nby pronouncing fines, converted the strength of the\r\nflocks of many private individuals to the public use; a\r\nlight valuation of cattle was ordained in the law on fines,\r\nduring the consulate of C. Julius and P. Papirius.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"c000\"\u003eXXXVI. But some years before, when the senate\r\nenjoyed the greatest authority, the people being very\r\npatient and obedient, a new plan was instituted. The\r\nconsuls and the tribunes of the people abdicated the\r\nmagistracy, and ten men were created with the greatest\r\nauthority, and without appeal, who were to possess the\r\nsupreme power, and to inscribe the laws. Who when\r\nthey with great equity and prudence, had written ten\r\ntables of laws, appointed ten other decemvirs for the\r\nfollowing year, whose faith and justice are not in like\r\nmanner praised. From which college, however, comes\r\nthat praiseworthy act of C. Julius, who stated that in\r\nhis presence a body had been dug out of the chamber\r\nof a patrician, L. Sestius. Although he had supreme\r\npower, and as decemvir was without appeal, he admitted\r\nhim to bail, refusing to lose sight of that most excellent\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pageno\" id=\"Page_117\"\u003e117\u003c/span\u003elaw, which forbids sentence to be pronounced on the\r\nhead of a Roman citizen, unless in the meetings of the\r\ncenturies.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"c000\"\u003eXXXVII. A third decemviral year followed under\r\nthe same men, they being unwilling to appoint others.\r\nIn this condition of the commonwealth, which I have\r\noften already stated not to be lasting, because it is not\r\nequable to all the orders of the state, the chief men\r\nhad the whole government in their hands; the most\r\nnoble decemvirs being always preferred. No tribunes of\r\nplebeians opposed to them, no other magistrates associated\r\nwith them, and no appeal left to the people against\r\ndeath and stripes. Wherefore on account of the injustice\r\nof these men, a great disturbance suddenly arose,\r\nand a revolution took place in the whole commonwealth.\r\nThey added two tables of iniquitous laws, in which the\r\nvery marriages which were even permitted to strangers,\r\nwere forbidden by an inhuman law, lest the plebeians\r\nshould connect themselves with the fathers; which law\r\nwas afterwards abrogated by the plebicist Canuleius.\r\nIn all things they conducted themselves libidinously,\r\ncruelly, and avariciously towards the people. Upon\r\nthat celebrated and well known affair contained in many\r\nliterary records, in which one Decimus Virginius on\r\naccount of the outrage of one of the decemvirs, slew\r\nhis virgin daughter with his own hand in the Forum,\r\nand fled lamenting to the army which was then on\r\nMount Algide; the soldiers abandoned the war they\r\nwere then engaged in, and as was before done for a\r\nsimilar cause, first came to the sacred mount, and next\r\nto the Aventine * * * * *\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"nf-center-c1\"\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"nf-center\"\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pageno\" id=\"Page_118\"\u003e118\u003c/span\u003e[Eight pages wanting.]\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"c000\"\u003eXXXVIII. When Scipio had spoken these things,\r\nand all by their silence were expecting the remainder.—“Since\r\nmy seniors here, Africanus,” said Tubero,\r\n“ask you no questions, hear from me what I still find\r\nwanting in your discourse.” “Most cheerfully,” replied\r\nScipio. “You appear to me,” said he “to have\r\nbeen pronouncing the eulogium of our republic, when\r\nLælius was inquiring not respecting ours, but of government\r\nin general. Nor have I learnt from your discourse,\r\nby what discipline, or by what customs or laws, a republic\r\nlike the one you praise, can be constituted or preserved.”\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"c000\"\u003eXXXIX. “I think,” said Africanus, “we shall by and\r\nby have a more appropriate occasion, Tubero, of discussing\r\nthe establishment and preservation of states. In respect\r\nto the best kind of government, I deem myself to\r\nhave sufficiently answered the inquiries which Lælius\r\nmade. First I pointed out three kinds of government\r\nthat might be endured, and to these three their very pernicious\r\nopposites: that no one among them was the best,\r\nbut that one moderately balanced from all three, was preferable\r\nto either of them. That I have availed myself\r\nof our state for an example, was not with a view to define\r\nthe best form of government, for that could be done\r\nwithout an example. But in truth, that a great state\r\nmight present the very picture, such as reason and language\r\nmight describe it to be. But if without going to\r\nthe example of any people, you are desirous of finding\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pageno\" id=\"Page_119\"\u003e119\u003c/span\u003ethat perfect condition of government, then look at the\r\nimage which nature presents to us * * *\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"nf-center-c1\"\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"nf-center\"\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv\u003e[A great number of pages wanting here.]\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"c000\"\u003eXL. S. * * * a character I have been looking\r\nfor, and have been desirous of arriving at.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"c000\"\u003eL. The discreet statesman, perhaps?\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"c000\"\u003eS. The very same.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"c000\"\u003eL. You have all those present who are so numerous:\r\nor you can begin with yourself. “I wish,” said\r\nScipio, “it was proportionally so in the whole senate.\r\nHowever, he is a discreet man, who as we have frequently\r\nseen in Africa, seated on a monstrous wild and\r\nferocious animal, governs and directs him; making him\r\nkneel down, not with blows, but with a slight sign.”\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"c000\"\u003eL. I know, and have often seen it when I was Lieutenant\r\nto you.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"c000\"\u003eS. So the Indian or Carthagenian governs a wild\r\nbeast, and renders it docile and gentle with humane\r\nconduct. But that intellectual principle which is hidden\r\nin the souls of men, and which is called a part of\r\nthe soul, does not bridle or tame one easily subdued,\r\nwhenever it accomplishes it, which rarely happens. For\r\nthat ferocious animal must be restrained\u003ca id=\"r19\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca class=\"c009 pginternal\" href=\"#f19\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e[19]\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e * * * *\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"nf-center-c1\"\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"nf-center\"\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv\u003e[Either four or eight pages are wanting here.]\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"c000\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pageno\" id=\"Page_120\"\u003e120\u003c/span\u003eXLII. “Already,” said Lælius, “I see the man I expected,\r\nso greatly endowed, and charged with such duties.”\r\n“With this duty only,” replied Africanus, “for in\r\nthis one almost all the rest are included. That in his\r\nthoughts and actions he never deviate from himself, so\r\nthat he may call upon others to imitate him, and that he\r\nmay offer himself in the purity of his mind and his life,\r\nas a mirror to his fellow citizens. For as in stringed\r\ninstruments or pipes, as well as in singing with voices,\r\na certain harmony is to be formed with distinct sounds,\r\nan interruption to which cannot be borne by refined ears;\r\nthis kindred and harmonious concert being produced by\r\nthe modification of dissimilar voices. So a government\r\ntemperately organized from the upper, the lower\r\nand middle orders blended together, harmonizes like\r\nmusic by the agreement of dissimilar sounds. And\r\nthat which in song is called by musicians, harmony,\r\nis concord in a state; the strongest and best bond of\r\nsafety in every republic; yet which without justice cannot\r\nbe preserved.\u003ca id=\"r20\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca class=\"c009 pginternal\" href=\"#f20\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e[20]\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"nf-center-c1\"\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"nf-center\"\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv\u003e[Many pages wanting.]\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"c000\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pageno\" id=\"Page_121\"\u003e121\u003c/span\u003eXLIV. “I assent entirely to it,” said Scipio, “and\r\ndeclare freely to you, that we must esteem in nothing\r\nall that we have said upon government, or that may remain\r\nfarther to be said, unless it be established, not\r\nonly that it is false, that injustice is necessary, but that this\r\nis most true; that without the most perfect justice, no\r\ngovernment can prosper in any manner. But if you\r\nplease, thus far for to day. The remainder, for many\r\nthings remain yet to be said, we will defer until to-morrow.”\r\nWhen this was approved, an end was put to the\r\ndiscussion for that day.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003chr class=\"c010\"\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"footnote\" id=\"f12\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"c000\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"label\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"#r12\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e12\u003c/a\u003e. \u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pageno\" id=\"Page_122\"\u003e122\u003c/span\u003ePecuniosi.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"footnote\" id=\"f13\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"c000\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"label\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"#r13\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e13\u003c/a\u003e. \u003c/span\u003eLocupletes.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"footnote\" id=\"f14\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"c000\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"label\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"#r14\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e14\u003c/a\u003e. \u003c/span\u003ePlato.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"footnote\" id=\"f15\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"c000\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"label\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"#r15\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e15\u003c/a\u003e. \u003c/span\u003eAsses dare.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"footnote\" id=\"f16\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"c000\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"label\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"#r16\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e16\u003c/a\u003e. \u003c/span\u003eCarthage.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"footnote\" id=\"f17\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"c000\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"label\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"#r17\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e17\u003c/a\u003e. \u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan lang=\"el\"\u003eγὲροντας\u003c/span\u003e in the MSS.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"footnote\" id=\"f18\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"c000\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"label\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"#r18\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e18\u003c/a\u003e. \u003c/span\u003eThis passage appears to deserve a note. The words “\u003cspan lang=\"la\"\u003enexa\u003c/span\u003e” and\r\n“nectier” are used in the original. And at the first glance, the\r\npassage, connecting it with the well known custom of keeping debtors\r\nin chains, as well as the memorable occasion which produced this\r\ninsurrectionary movement, would appear to declare, that all kinds of\r\nbondage for debt were abolished in future. In early periods, whoever\r\nwas unable to pay his debts, was adjudged by a decree of the prætor,\r\nto discharge them in personal services: for which purpose his person\r\nwas delivered to his creditor; whose slave in every sense of the word\r\nhe thus became, until the debt was discharged. A debtor thus situated\r\nwas termed “\u003cspan lang=\"la\"\u003eaddictus\u003c/span\u003e” or sentenced. Livy, vi. 36., relates\r\n“that those against whom judgments had been given, (\u003cspan lang=\"la\"\u003eaddictos\u003c/span\u003e) were\r\nled out daily in herds from the Forum, to the mansions of the patricians,\r\nwhich were filled with enchained debtors: and that wherever\r\na patrician dwelt, there was a private prison.” That all debtors\r\nwere subject to actual bonds, appears from every indebted person under\r\nvoluntary judgment, being called “\u003cspan lang=\"la\"\u003enexus\u003c/span\u003e,” meaning linked or\r\nchained; and probably when judgment was passed, debtors were delivered\r\nin that condition to the creditors. But “\u003cspan lang=\"la\"\u003enexus\u003c/span\u003e” changed its\r\nmeaning, as the word “bond” has done in our language, where we\r\nbind ourselves only with forms. The urgent necessity of the plebeians,\r\narising out of the exactions of the patricians, obliged them to borrow\r\nmoney at usury; and upon such occasions, for money weighed out\r\nto him “\u003cspan lang=\"la\"\u003eper æs et libram\u003c/span\u003e,” before witnesses, the borrower pledged\r\nhis person and liberty to the lender as security for the debt. This\r\nvoluntary act, which was equivalent to a modern confession of judgment,\r\nconstituted the debtor a “\u003cspan lang=\"la\"\u003enexus\u003c/span\u003e;” before the period of payment\r\nhad expired, at which time only he was liable to fetters. Upon\r\nthe occasion of the insurrection mentioned in the passage; a young\r\nman of respectable plebeian family, C. Publilius, surrendered himself\r\nto Papirius, a patrician usurer, in the place of his father who had\r\nfailed to redeem himself from his “\u003cspan lang=\"la\"\u003enexus\u003c/span\u003e.” Rejecting the infamous\r\npropositions made to him, Papirius caused him to be cruelly scourged.\r\nThis transaction having roused the people, the senate was obliged to\r\nconsent to the liberation of all persons who had become “\u003cspan lang=\"la\"\u003enexi\u003c/span\u003e” by\r\ntheir voluntary act, and to order the practice to be discontinued in\r\nfuture.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"c000\"\u003eI have translated the passage in accordance with this view of the\r\nsubject. Niebuhr, vol. i. 506. Livy, vi. 36. viii. 28. \u0026amp;c.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"footnote\" id=\"f19\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"c000\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"label\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"#r19\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e19\u003c/a\u003e. \u003c/span\u003eThe continuation of this passage is, perhaps, found in Nonius Voc.\r\nExsultare, “which nourishes itself with blood, and which so delights\r\nin every kind of cruelty, that it scarcely can be satiated with the sad\r\ndestruction of human beings.”\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"footnote\" id=\"f20\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"c000\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"label\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"#r20\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e20\u003c/a\u003e. \u003c/span\u003eProfessor Mai quotes the following passage from St. Augustin,\r\nDe. Civ. Dei, as containing a summary of that part of the\r\ndiscussion interrupted here. “And when Scipio had in a more\r\ncomprehensive and diffuse way, shown how advantageous justice\r\nwas to a state, and how injurious the absence of it was: Philus, who\r\nwas one of those present at the discussion, took it up, and proposed\r\nthat that subject should be very carefully investigated, on account of\r\nthe opinion which was obtaining, that governments could not be administered\r\nwithout injustice.”\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pageno\" id=\"Page_123\"\u003e123\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"ph1\"\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"nf-center-c1\"\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"nf-center c011\"\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv\u003eCICERO’S REPUBLIC.\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"figcenter id002\"\u003e\r\n\u003cimg alt=\"\" class=\"ig001\" src=\"https://chrisdeasy.com/wp-content/uploads/gutenberg-de-re-publica-cicero-marcus-tullius-cicero-i-002.jpg\" id=\"img_images_i_002.jpg_3\"\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"chapter\"\u003e\r\n\u003ch2 class=\"c004\" id=\"III\"\u003eBOOK III.\u003c/h2\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"nf-center-c1\"\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"nf-center c002\"\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv\u003e[Four or eight pages wanting.]\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"c000\"\u003eII. * * * * The intelligent principle\r\nhaving found man endowed with the faculty of\r\nuttering rude and imperfect sounds, enabled him to separate\r\nand distinguish them into articulations. Thus\r\nwords were affixed to things as signs of them, and man,\r\nonce solitary, became united to man, by the sweet bond\r\nof conversation. By the same intelligence, the inflexions\r\nof the voice, which we find to be infinite in number,\r\nare all distinguished and expressed, by the invention\r\nof a few marks, which enable us to hold a correspondence\r\nwith the absent, to indicate our inclinations,\r\nand to preserve a record of things past. To this the\r\nknowledge of numbers was added, a thing not only necessary\r\nto life, but at once immutable and eternal.\r\nWhich first led us to consider the heavens, to look upon\r\nthe motion of the planets with interest, and the numbering\r\nof the nights and days * * * *\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"nf-center-c1\"\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"nf-center\"\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv\u003e[Eight or ten pages wanting.]\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"c000\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pageno\" id=\"Page_124\"\u003e124\u003c/span\u003eIII. * * * * Whose minds rose to a\r\nloftier pitch as I before said, that they might execute or\r\ndiscover something worthy of the gift they had received\r\nfrom the gods. Wherefore let those who have treated\r\nupon the moral conduct of life, be deemed by us, great\r\nmen, as they are; learned men; masters of truth and\r\nvirtue. Yet let it be admitted that civil rights, and the\r\ngovernment of a people, whether they are the fruits of\r\nmen experienced in the management of public affairs,\r\nor, as the fact has been, the result of their literary leisure,\r\nbe least despised; causing as they do to spring\r\nup in great minds, as we have often seen, an incredible\r\nand divine virtue. For if any one to those faculties\r\nwhich the mind has from nature, and to those talents\r\nwhich civil institutions produce, hath added also the\r\nlearning, and the more various knowledge of things, in\r\nwhich men engaged in the discussion of those books\r\nare versed, there is no one who ought not to prefer such\r\na man to all others. For what can be more excellent,\r\nthan when the practice and habit of great affairs is joined\r\nto a perfect knowledge of the theory of the science\r\nof them? Or what more perfect can be imagined than\r\nP. Scipio, C. Lælius, and L. Philus; who that they\r\nmight omit nothing appertaining to the high character of\r\nenlightened men, to the knowledge of our domestic\r\nand ancient customs, united the learning received from\r\nSocrates? Wherefore he who determined and effected\r\nboth, that is, instructed himself as well in the institutions,\r\nas in the philosophy of the ancients, I think has\r\naccomplished every thing with praise. But if a choice\r\nmust be made between those two paths to excellence,\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pageno\" id=\"Page_125\"\u003e125\u003c/span\u003eand if to any one, that tranquil way of life passed in the\r\nbest studies and sciences may appear happier, still certainly\r\nan active, civil life is more illustrious and more\r\nlaudable. The greatest men derive their glory from\r\nsuch a life, as M. Curius * * * *\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"lg-container-b c012\"\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"linegroup\"\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"group\"\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"line\"\u003e“Whom none could overcome with arms or gold.”\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"nf-center-c1\"\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"nf-center\"\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv\u003e[Six pages wanting.]\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"c000\"\u003eIV. * * * Nevertheless this difference existed\r\nin their two different modes: the one unfolded the principles\r\nof nature by their studies and by their eloquence;\r\nthe others by their institutions and by their laws. This\r\ncommonwealth alone has produced many, if not altogether\r\nto be deemed sages, since that title is so cautiously\r\nbestowed, yet worthy of the greatest praise;\r\nfor they cultivated the precepts and discoveries of\r\nsages. Wherefore civil governments are to be extolled\r\nand ever will be, since in the nature of things, to constitute\r\na commonwealth which shall be lasting, is one\r\nof the greatest efforts of mind: and thus if we only\r\nenumerate one for every country, what a multitude of\r\nexcellent men do we find. For if we permit our minds\r\nto take a survey of that famous Greece, of Italy, Latium,\r\nor the Sabine and Volscian people; the Samnites,\r\nthe Etrurians; next the Assyrians, the Persians, the\r\nCarthagenians. If these * * *\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"nf-center-c1\"\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"nf-center\"\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv\u003e[Twelve pages wanting.]\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"c000\"\u003eV. * * * “Truly,” said Philus, “you have\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pageno\" id=\"Page_126\"\u003e126\u003c/span\u003eimposed a fine task upon me, wishing me to undertake\r\nthe justification of what is wrong.” “Surely,” said\r\nLælius, “you are afraid lest in using the same arguments\r\nwhich are wont to be brought forward against\r\njustice, you may appear to hold such opinions yourself;\r\nyou who are almost the only example left of ancient\r\nprobity and faith. But your habit of discussing both\r\nsides of the question, in order more easily to get at the\r\ntruth, is very well known.” “Well, well,” said Philus,\r\n“I will do as you wish, and defile myself with my eyes\r\nopen: for since those who search for gold do not refuse\r\nto do it; we who are looking for what is right, a thing\r\nmuch more precious than gold, assuredly ought not to\r\navoid any thing that is disagreeable. And I wish, since\r\nI am about to make use of another man’s opinions, it\r\nwas possible for me to make use of his tongue also.\r\nNow, however, L. Furius Philus, must say what Carneades,\r\na Greek in the habit of saying whatever he\r\npleased * * *\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"nf-center-c1\"\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"nf-center\"\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv\u003e[Four pages wanting.]\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"c000\"\u003eVIII. * * * But the other has filled four pretty\r\nlarge books with the subject of justice. From Chrysippus\r\nI have never looked for any thing very great or\r\nmagnificent; since he reasons in a particular way of\r\nhis own, and examines things rather by the force of\r\nwords, than the weight of facts. It was for those distinguished\r\nmen, to raise up that prostrate virtue, and\r\nelevate it to the divine heights of wisdom. A virtue\r\nwhich stands alone as it were, greatly munificent and\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pageno\" id=\"Page_127\"\u003e127\u003c/span\u003eliberal; which loves every thing better than itself, and\r\nis born more for others, than for its own interests.\r\nNor was the inclination wanting to them: for what\r\nother cause had they for writing, or what motive soever?\r\nIn genius they excelled all. But the cause was greater\r\neven than their inclination and strength. The right indeed\r\nconcerning which we inquire, is something civil, not\r\nnatural: if it were, justice and injustice would be the\r\nsame things to all men, as hot and cold, bitter and\r\nsweet things are.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"c000\"\u003eIX. Now however, if any one borne upon the\r\nchariot with winged serpents, of which Pacuvius speaks,\r\ncould survey with his eyes, and look down upon the\r\nmany and various nations and cities; he might see\r\nchiefly among that unchanging race of the Egyptians,\r\nwhich preserves in its records the memory of so many\r\nevents and ages, an ox esteemed as a god, which the\r\nEgyptians call Apis; and many other strange things\r\namong them, among which wild beasts consecrated into\r\nthe number of the gods. Then in Greece, where as\r\nwith us, magnificent temples are consecrated containing\r\nhuman images, which the Persians considered impious.\r\nFor which cause alone, Xerxes is said to have\r\nordered the temples of the Athenians to be burnt; considering\r\nit to be wicked to shut the gods up within walls,\r\nwhose residence was the whole universe. Afterwards\r\nPhilip who had it in contemplation, and Alexander who\r\ncarried it into effect, gave as reasons for making war\r\nagainst the Persians, that they avenged the temples of\r\nGreece; which the Greeks did not think of repairing,\r\nthat the devastation might be an eternal monument to\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pageno\" id=\"Page_128\"\u003e128\u003c/span\u003eposterity of the infamy of the Persians. How many, as\r\nthe Taurians in Axinum, as Busiris the king of Egypt,\r\nas the Gauls, the Carthagenians, have thought it a\r\ngrateful and pious duty to the gods, to immolate men.\r\nBut the institutions of life differ so much, that the Cretans\r\nand Etolians esteem it honourable to steal: the\r\nLacedemonians used to say that all lands were theirs\r\nwhich they could reach with a shaft. The Athenians\r\nwere wont to swear even publicly, that every soil was\r\ntheirs, which produced oil and corn. The Gauls consider\r\nit shameful to produce grain by labour, and therefore\r\ngo armed to harvest other people’s lands. But we,\r\nthe most just of men, to make our own olive and vineyards\r\nmore valuable, do not permit the transalpine nations\r\nto plant them: in doing which we are said to act\r\nprudently; it is not called acting justly. By which\r\nyou may understand there is a wide distance between\r\nprudence and equity. Lycurgus, the founder of the\r\nbest laws, and the most equal rights, gave the lands of\r\nthe wealthy to be cultivated by the lower class in the\r\nstate of servitude.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"c000\"\u003eX. But if I were to describe the various kinds of laws,\r\nof institutions, of customs and manners, not only so\r\ndifferent among such divers nations, but even in a single\r\ncity, or in this, I could demonstrate them to have been\r\nchanged a thousand times. Our friend Manilius here,\r\nan interpreter of laws, will tell you that other laws exist\r\nnow concerning the legacies and inheritances of women,\r\nthan those he was wont to speak of in his youth,\r\nbefore the Voconian law was passed; which very law,\r\nindeed proposed for the advantage of the men, is full\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pageno\" id=\"Page_129\"\u003e129\u003c/span\u003eof injustice towards the women. For why should a\r\nwoman not have possessions? Why should a vestal\r\nappoint an heir, and her mother not? Why if limits\r\nwere to be put to the possessions of women, should the\r\ndaughter of Crassus, if she were an only daughter, possess\r\nthousands legally, when mine could not possess\r\ntwo or three hundred * * * * * *\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"nf-center-c1\"\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"nf-center\"\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv\u003e[Two pages wanting.]\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"c000\"\u003eXI. * * * * * * If these rights were thus\r\nsanctioned in us, all men would have the same rights,\r\nand would not have different rights at different periods.\r\nBut if it is the duty of a just and good man to obey the\r\nlaws, I would ask which are they to be? Or shall he\r\nobey all indiscriminately? But virtue does not admit of\r\nuncertainty, nor nature endure inconstancy. The\r\nstrength of law consists in punishment, not in our natural\r\njustice. Natural right therefore does not exist.\r\nWhence it follows, that men are not made just by nature.\r\nBut it is said, although there are various laws,\r\nstill good men, by natural inclination, pursue what is\r\njust in itself, and not what is assumed to be so; because\r\nit is the part of a good and just man, to render\r\nthat justice to every one which he is deserving of.\r\nNow, first, are we in any wise just to the dumb beasts?\r\nFor men, not of mediocrity, but great and learned;\r\nPythagoras and Empedocles, declare that all animals\r\npossess the same degree of right, and denounce unatoning\r\npunishments to hang over those by whom any\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pageno\" id=\"Page_130\"\u003e130\u003c/span\u003eanimal is outraged. It is wicked therefore to injure the\r\nbrutes. * * * * * *\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"nf-center-c1\"\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"nf-center\"\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv\u003e[Eight pages wanting.]\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"c000\"\u003eXII. * * * * * * what we call wisdom,\r\nurges us to increase our wealth, our riches, and to extend\r\nour possessions. How could that great commander\u003ca id=\"r21\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca class=\"c009 pginternal\" href=\"#f21\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e[21]\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\r\nwho formerly carried the limits of his empire into\r\nAsia; how could he govern, bear sway, reign, have dominion,\r\nand the full enjoyment of voluptuousness, unless\r\nhe took something from others? But justice orders us\r\nto spare all, to consult the welfare of mankind, to give\r\nto every one his own, and to abstain from every thing\r\nthat is sacred, every thing that is public, every thing\r\nwhich is not our own. What therefore is to be done?\r\nIf wisdom is consulted, riches, power, wealth, honours,\r\nauthority, empire, are open to individuals and nations.\r\nBut since it is the public interest we are discussing, instances\r\nof a public nature will illustrate better; and as\r\nthe same degree of right is in both, I shall advert to\r\nthe wisdom of a nation, and I shall omit the rest. Our\r\nown nation, which Africanus in his discourse yesterday,\r\ntraced to its origin, whose empire already extends over\r\nthe earth, has it, once least of them all, become so by\r\njustice or wisdom? * * * * * *\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"nf-center-c1\"\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"nf-center\"\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv\u003e[Four or eight pages wanting.]\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"c000\"\u003eXIV. For all who possess the power of life and\r\ndeath over a people are tyrants, yet they prefer to be\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pageno\" id=\"Page_131\"\u003e131\u003c/span\u003ecalled kings by the name of the good Jupiter. When\r\ncertain persons through the influence of their riches,\r\ntheir class, or other circumstances, possess themselves\r\nof the government, it is a faction. Yet they call themselves,\r\nthe better class. If the people however are uppermost\r\nand rule every thing at their own pleasure, that\r\nis called liberty; nevertheless it is licentiousness. But\r\nwhen one fears another, man mistrusting man, and one\r\nclass another, then because no one confides, a sort of\r\npact is made between the people and the great, from\r\nwhence that combined form of government springs,\r\nwhich Scipio has praised. So that neither nature, or\r\nthe will is the mother of justice, but weakness. For\r\nwhen one thing is to be chosen out of three, either to\r\ndo injustice without permitting it to be done to you; or\r\nto do it and permit it also; or neither one or the other:\r\nthe best is to do it with impunity\u003ca id=\"r22\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca class=\"c009 pginternal\" href=\"#f22\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e[22]\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e if you can; the second\r\nbest is neither to do it, nor suffer it to be done to\r\nyou: the worst of all is to be eternally fighting now on\r\naccount of your own aggressions, now on account of\r\nthose of others * * * * *\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"nf-center-c1\"\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"nf-center\"\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv\u003e[An unknown number of pages wanting.]\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"c000\"\u003e* * * Except the Arcadians and the Athenians,\r\nwho, I suppose, fearing lest at some period this\r\ndecree\u003ca id=\"r23\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca class=\"c009 pginternal\" href=\"#f23\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e[23]\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e of justice might appear, have feigned themselves\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pageno\" id=\"Page_132\"\u003e132\u003c/span\u003eto be sprung from the earth, like the little mice\r\nwe see in the fields.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"c000\"\u003eXVI. To these things, others are wont to be added\r\nprincipally by those, distinguished for their honesty in\r\ndiscussion, and having more weight for that reason.\r\nWho when engaged in the inquiry of what constitutes\r\na good man, frank and plain as we wish to find him, are\r\nnot themselves crafty, hardened, and malicious in argument.\r\nThey deny that the wise man is good only because\r\ngoodness and justice are pleasing to him from\r\ntheir nature; but because the lives of good men are\r\nfree from apprehension, care, solicitude and danger.\r\nWhereas bad men have always a sting goading their\r\nsouls, and judgment and punishment are always present\r\nto their eyes. That there is no emolument, no\r\nadvantage arising from injustice, so great as to compensate\r\nthe fear, and the constant thought that some\r\npunishment is impending * * * * *\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"nf-center-c1\"\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"nf-center\"\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv\u003e[Four or eight pages wanting.]\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"c000\"\u003eXVII. I ask if there be two men, one of them of\r\nthe very best kind; equitable, perfectly just, of exemplary\r\nfaith: the other singular for his wickedness and\r\naudacity: and suppose the community in such an error,\r\nthat the good man passes for a wicked and dishonest\r\none; while the bad one has the reputation of perfect\r\nprobity and good faith. And through this general delusion\r\nof the citizens, the good man is harassed, arrested,\r\nbound, his eyes put out, condemned, thrown in\r\nchains, tortured in the fire, banished. Wanting every\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pageno\" id=\"Page_133\"\u003e133\u003c/span\u003ething, at last he appears to all to be deservedly the\r\nmost wretched of men. On the other hand, the bad\r\nman is praised, sought after, caressed by all. Honours\r\nof every kind, authority, power, and every advantage\r\nconferred upon him from all sides. A man, finally, in\r\nthe estimation of all deemed the very best, and worthy\r\nof the highest gifts of fortune. Who would be so insane\r\nas to hesitate which of these two he would choose\r\nto be?\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"c000\"\u003eXVIII. As it is with individuals, so it is with nations.\r\nNo community is so stupid, as not to prefer commanding\r\nby injustice, to serving according to justice. I\r\nshall not go far back for examples. Being consul, you\r\nassisting me in council; I had to examine the Numantine\r\ntreaty. Who is ignorant that Pompey made that\r\ntreaty, and that Mancinus was concerned in the same\r\naffair? This last most excellent man supported the\r\nproposition I carried from the consultation in the senate;\r\nthe other most earnestly opposed it. Those who valued\r\nmodesty, integrity, and good faith preferred Mancinus:\r\nyet for his reasoning, counsel, and policy, Pompey\r\ntook the lead of him * * * *\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"nf-center-c1\"\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"nf-center\"\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv\u003e[An unknown number of pages wanting.]\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"c000\"\u003eXXIX. * * * * * Ti. Gracchus was vigilant\r\nfor the interests of the people, but neglected the\r\nrights of the Latins and the treaties with the allies. If\r\nsuch customs and license should spread themselves\r\nwider, and our empire be changed from right to force,\r\nso that those who until now voluntarily obey us, should\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pageno\" id=\"Page_134\"\u003e134\u003c/span\u003ebe ruled only by terror; although it has been vigilantly\r\npreserved for us, who are of the present age; yet I\r\nshould be very solicitous about our posterity, and about\r\nthe immortality of the republic, which might be perpetual,\r\nif the institutions and manners of our forefathers\r\nwere preserved.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"c000\"\u003eXXX. When Lælius had thus spoken, all present\r\nexpressed themselves to have been very much delighted\r\nby him, but Scipio, among the rest, as if quite elated with\r\npleasure, “many causes,” said he, “indeed Lælius, hast\r\nthou often defended, in such a manner that I can by no\r\nmeans compare our colleague Servius Galba to thee;\r\nwhom when he lived thou preferredest to all; nor in\r\ntruth any of the attic orators * * *\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"nf-center-c1\"\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"nf-center\"\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv\u003e[Twelve pages wanting.]\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"c000\"\u003eXXXI. * * * * * Therefore that common\r\ninterest, that is the commonwealth, who can recognize\r\nit when all are oppressed by the cruelty of one; when\r\nno bond of Law exists, nor that consent of congregated\r\nsociety, which constitutes a people. And this very\r\ncondition of the Syracusans: a celebrated city, as\r\nTimæus says, the first among the Greeks, and the most\r\nbeautiful of them all: its harbour embosomed within\r\nthe walls, its canals running through the city: its broad\r\nstreets, its porticoes, temples, fortifications, all these\r\ndid not help to constitute a commonwealth, while\r\nDionysius reigned. The people had no part in them,\r\nfor the very people belonged to one man. Therefore\r\nwhere there is a tyrant, it is not a vitiated commonwealth,\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pageno\" id=\"Page_135\"\u003e135\u003c/span\u003eas I said yesterday, but reason compels us to\r\ndeclare plainly that no commonwealth at all exists.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"c000\"\u003eXXXII. “Indeed” said Lælius, “you speak very\r\nclearly, and I already perceive the drift of your discourse.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"c000\"\u003eS. You see therefore, that when every thing is in the\r\npower of a faction, neither can that be properly called a\r\ncommonwealth.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"c000\"\u003eL. I judge it plainly so.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"c000\"\u003eS. And most rightly do you judge, for what was the\r\ncondition of the Athenians, when after that great\r\nPelopponesian war, thirty men were most unjustly\r\nplaced in the command of that city? Did the ancient\r\nglory of the city, the admirable nature of its buildings,\r\nits theatre, gymnasia, its noble porticoes, its citadel, or\r\nthe admirable works of Phidias, or the magnificent port\r\nof Piræus, did they constitute a commonwealth?\r\n“Not in the least” said Lælius, “because indeed the\r\ncommon interest was not thought of.”\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"c000\"\u003eS. How was it at Rome, when the Decemvirs existed\r\nwithout appeal, in that third year, when liberty itself\r\nhad parted with its privileges?\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"c000\"\u003eL. Nothing was left to the people, and truly it was\r\nnecessary to bring them to that point, that they might\r\nrecover their rights.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"c000\"\u003eXXXIII. S. I come now to the third kind, that in\r\nwhich some inconsistency will perhaps be perceived,\r\nwhere all things are said to be done by the people, and\r\nto be in the power of the people. When the multitude\r\norders punishments to be inflicted in any manner that it\r\npleases, ordering, seizing, keeping, dissipating every\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pageno\" id=\"Page_136\"\u003e136\u003c/span\u003ething whatever they choose, can you then Lælius, deny\r\nthat to be a republic, where all things belong to the people,\r\nand when indeed we define a republic to be a commonwealth?”\r\n“There is nothing,” said Lælius, “I\r\nwould sooner deny to be a republic, than where all things\r\nare in the power of the multitude. We did not consider\r\nthat they had a republic among the Syracusans, or at\r\nAgrigentum, or at Athens when they were under tyrants,\r\nor at Rome when under the decemvirs. Nor do I see\r\nhow the name of republic is appropriate when the multitude\r\nrules. Because first, as you have happily defined\r\nit to me, Scipio, a people does not exist, but where it is\r\nheld together by consent of law; and this sort of mob,\r\nis as much a tyrant as if it were one man. Indeed it is\r\nmore mischievous, for nothing is more ferocious than\r\nthe wild beast which assumes the name and form of the\r\npeople. Nor is it right, when the property of maniacs\r\nis placed by law under the guardianship of kindred,\r\nthat * * *\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"nf-center-c1\"\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"nf-center\"\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv\u003e[Eight pages wanting.]\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"c000\"\u003eXXXIV. * * * of it,\u003ca id=\"r24\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003ca class=\"c009 pginternal\" href=\"#f24\"\u003e\u003csup\u003e[24]\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/a\u003e it may with as\r\nmuch propriety be said that it is a republic and a commonwealth,\r\nas it may be said of a kingdom. “And\r\nmuch more,” said Mummius, “for a king being one, is\r\nmore like a master; but where many good men are at\r\nthe head of affairs in a republic, nothing can be more\r\nhappily constituted. But I certainly prefer a kingdom\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pageno\" id=\"Page_137\"\u003e137\u003c/span\u003eto the sway of a democracy; which third and most\r\nvicious kind of government remains for you to explain.”\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"c000\"\u003eXXXV. To this Scipio replied, “I recognize well\r\nSpurius, your steady aversion to the popular mode,\r\nand although it might be treated with less aversion than\r\nyou are wont to do, nevertheless I agree, that of all\r\nthese three kinds, no one is less to be approved of. I\r\ndo not however agree with you that the better class are\r\nto be preferred to a king; for if it is wisdom which\r\ngoverns a state, of what consequence is it, whether it\r\nresides in one, or in many? But in our discussion we\r\nare led into a sort of error. When we call them the\r\nbetter class, nothing can be conceived more excellent,\r\nfor what can be imagined more desirable than the best?\r\nWhen however a king is mentioned, an unjust king occurs\r\nto our minds. We do not nevertheless intend to\r\nspeak of an unjust king, in our examination of this\r\nroyal kind of government. Think of Romulus, Pompilius,\r\nand Tullus as kings, and perhaps you will not be\r\nso displeased with that kind of government.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"c000\"\u003eM. What sort of praise then is left for a democratic\r\ngovernment?\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"c000\"\u003eS. What did you think, Spurius, of the Rhodians,\r\nwith whom we were together; did you see nothing like\r\na commonwealth there?\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"c000\"\u003eM. Indeed I did, and least of all to be blamed.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"c000\"\u003eS. You say well. But if you remember all were\r\nalike; sometimes plebeians, sometimes senators; and\r\nby turns discharging during certain months their functions\r\nas senators; the other months they remained in\r\nthe ranks of the people. In both capacities however\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pageno\" id=\"Page_138\"\u003e138\u003c/span\u003ethey had the privilege of being present at the meetings\r\nfor deliberation, and equally in the theatres and in the\r\ncourts, great matters and all others were judged; so\r\nnumerous was the multitude and so great its power\r\nthat * * * * *\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003chr class=\"c010\"\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"footnote\" id=\"f21\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"c000\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"label\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"#r21\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e21\u003c/a\u003e. \u003c/span\u003eAlexander.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"footnote\" id=\"f22\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"c000\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"label\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"#r22\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e22\u003c/a\u003e. \u003c/span\u003eThese are sophisms brought forward in favour of injustice.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"c013\"\u003e\u003cspan lang=\"la\"\u003eVide\u003c/span\u003e Lact. Inst. 5.\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"footnote\" id=\"f23\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"c000\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"label\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"#r23\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e23\u003c/a\u003e. \u003c/span\u003eTo restore things unjustly acquired.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"footnote\" id=\"f24\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"c000\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"label\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"#r24\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003e24\u003c/a\u003e. \u003c/span\u003eThe better class.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pageno\" id=\"Page_139\"\u003e139\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"ph1\"\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"nf-center-c1\"\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"nf-center c011\"\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv\u003eCICERO’S REPUBLIC.\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"figcenter id002\"\u003e\r\n\u003cimg alt=\"\" class=\"ig001\" src=\"https://chrisdeasy.com/wp-content/uploads/gutenberg-de-re-publica-cicero-marcus-tullius-cicero-i-002.jpg\" id=\"img_images_i_002.jpg_4\"\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"chapter\"\u003e\r\n\u003ch2 class=\"c004\" id=\"IV\"\u003eBOOK IV.\u003c/h2\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"c005\"\u003eII. * * * * * * How conveniently the orders\r\nare set down; the ages, the classes. The equestrian\r\norder where the senate votes. Too many foolishly\r\nseek to abolish that useful institution, hoping that\r\nthrough some Plebecists procuring the sale of the\r\nhorses, they may get a largess.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"c000\"\u003eIII. Look now at the other provisions so wisely\r\nmade, that the citizens may enjoy a happy and honest\r\nstate of society, for that is the very motive for their\r\nunion; and which government ought to secure to men,\r\nby institutions and laws. In the first place, as to puerile\r\ndiscipline for free-born young men, respecting\r\nwhich the Greeks have laboured so much in vain; and\r\nthe only matter about which our guest Polybius reproaches\r\nthe negligence of our institutions. No defined\r\nsystem, or of a public nature, or uniform for all,\r\nwas decreed by the laws.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"nf-center-c1\"\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"nf-center\"\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv\u003e[Four or eight pages wanting.]\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"c000\"\u003eIV. * * * * * * nor naked when at an\r\nage of puberty. So deep did they seek as it were to\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pageno\" id=\"Page_140\"\u003e140\u003c/span\u003elay the foundations of modesty. But how absurd the\r\nexercises of youth in the Grecian Gymnasia; how trifling\r\nthat drilling of young boys: what loose and unrestrained\r\nmanners permitted to them. I say nothing of\r\nthe Eleans and Thebans, among whom free license and\r\npermission was given to the young people to indulge in\r\nsensuality. The Lacedemonians too, when they allowed\r\nevery sensual indulgence short of violence, among\r\ntheir youth, were destroying what they were granting\r\nsuch a slight protection to. “I clearly understand,\r\nScipio,” said Lælius, “that in these practices of the\r\nGreeks, which you reprehend, you had rather attack the\r\nmost illustrious people, than your favourite Plato, whom\r\nyou do not assail at all, especially * * * * *\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pageno\" id=\"Page_141\"\u003e141\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"ph1\"\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"nf-center-c1\"\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"nf-center c011\"\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv\u003eCICERO’S REPUBLIC.\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"figcenter id002\"\u003e\r\n\u003cimg alt=\"\" class=\"ig001\" src=\"https://chrisdeasy.com/wp-content/uploads/gutenberg-de-re-publica-cicero-marcus-tullius-cicero-i-002.jpg\" id=\"img_images_i_002.jpg_5\"\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"chapter\"\u003e\r\n\u003ch2 class=\"c004\" id=\"V\"\u003eBOOK V.\u003c/h2\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"c005\"\u003eII. * * * * * * No prerogative more royal\r\nthan the administration of justice, in which was comprehended\r\nthe expounding of rights, for individuals were\r\naccustomed to seek justice from kings. On which account\r\nthe lands, the fields, the groves, the extensive and\r\nrich grazing districts were defined, which belonged to\r\nthe sovereign, and were all managed without any care\r\nor labour on his part; that none of the cares of private\r\nbusiness, might abstract him from the affairs of the public.\r\nNor was any man an umpire or arbitrator of any\r\nlegal contention, but all things were decided by royal\r\njudgments. And it seems to me, that our Numa chiefly\r\nadopted this ancient custom from the kings of Greece.\r\nFor the others, although they also discharged this function,\r\nyet a great many of them waged wars, and occupied\r\nthemselves in establishing the rules of war. But\r\nthat long peace of Numa, was the parent of law and\r\nreligion to this city. He also was the writer of those\r\nlaws which you know to be extant: all which is appropriate\r\nto the very citizen whose character we are drawing\r\n* * * * * *\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"nf-center-c1\"\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"nf-center\"\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv\u003e\u003cspan class=\"pageno\" id=\"Page_142\"\u003e142\u003c/span\u003e[An unknown number of pages wanting.]\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"c000\"\u003eIII. S. Do you think there is any harm in his being\r\nacquainted with the nature of roots and seeds?\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"c000\"\u003eM. None, if only his work is not neglected.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"c000\"\u003eS. But do you think it to be properly the study of a\r\nfarmer?\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"c000\"\u003eM. Not in the least; for the cultivation of the land\r\nwould often be unattended to.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"c000\"\u003eS. Therefore, as a farmer is acquainted with the nature\r\nof his soil, a steward with the nature of letters,\r\nand each can turn from the amusement of theory to the\r\ngreater utility of practice; so this our ruler may be\r\nthoroughly conversant with the knowledge of rights\r\nand of laws; he may have looked even into the very\r\nfountains of them: but let not his consultations, his\r\nconstant readings, and his writings occupy him too\r\nmuch; but let him be as it were both steward and farmer\r\nto the commonwealth. Let him be skilled in the\r\nprinciples of law without which no man can be just;\r\nlet him not be ignorant of civil law: but let it be as the\r\npilot who studies the stars; the physician who studies\r\nthe nature of plants and minerals; each turning his\r\nknowledge to the benefit of his art, without permitting\r\nit to impede the practical use of his vocation * * *\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"nf-center-c1\"\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"nf-center\"\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv\u003e[An unknown number of pages wanting.]\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"c000\"\u003eIV. * * * * In those states where the good\r\nlook for praise and honour, and fly from ignominy and\r\ndisgrace. Not so much restrained by apprehension of\r\n\u003cspan class=\"pageno\" id=\"Page_143\"\u003e143\u003c/span\u003ethe penalties established by law, but by a sentiment of\r\nself-respect, which nature has planted in man, a sort of\r\ndread of deserved censure. This sentiment the ruler of\r\na state strengthens by public opinion, and confirms by\r\neducation, and by institutions, that shame may deter the\r\ncitizen from crime as much as fear. But these considerations\r\nproperly belong to renown, and shall be more\r\nabundantly considered.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp class=\"c000\"\u003eV. Life, however, and the comfortable enjoyment\r\nof it, are constituted by legal marriages, lawful children;\r\nthe keeping hallowed the seats of the penate gods, and\r\nthe domestic lares; that all may enjoy public and private\r\ncomforts. Without good government, private life\r\ncannot be agreeable, nor can any one be more happy\r\nthan in a well regulated state * * * *\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"pbb\"\u003e\r\n\u003chr class=\"pb c003\"\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"tnotes\"\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv class=\"chapter\"\u003e\r\n\u003ch2 class=\"c004\"\u003eTRANSCRIBER’S NOTES\u003c/h2\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003col class=\"ol_1 c002\"\u003e\r\n\u003cli\u003eAdded \u003ca href=\"#Contents\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003eTable of Contents\u003c/a\u003e.\r\n\r\n \u003c/li\u003e\r\n\u003cli\u003eCorrected items noted in the \u003ca href=\"#ERRATA\" class=\"pginternal\"\u003eErrata\u003c/a\u003e.\r\n\r\n \u003c/li\u003e\r\n\u003cli\u003eSilently corrected typographical errors in the Preface, Introduction, and footnotes.\r\n\r\n \u003c/li\u003e\r\n\u003cli\u003eRetained anachronistic and non-standard spellings as printed in the Preface,\r\n Introduction, and footnotes.\r\n\r\n \u003c/li\u003e\r\n\u003cli\u003eDid not alter punctuation or spellings in the Translation with the exception of\r\n joining words split by pages.\r\n \u003c/li\u003e\r\n\u003c/ol\u003e\r\n\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\r\n\u003c/article\u003e"}],"SectionSequence":["Back Link","Work Title","Deck","Author","Period","Era","Composition","Date Note","Region","Terra Avita","Terra Avita Region","Modern Country","Original Title","Language","Primary Discipline","Secondary Discipline","Tradition","Full Versions","Core Thesis","Classification","Arguments","Influence","Significance","Evidence Note","Full Text"],"Counts":{"ContextCards":3,"GeoCards":4,"DisciplineCards":2,"Links":11,"Sections":25,"Styles":3,"Scripts":1}}