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diff --git a/old/54161-0.txt b/old/54161-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 8311dbb..0000000 --- a/old/54161-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,3866 +0,0 @@ -Project Gutenberg's The republic of Cicero, by Marcus Tullius Cicero - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with -almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or -re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included -with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org/license - - -Title: The republic of Cicero - Translated from the Latin; and Accompanied With a Critical - and Historical Introduction. - -Author: Marcus Tullius Cicero - -Translator: George William Featherstonhaugh - -Release Date: February 12, 2017 [EBook #54161] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE REPUBLIC OF CICERO *** - - - - -Produced by Richard Tonsing and the Online Distributed -Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was -produced from images generously made available by The -Internet Archive) - - - - - - -[Illustration: - - _Specimen palimpsesti vaticani._ - - _Imbert’s Lithographic Facsimile._ -] - - - - - THE - REPUBLIC OF CICERO, - TRANSLATED FROM THE LATIN; - AND ACCOMPANIED WITH A - CRITICAL AND HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION. - - - BY - - G. W. FEATHERSTONHAUGH, ESQ. - - FELLOW OF THE GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF LONDON; OF THE AMERICAN - PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY; OF THE LYCEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY OF NEW-YORK, &C. - &C. &C. - -[Illustration] - - NEW-YORK: - PUBLISHED BY G. & C. CARVILL, 108 BROADWAY. - 1829. - - - - - SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW-YORK, ss. - - -Be it remembered, that on the 23d day of January, A. D. 1829, in the -fifty-third year of the Independence of the United States of America, G. -& C. Carvill, of the said district, hath deposited in this office the -title of a book, the right whereof they claim as proprietors, in the -words following, to wit: - -“The Republic of Cicero, translated from the Latin; and accompanied with -a Critical and Historical Introduction. By G. W. Featherstonhaugh, Esq., -Fellow of the Geological Society of London; of the American -Philosophical Society; of the Lyceum of Natural History of New-York, &c. -&c. &c.” - -In conformity to the Act of Congress of the United States, entitled, “An -Act for the encouragement of learning, by securing the copies of maps, -charts, and books, to the authors and proprietors of such copies, during -the times therein mentioned;” and also, to an Act, entitled, “An Act, -supplementary to an Act, entitled an Act for the encouragement of -learning, by securing the copies of maps, charts, and books, to the -authors and proprietors of such copies, during the times therein -mentioned, and extending the benefits thereof to the arts of designing, -engraving, and etching historical and other prints.” - - FRED. I. BETTS, - _Clerk of the Southern District of New-York_. - - - ERRATA. - - INTRODUCTION, p. 22, line 12, dele “then.” - DO. p. 27, line 16, for “requires,” read “require.” - - Sleight & George, Printers, Jamaica, L. I. - - - - - TO - RODERICK IMPEY MURCHISON, ESQ. - F. R. S., F. G. S., &c. &c. &c. - - -I dedicate these pages to you, my dear MURCHISON, that you may have a -renewed assurance of my great esteem and friendship for you. I should -have had a livelier satisfaction in doing so, if the part I have had in -the production of them, were more worthy of your refined taste. I hope -to offer some compensation, however, in the assurance, that you will -find in them many congenial opinions and principles. - - G. W. FEATHERSTONHAUGH. - - New-York, January 21, 1829. - - - - - PREFACE. - - -I am not aware that any translation of the Republic of Cicero into the -English tongue has been made. - -Believing that it cannot but excite a deep interest with generous minds, -as well on account of the high nature of the subject, the illustrious -name of Cicero, as of the great motives which led him to compose this -work, I venture to offer a translation of it to the public. - -In this extensive republic, where every individual reads, it appears -peculiarly proper, that an English dress should be given to a work, of -which almost every page teaches that public happiness depends upon -individual virtue. - -Cicero’s definition of a republic, that it is an association of the -people for the defence and advancement of the common interest; will be -understood here, which may be doubtingly said of any other republics now -in existence. - -A bare translation of the fragments of this mutilated work, unassisted -by any commentary, could not but have been unsatisfactory. The -deficiencies of the original are somewhat compensated to us, not alone -in the grandeur of thought which pervades it, but in the majesty of -diction, precise, elevated, as it frequently is, and always governed by -the most refined taste. It would be a vain effort to attempt the dignity -of the Latin tongue, when adorned with the elegancies of the Ciceronian -style. Humbly as the translation may deserve to be considered, it will -perhaps be deemed sufficiently faithful: and that the translator has not -altogether failed in pointing out to grave and reflecting minds, the -immediate cause of the ruin of a noble Republic. - -He has therefore prefixed a brief historical introduction; the which, -whether it will be thought too long, or not sufficiently detailed, will -probably depend upon the reader’s historical recollections. The motive -for drawing it up was to render the work more generally useful and -acceptable. - - - - - INTRODUCTION. - - -The imperfect manuscript, a translation of which is now presented to the -American public, was discovered in the Library of the Vatican, by -Professor Angelo Mai; a person of singular ingenuity in the detection of -those Palimpsests whose contents were written upon ancient writings -partially erased. A fac simile of part of the MSS. accompanies this -work. The Republic of Cicero was greatly cherished by those who lived in -and near his times; of which occasional evidences are found in the -writings of antiquity. But the tyranny of the emperors bridled the -Romans so soon after its appearance, that Horace, Virgil, Seneca, -Quintilian, Pliny, and even Tacitus, have not dared to praise it, lest -they should bring down vengeance upon themselves. It is remarkable that -while despotism was rapidly extinguishing philosophy and letters, and -the very existence of these precious monuments of better times was -scarcely thought of; the Christian religion was gradually raising up -amidst the persecutions of the primitive church, new champions for truth -and justice; to whose works we are indebted for many valuable fragments -of the best writers of antiquity, and for almost all the passages of -Cicero’s Republic which we were acquainted with, until the late -discovery of professor Mai. It is in the works of St. Augustin and of -Lactantius that these passages most abound; and they are appealed to by -them as most eloquent arguments, in support of just government, and -virtuous conduct. Scipio’s Dream, forming the only part of the sixth -book which has been preserved, and which is one of the most splendid -passages that has been saved from antiquity, has long had a place in the -works of Macrobius, a writer at the beginning of the fifth century, -addicted to the Pythagorean mysticisms; and who has preserved it -probably on account of the occult astronomical relation of numbers -contained in it. Notwithstanding the mutilated state of the MSS., the -order of the books is distinctly preserved, the general plan of the work -is obvious, and we have much greater reason to rejoice at what we -possess, than to regret what is wanting. The disordered state of the -government and the republic at large, evidently suggested to Cicero this -patriotic and bold attempt to stem the influence of bad men, and raise -the falling liberties of his country. In this highly philosophical -discourse he sought to recall the Romans from the interests of ambitious -individuals, and fix their attention upon the greater interests of the -country, where each man had a stake: to revive their veneration for the -simplicity of the early institutions of Rome, and for the men who had -made themselves illustrious by their virtues: and to guard the people -more effectually against the innovations and factions now succeeding -each other with so much rapidity, he invests those ancient times with a -perfection, that the attractions of his eloquence alone can excuse. - -Of the original simplicity of the government, some evidences are -afforded by this work; as where it is stated that lands were assigned to -the sovereign, and cultivated for him by the people, that he might have -nothing to do but administer justice. The principal men too of the state -in those early times lived in the vicinity of Rome, cultivating a small -possession. The illustrious names of Fabius, Lentulus, Cicero, &c., were -perhaps given to those husbandmen who excelled in the cultivation of -those vegetables; such was the opinion of Pliny.[1] - -The censor had the power of reprimanding those whose fields were -slovenly cultivated. Many customs of those antique times are found in -Cato’s curious Treatise on Rural Affairs. “Our ancestors constituted and -ordained thus in their Laws: A thief was condemned to double -restitution; an usurer to quadruple. You may judge from this how much -worse a citizen they deemed the usurer to be than the thief. And when -they praised a worthy man, they spoke thus of him: ‘that he was a good -farmer, an excellent husbandman.’ He that was commended in these terms, -was thought to be praised enough.”[2] And again speaking of a good -husbandman, he says, “He should part with his old cattle, his weaned -calves and lambs, his wool, his skins, his old carts and worn out irons, -his old slaves, and his sick ones; and if he has got any thing else he -does not want, let him sell it. A father of a family ought always to -sell and never to buy.” Dion says that a messenger summoned the -patricians by name, but that the people were convened _by the blowing of -a horn_.[3] But the splendid military government which soon grew up, -gave both state employment and riches to that class once distinguished -for their industry and frugality. Agriculture was abandoned to slaves, -and men branded for crimes: it was no longer deemed an honourable -employment. Luxury and habits of profusion made it necessary for -conspicuous men to acquire the means of indulging in them, at the -expense of principle and patriotism. At length when sensual -gratifications became dearer to a majority of the Romans than liberty, -the republic was overthrown, and military despotism accomplished the -circle of military influence; extinguished every spark of light and -liberty; stripped the empire of its moral and physical power, and left -it unmindful of its past glorious existence, to perish in a blind and -helpless old age. - -Marcus Tullius Cicero was born at Arpinum, a city of the Samnites, which -had long enjoyed the freedom of Rome. His family was an ancient one, and -of the equestrian order; which comprehended the most respectable gentry -of the empire, who were only inferior in rank to the patricians. Having -assumed the manly gown at his sixteenth year, he immediately began to -acquire a knowledge of the laws of his country, under the two Scævolas, -eminent persons of that day. The Marsian war, and the civil broils of -Marius and Sylla, the former of whom was also a native of Arpinum, -occurred during the prosecution of his civil studies; and although they -gave some interruption to them, yet these violent contentions falling -immediately under his observation, he became at an early period -accustomed to consider the political situation of his country. These -circumstances no doubt had some influence in deciding his future career; -although the rare natural activity of his mind would perhaps have led -him under any situation to the investigation of all moral and physical -relations. Prompted by this impulse, he now began the study of Grecian -philosophy under the learned Athenians who fled to Rome from the -persecutions of Mithridates, and afterwards perfected himself in it -under Molo the Rhodian; a man so distinguished, that he was permitted to -address the Roman Senate in the Greek tongue without an interpreter. -About the age of twenty-six, with his mind filled with all the knowledge -taught at that period, he first began to plead at the Forum. His -celebrated successful defence of S. Roscius was made soon after, in -which he braved, what the other Roman orators had not dared to do, the -resentment of Sylla. By this bold measure, the generosity of his -character, as well as the force of his talents, were developed, and his -reputation established as the most powerful orator of Rome. He visited -Athens not long after this period, partly to avoid the displeasure of -Sylla, and partly to renew the study of philosophy, which he here -pursued with great ardour. His friend Atticus, who was at Athens at the -same time, had embraced the Epicurean doctrines; but Cicero appears at -this early period to have believed in a future state; a doctrine which -at a later period he has most eloquently recorded in his celebrated -Dream of Scipio. At the end of two years, he returned to Rome, greatly -improved by his intercourse with the philosophers and orators of Greece -and Asia. - -In his thirty-first year, and not long after his marriage, he was -elected to the quæstorship, which opened his way to the Senate. One of -the provinces of Sicily fell to him by lot, and he exercised his -quæstorial functions with such moderation and ability, as to induce the -Sicilians to confer extraordinary honours upon him at the termination of -his year; when he returned to Rome, determined henceforward to withdraw -himself as little as possible from the eyes of the Roman people. In his -thirty-seventh year he received the unanimous suffrages of all the -tribes for the edileship, which introduced him into the magistracy. The -exhibition of the shows and games, which was the province of the ediles, -was conducted by Cicero with great satisfaction to the people, and -without injuring materially his own private fortune. In this he achieved -a difficult point, which marks his great prudence and address. So great -had the affection of the people now become for him, that at three -different elections for prætor, he was each time placed at the head of -the list by the unanimous vote of all the centuries. In his forty-third -year, having been very diligent in strengthening his interest, he became -a candidate for the consulship with others; among whom were L. Sergius -Cataline: but such was his popularity that he was saluted consul by -acclamation of the people before the votes were counted. He received -also a strong support from the patricians, who had uniformly been -opposed to his advancement; but Cicero’s reputation for knowledge and -probity was so great, and the times were becoming so critical, that they -deemed the government safe in his hands. The patricians at this time -were of the faction of Sylla, to which also Cataline belonged: and the -Tribunes and the people were of the Marian faction; at the head of which -was Julius Cæsar, a near relation to Marius. Although Cæsar, and Cicero -were both on the popular side, yet they were not united upon any common -principles of order. Cæsar was always individually opposed to him: and -when Cicero being consul, was endeavouring in the senate to bring the -associates of Cataline to punishment; Cæsar defended them, and even -indirectly encouraged their cause, by declaring his disbelief in the -immortality of the soul. The suppression of this conspiracy of Cataline, -Cethegus, Lentulus and many others, among whom Cæsar was generally -numbered, raised the reputation of Cicero to the greatest height. By his -incessant vigilance, Rome was saved from the horrors of a general -massacre and pillage. The greatest honours were paid him by the senate -and equestrian order: and for the first time the sublime epithet of -“Father of his Country” was addressed to a Roman citizen in the senate, -in the person of Cicero.[4] This great action of his life he most -feelingly alludes to in the introduction to his first book of the -Republic. “Nor is my name forgotten,” &c. The feelings too which the -circumstances attending the very last act of his consulship excited in -him, are eloquently pourtrayed in a passage immediately following. It -was the custom for the consul at the expiration of his office, to make a -speech in the assembly of the people, and to swear that he had executed -his duties with fidelity. When he was already in the rostra, and was -about to address the whole people assembled on this interesting -occasion; Metellus, a new tribune, prompted by the officious spirit of -popular authority, which often delights to mortify the great and good, -forbade the consul to address the people, alleging that Cicero having -caused Lentulus and the rest to suffer death without being heard in -their defence, did not deserve to be heard himself. Whereat with an -enthusiastic presence of mind peculiar to himself, he swore with a loud -voice that he had saved the republic: and the multitude moved by a -generous feeling which the demagogues had no time to tamper with, more -than atoned to him for the intended affront from their tribune, by a -simultaneous shout that he had sworn nothing but the truth,[5] and by -accompanying him from the Forum to his own house. - -In this most glorious year of his life, and at the very time when he was -occupied in saving his country, Octavius Cæsar was born; by whose arts -and influence Cicero, as well as the republic, were not more than twenty -years after destroyed. And although he had acted so noble a part toward -his country, which under his government had been saved from the most -profligate attempt that had yet been made upon its liberties; and -enjoyed the highest rank in the senate, and the first consideration from -all good men; corruption had now reached such a height, that -pre-eminence in virtue, shining forth in so active a citizen as Cicero, -who was constantly thwarting the designs of bad men, served but to unite -their efforts against him. He became henceforward the object of their -hatred and vengeance. Cæsar, who did not believe in a future state, and -who consequently had no principle to restrain him, was constantly -plotting means to usurp the government. Pompey, in whose interest Cicero -had always been, and who at the close of the Mithridatic war had become -the most powerful man in the Republic, was afraid to disoblige the -numerous enemies of Cicero, and declined even to strengthen him by a -public approbation of the measures he had taken to suppress the -conspiracy of Catiline. The luxurious and the corrupt, who far -outnumbered the rest, were willing to sell the republic and themselves -to the highest bidders. The people were as usual the tools of -demagogues. Every thing conspired to accelerate the downfall of the -republic. In the face of these fearful odds stood Cicero, a large -majority of the senate, and of the equestrian order, which comprehended -the independent landholders and gentry of the Roman nation: and with but -little other support than the satisfaction of being engaged in the -noblest of causes, the maintenance of regular government. It is most -painful to look back upon the history of the degradation of such a -people; corrupted and ruined by their blind admiration of that falsest -of all idols, military glory. - -An event occurred the year after his consulate, which brought him into a -new conflict with some of the worst of these men. P. Clodius, at this -time a quæstor, a vicious and debauched young man of family, and who -possessed many personal advantages, had an intrigue with Cæsar’s wife -Pompeia. Satiated with ordinary voluptuousness, he disguised himself as -a woman, and entered the house of Pompeia in the night time, when she -with other distinguished Roman matrons, was celebrating the mysteries of -the Bona Dea, or Patroness of Chastity. He was discovered and fled. Such -was the respect in which these mysteries, at which women alone -officiated, were held, that the profanation excited the utmost -indignation throughout the city. Even Cæsar found it necessary to put -away his wife. The senate directed the consuls to prepare a law for the -trial of Clodius before the people, which was resisted by one of the -tribunes friendly to Clodius. At length it was agreed that a law should -be passed to try him before the prætor and a select number of judges. -Clodius rested his defence upon an alibi, which he endeavoured to -sustain by witnesses. When Cicero was called to give his deposition, he -was insulted by the mob which adhered to Clodius; but such was the -veneration in which he was held, that the judges stood up, and received -him with great honour. He testified that Clodius had been with him in -his house in Rome on the very day of the pollution. Cæsar who was also -called, said that he was ignorant of the whole affair; although it -occurred in his own house, and in the presence of his mother and sister, -who had deposed to the truth of the accusation. Being asked, why then he -had put away his wife? he answered, “Because those who are connected -with me, must be as free from suspicion as from crime.”[6] - -That the wife of Cæsar must be free even from suspicion, is a saying -that has passed down to our days: yet too many who have heard it are -ignorant of the circumstances attending its origin. We read the -commentaries of Cæsar at school, and are fired with admiration at his -talents and successes. We are thus prepared to pity his death and the -manner of it. But the military and political glories of Cæsar, can never -furnish an apology for a profligate private life; and a memorable saying -is stripped of every attraction, when we know that it was uttered by the -lips of a perjured atheist. - -In a letter to Atticus, Cicero draws a curious picture of the judges -selected to try this famous cause; a majority of whom appears to have -been packed from the outcasts of all the orders, and to have been paid -for the occasion. Clodius was acquitted by a majority of thirty-one -voices over twenty-five. Upon their appointment some of them had -requested a guard from the senate to protect them from the mob. Upon -which occasion, Catulus a distinguished member of the senate, very -facetiously asked one of the judges, “why they wanted a guard, and -whether it was to protect the money which Clodius had bribed them with?” - -After his acquittal, Clodius was wont to attempt to throw ridicule upon -Cicero in the senate, finding it vain to encounter him in argument, and -hoping to divert in some degree the force of his attacks. “So the -judges” said Clodius, “would give no credit to your oath.” “Twenty-five -of them did,” replied Cicero: “the rest would give you none it seems, -but made you pay beforehand.” - -After the return of Pompey to Rome, as well as of Cæsar from Spain, a -triumvirate of interests was formed between these two and Crassus: each -having his own ascendancy in view. Cæsar, to make the interest it was -thus intended to direct against the independence of the republic, still -stronger, made overtures to Cicero, who declined connecting himself with -them. At length Cæsar openly declared against him, and favoured the -election of Clodius to the tribunate, in the which he succeeded. Being -now in authority, he brought forward the law, that whoever had taken -away the life of a Roman citizen, uncondemned, should be interdicted -bread and water. This was directed against Cicero, in relation to his -consular acts respecting the conspirators; and affected him so much, -that although the law was in general terms, and his name was not -mentioned in it, he changed his garments, and appeared abroad sordidly -dressed to attract the compassion of the people. The young Romans of -liberal character, to the number of twenty thousand also changed their -dress, and accompanied him; soliciting the favour of all in authority, -and of the people, against the passage of this law. But the combination -of bad men proved too strong against him, and Pompey having refused his -protection, Cicero was induced by the advice of his friends, to withdraw -himself into a temporary exile from Rome. This humiliating event took -place in his forty-ninth year. During his absence his residences both in -town and country, which were upon a scale commensurate with his dignity, -were despoiled; and together with the furniture appropriated by the -consuls and by Clodius. At length the daring insolence of that tribune, -and the perpetual broils he occasioned, began to indispose all men -against him, except his immediate profligate retainers. Advantage was -taken of this to propose in the senate the recall of Cicero; which -finally prevailed at a very numerous convocation of the senators and -magistrates; Clodius alone giving a dissenting voice. At its final -passage into a law by the Roman people, the field of Mars was crowded -with their assembled centuries. Such was the public veneration for him, -that voters from every town in Italy were present to insure the passage -of a law which restored so great a benefactor to his country. All the -centuries concurred in an act thus most solemnly passed by the whole -Roman people. In anticipation of the event, he left Dyrrhachium in -Macedonia, and soon after his arrival at Brundisium, where his daughter -Tullia had come to meet him, he received the welcome news from Rome. His -journey was a continued triumph, and he was received on his arrival at -the city in the most enthusiastic manner. An insufficient sum of money -was voted to him to rebuild his mansions. When he had almost finished -his palatine house, it was attacked by one of Clodius’ mobs, and -destroyed. Broils and slaughters were now so common in the streets of -Rome, that gladiators were retained to assist in these feuds; in which -the consuls of the same year were sometimes opposed to each other. -Cicero who had now reached his fifty-first year, was again made to feel -how unremitting is the hatred of enemies, and uncertain the support of -friends. Public virtue appeared to him to have no longer any value in -the eyes of the Romans. He saw that every man attended more to his -private safety and advancement, than to the public peace and dignity of -the city; and perceiving the necessity of a powerful protector for -himself and family in his old age, he appears from one of his letters to -have determined to conform himself in every thing to the pleasure of -Pompey. We also see him from time to time engaged in agreeable services -to Cæsar, with whom Pompey was yet connected. Experience and persecution -appear to have induced him to adopt a course foreign to the character of -the perfect citizen he has pourtrayed in his republic. In his fourth -epistle to Atticus, he says[7] “If they will not be friendly to me who -possess no power, I must endeavour to make those like me who have the -power of being useful. ‘I told you so long ago,’ you will say; I know -that you did, and I was an ass for not taking your advice.” The opinion -too of his friend Cælius, would have great weight with most men, in such -disturbed times. “It cannot have escaped you, that the duty of men -amidst domestic dissensions, is to espouse the honestest side, as long -as the contention is of a civil nature, and force is not used. But when -it comes to wars and camps, they should take the strongest side, and -consider that the best which is the most safe.”[8] - -The influence of Cæsar was now becoming very conspicuous. His military -career in Gaul, his generosity, and the universality of his talents, -gave him at length a pre-eminence over Pompey in the public estimation. -Pompey and Crassus had entered into the consulship with little -observance of constitutional forms; and, with as little deference to the -senate, had caused provinces to be assigned to them for five years. -Spain and Africa to Pompey. Syria and the fatal Parthian war to Crassus. -This triumvirate had now almost the whole Roman military force at their -command. - -It was in the spring of the next year, that Cicero at his Cuman villa, -began his famous work on government. He was now advancing into his -fifty-fourth year, and it appears that he had completed his work before -he entered upon his command in Cilicia. His military career was -distinguished by great activity and judgment. He was saluted emperor by -the army upon one of his military successes, and returned gladly to Rome -at the end of the year. During the remainder of his eventful life, he -appears to have found comfort only in the cultivation of philosophy and -letters. The corruption of the Romans, the ruin of the republic, the -death of his beloved daughter, and his separation from the wife he had -lived with thirty years, embittered his days. He was too conspicuous a -man not to be affected by all the political changes which took place. -Crassus perished in the Parthian war; and Cæsar, as soon as he felt -himself strong enough, crossed the Rubicon, which was the limit of his -military command, and marched upon Rome, from which Pompey and the -senate ingloriously fled. Cicero at length felt himself also constrained -to follow the fortunes of Pompey, because he believed the dignity of the -Roman name was alone to be found under his banners. And when the battle -of Pharsalia left Cæsar sole master of the Roman world, he submitted to -Cæsar, because there was no other government to submit to. But he -rejoiced in his death, of which he was a spectator, and to the last, -gave all the aid in his power to the patriots who sought to raise the -liberties of his country. In his latter days, he showed an invincible -spirit, defying the profligate Anthony in the plenitude of his power. -And when the assassins of the second and more bloody triumvirate -surprised him, he ordered his servants to set down the litter in which -they were carrying him, and forbade them to defend him. Then undauntedly -stretching out his neck, he bade his executioners do their pleasure; -happy to escape from so much misery, to the immortality he had always -believed in. This occurred when he was just entering his -sixty-fourth-year. - -This rapid sketch of the transactions of Cicero’s times, will, it is -hoped, not be deemed impertinent, but may rather be considered as -assisting the general reader to form an adequate estimate of the great -object which Cicero had in view, when he drew up this celebrated -treatise, which was to revive the veneration of the Roman people for -their ancient institutions, now in danger from the machinations of -lawless men, at the head of whom was Cæsar, who denying in the senate a -future existence, expressed his contempt for all religion. But it has -been objected to Cicero that he was insincere, and that he called upon -his countrymen to venerate what was often the object of his ridicule. -The leading men of Rome who formed the sacerdotal order, from the -earliest periods and under all circumstances maintained their influence -over the people, chiefly by that religion they had been brought up in -the veneration of, and especially by the observance of auspices. But in -time the credulity of the Romans began to relax. Men like Cicero had for -their religion the glorious doctrine of the immortality of the soul, and -a great majority of his enlightened equals no doubt entertained his -opinions. Others, and among them was his brother Quintus, from various -motives, as has always been the case in the history of superstitions, -persevered in the prejudices they had received from education. -Prejudices acquired in infancy from our earliest and dearest protectors, -and to relinquish which, seems to require the relinquishment of all -reverence for those we most venerate. When therefore Cicero ridicules -the religious observances of his times, it is to enlightened men he -sometimes addresses himself; just as men have in all times laughed at -absurdities they do not care publicly to assail: and at other times he -may have used his ridicule to expose the most stupid superstitions -indiscriminately to all. When in his Republic he praises the institution -of auspices, however he may be charged with inconsistency, it was done -from great and public motives, and not from selfish ones. There is no -hypocrisy in this conduct, as we understand the word; and if we examine -the whole bearing of Cicero’s life, the policy which the circumstances -of it, sometimes obliged him to, will not offend liberal minds. In -estimating therefore the character of Cicero, it is well to remember Dr. -Middleton’s remark in his preface “and in every thing especially that -relates to Cicero, I would recommend the reader to contemplate the whole -character, before he thinks himself qualified to judge of its separate -parts, on which the whole will always be found the surest comment.” - -The first book is the most complete of the whole six: the opening -however is imperfect. Cicero in his own person enters into a discussion -whether governments should be administered by contemplative -philosophers, or by active practical men. He recapitulates the arguments -on both sides of the question, often discussed by the ancients, and -decides the question in consonance with those feelings which had -governed his very active life. The eloquence and force of some of the -passages are inimitable. They will be applicable to all times as long as -civil government exists among men. But in this country where the -experiment of a popular government is trying upon so comprehensive a -scale, the grandeur of the sentiments deserves the attention of every -man. As where he states as an argument of those who shun active -occupations, that it is dangerous to meddle with public affairs in -turbulent times, and disgraceful to associate with the low and -disreputable men who are conspicuous at those periods; that it is vain -to hope to restrain the mad violence of the vulgar, or to withdraw from -such a contest without injury; “As if,” he adds with a generous -enthusiasm, “there could be a more just cause for good and firm men, -endowed with noble minds, to stand forth in aid of their country, than -that they may not be subject to bad men; nor suffer the republic to be -lacerated by them, before the desire of saving it may come too late.” - -After disposing of this question, he proceeds with great address to open -the plan of his work, and presents in all the beautiful simplicity of -the times, Scipio, his friend Lælius, with some of their most -accomplished cotemporaries, seated, not in the gorgeous saloon of a -Lucullus or Crassus, but in the sunny part, because it was the winter -season, of the lawn of Scipio’s country place; where they had convened -to pass the Latin holidays in discussing philosophical questions. Here, -upon an inquiry being instituted into the cause of two suns reported to -have been seen in the heavens, occasion is found to introduce in a very -pleasing manner, the astronomical knowledge of the day, which Cicero was -well versed in. Scipio is made here to deliver a magnificent passage, -beginning at the 17th section. “Who can perceive any grandeur in human -affairs,” &c.[9] This inquiry about celestial phenomena, which appeared -so foreign to a philosophical investigation on the principles of -government, is admirably closed and without the abruptness being -perceived, by Lælius asking how it can interest him that Scipio should -be solicitous about the two suns, “when he does not inquire the cause -why two senates, and almost two people exist in one republic.” At the -general request Scipio consents to deliver his opinion of government. He -defines a republic to be the “public thing,” or common interest of all: -and he shews most satisfactorily that human beings congregate not on -account of their weakness, but that they are led thereto by the social -principle, which is innate in man, and leads him even in the midst of -the greatest abundance to seek his fellow. He successively examines the -despotic, the aristocratic, and democratic forms of government: their -advantages and disadvantages; and concludes that a fourth kind of -government, moderated and compounded from those three is most to be -approved. This is subsequently recurred to and enlarged upon. Many -persons will be surprised that the balanced representative form of -government, which has but in modern times received the sanction of the -wisest nations, should have been shadowed forth in an apparently -speculative opinion, two thousand years ago. We must however remember, -that in the numerous small independent states of Greece; their various -forms of government, the tyranny of their kings, the oppression of the -aristocracies, and the violence of the people, had produced many -discussions among their writers. Few of these have come down to us. Yet -Cicero was familiar with them, and it is evident that his plan of a -mixed government was drawn from this source. There is a passage to this -effect preserved in the Anthology of Stobæus, of Hyppodamus. He says -that royalty, which is a copy of divinity, is insufficient, on account -of the degeneracy of human nature. That it must be limited by an -aristocracy, where the principle of emulation leads men to excel each -other: and that the citizen also should be admitted into that mixed -government as of right: but cautiously, as the people are apt to fall -into disorders. These opinions also flattered the Romans, for in fact it -was substantially their own form of government, which consisted of -consuls, patricians, and the people and their tribunes. - -Scipio in the 43d section, gives an eloquent passage from Plato, where -the excesses of the multitude are painted in the strongest language; a -passage which might well have been inspired by the French revolution. - -Scipio opens the second book with the origin of the Roman people, -adopting the received opinions concerning the early history of Rome, of -Romulus, and the succeeding kings. These opinions have of late, been -much controverted. Niebuhr whose erudition appears to be inimitable, -whatever success he may be thought to have had in shaking them, has -substituted nothing satisfactory in their place, at least as far as we -may gather from his first volume. One thing may be safely asserted, that -Cicero might well present in his republic, those traditions of the -times, as the real history of his country, because the Roman people were -acquainted with no other. He could not call upon them to venerate the -founders of Rome and their institutions, and tell them at the same time -they had never existed. Niebuhr himself strengthens the account given at -section 19, Book II., of the Greek descent of the first Tarquin, by -observing that the clay vases made at Tarquinii were painted, and -resembled in colour and drawing some discovered near Corinth. He says -they are found only in the district of Tarquinii, and that the -circumstance implies a peculiar intercourse between Corinth and -Tarquinii. - -In the 22d section of the 2d Book, is another passage with which Niebuhr -is not satisfied, and which even Professor Mai terms “vexatissimum -locum.” Cicero says the Roman people were distributed by Servius into -six classes, whose entire elective force was one hundred and -ninety-three centuries. To give the landed proprietors who were rated in -the first class, a majority of this number, or ninety-seven votes, three -centuries of horse with six suffrages, meaning those inscribed in the -great census or register, in contradistinction to the horsemen set apart -from the mass of the whole people; the century of carpenters, and the -first class, constituted together eighty-nine centuries. Eight more -centuries taken from the other five classes and added to this number, -made ninety-seven, being a majority of one over ninety-six, and thus in -Cicero’s words “Confecta est vis, populi universa.” The unwearied -erudition of Niebuhr, to which great deference is due, is not satisfied -with the simplicity of this statement of the Roman Constitution, but -assails it with an unusual bitterness of critical spirit. He supposes -the passage from its genuine state to have been corrupted by successive -transcribers and commentators, to the order in which Professor Mai has -thought proper to give it to the public, and that in its original state -it stood thus. “Nunc rationem videtis esse talem ut prima classis, -addita centuria quæ ad summum usum urbis fabris tignariis est data: -LXXXI centurias habeat; quibus ex CXIV centuriis, tot enim reliquæ sunt, -equitum centuriæ cum sex suffragiis solæ si accesserunt,” &c. - -“Now you will perceive the plan was such, that the first class, a -century being added from the carpenters on account of their great -utility to the city, consisted of eighty-one centuries; to which if from -the one hundred and fourteen centuries, for so many remain, only the -centuries of horse with six suffrages are added,” &c. I forbear to add -his very curious reasons for this proposed restoration, and which, not -to be deemed extravagant, require to be judged by those familiar with -the emendations of ancient MSS. It will be perceived, however, that he -makes the whole number of centuries to consist of one hundred and -ninety-five; and that he gives the landed proprietors a majority of -ninety-nine over the ninety-six centuries belonging to the other five -classes, which appears superfluous in a system which aimed at the -appearance of moderation, “ne superbum esset.” Substantially the system -appears to have been this. The Roman people were distributed into six -classes, having one hundred and ninety-three centuries or votes. The -first class consisting of men of rank and property, with the centuries -of horse, had ninety-six votes; leaving ninety-seven votes to the other -five classes. In order, however, to give the ascendancy to the first -class in the least offensive way, the century of blacksmiths and -carpenters was added to the first class, under pretence of their great -utility to the city; but really because they were dependent upon the -first class and the cavalry for employment, and could be relied upon. In -this manner the first class secured a majority of ninety-seven votes. -The second book closes with a declaration from Scipio, that unless the -most perfect justice is observed, no government can prosper. - -The third book opens with a philosophical analysis of the faculties of -man, introductory to the great principle of the immutable nature of -justice, which it appears was fully discussed in this book, of which so -small a portion is preserved. A splendid picture is drawn in the second -section of an accomplished statesman, such as Cicero himself had aimed -to be, and which from a passage in one of his letters to Atticus, -appears to have been farther elaborated in the sixth book. It relates to -a triumph about which he felt some anxiety after his government of -Cilicia. “If this idea of a triumph which even you approve, had not been -infused into me, you would not have had to look far for the perfect -citizen described in the sixth book.”[10] Philus is called upon to -defend the cause of injustice after the manner of Carneades the Greek -sophist. The powerful passage contained in the seventeenth section is -delivered by him. It was reserved for Lælius to close the discussion as -the advocate of justice. Scarce any part of his discourse is preserved. -Some fragments have, however, been collected by Professor Mai, preserved -by Nonius the Philologist, and by Lactantius. In the one, Lælius is made -to declare, that the Roman youth ought not to be permitted to listen to -Carneades, who if he thought as he spoke, was a bad man; and if he was -not, as he preferred to believe, his discourse was nevertheless -detestable. One of the passages from Lanctantius is that well known -exposition of eternal right, or natural law of justice of which -conscience is the voice. - -“There is indeed a law, right reason, which is in accordance with -nature; existing in all, unchangeable, eternal. Commanding us to do what -is right, forbidding us to do what is wrong. It has dominion over good -men, but possesses no influence over bad ones. No other law can be -substituted for it, no part of it can be taken away, nor can it be -abrogated altogether. Neither the people or the senate can absolve us -from it. It wants no commentator or interpreter. It is not one thing at -Rome, and another thing at Athens: one thing to-day, and another thing -to-morrow; but it is a law eternal and immutable for all nations and for -all time. God, the sole Ruler, and universal Lord, has framed and -proclaimed this law. He who does not obey it, renounces himself, and is -false to his own nature: he brings upon himself the direst tortures, -even when he escapes human punishments.”[11] - -The fourth book of which a mere fragment is preserved, appears to have -treated of domestic manners, the education of youth, and of Roman life, -public and private. We have lost here many fine pictures of the -simplicity of Roman manners, at that flourishing period of the republic, -as well as of the progress of luxury, which was not inconsiderable. A -fragment of this book is preserved in Nonius, where Scipio opposes the -collection of a revenue, necessary perhaps to make good those -deficiencies which extravagance had produced. “Nolo enim eundem populum -imperatorem et portitorem esse terrarum. Optimum autem et in privatis -familiis et in republica vectigal duco esse parsimoniam.” “I am not -willing that the same people should be the sovereigns and the -toll-gatherers of the world. I look upon economy to be the best revenue -for the republic, and for private individuals.” - -The fifth book is also a mere fragment. St. Augustin has preserved some -notices of it, from which it appears that it treated very much of the -ancient Roman institutions, with a view to show the degeneracy of the -times in which Cicero wrote. In the fifth section of this book, he -speaks of the comfortable enjoyment of life depending upon legal -marriages and lawful children; from whence perhaps we may gather the -obligation which the dissolute manners of the times had laid him under, -of asserting the value of these ties, as well as his own veneration for -them. - -Of the sixth book no part whatever has come down to us with this MSS: -but the important fragment on a future state preserved in Macrobius, -warrants our supposing that he was naturally led in a treatise so highly -philosophical, to pass from the consideration of human morals, to the -great object which moral conduct has in view: the resisting of human -weakness, for the sake of fitting the immortal part of our nature for a -higher condition of being. The dream of Scipio, encumbered as it is by -some of the pedantry of the schools, is a production of the highest -order, upon this most sublime of all subjects. - ------ - -Footnote 1: - - His. Nat. 18. 3. 1. - -Footnote 2: - - Cato de Re Rustica. Majores enim nostri, &c. - -Footnote 3: - - Dio. 11. 8. Gellius xv. 27. - -Footnote 4: - - Roma patrem patriæ Ciceronem libera dixit. Juv. 8. - -Footnote 5: - - Magna Voce me vere jurasse juravit. Ep. fam. 5. 2. - -Footnote 6: - - Quoniam, inquit, meos tam suspicione quam crimine judico carere - oportere. Suet. J. Cæs. 74. - -Footnote 7: - - Sed quoniam qui nihil possunt, &c. - -Footnote 8: - - Ep. fam. 8. 14. - -Footnote 9: - - “Quid porro aut præclarum putet in rebus humanis.” Lib. 1. xvii. - -Footnote 10: - - Let. to Att. vii. 3. - -Footnote 11: - - Lact. Inst. vi. 8. - - - - - CICERO’S REPUBLIC. - - -[Illustration] - - - - - BOOK I. - - -I. For without the strong feeling of patriotism, neither had G. Duelius, -Aulus Atilius or L. Metellus freed us from the terror of Carthage; or -the two Scipios extinguished with their blood the rising flame of the -second punic war. Quintus Maximus would not have weakened, nor M. -Marcellus have crushed the one which was springing up with still greater -strength: or P. Africanus turning it from the gates of this city, have -borne it amid the walls of our enemies. Yet it was not thought -unbecoming in M. Cato, an unknown and a new man, by whom all of us who -emulate his course are led as a bright example of industry and virtue, -to enjoy the repose of Tusculum, that healthy and convenient situation. -That insane man, however, as some have considered him, preferred when -urged by no necessity, to contend amid those waves and tempests to -extreme old age; rather than pass his days in the most agreeable manner, -amid so much ease and tranquillity. Men without number I omit, each of -whom were benefactors to the State, and who are not far removed from the -remembrance of this generation. I forbear to commemorate them, lest any -one should reproach me with neglecting to speak of himself or his -immediate friends. This one truth I would mark, that nature has so -strongly implanted in man the necessity of virtue, and so powerful an -inclination to defend the common welfare, that this principle overcomes -all the blandishments of voluptuousness and ease. - -II. Yet to possess virtue, like some art, without exercising it, is -insufficient. Art indeed, when not effective, is still comprehended in -science. The efficacy of all virtue consists in its use. Its greatest -end is the government of states, and the perfection not in words but in -deeds, of those very things which are taught in the halls. For nothing -is propounded by philosophers, concerning what is esteemed to be just -and proper, that is not confirmed and assured by those who have -legislated for states. For from whence springs piety, or from whom -religion? Whence the law, either of nations, or that which is called -civil? Whence justice, faith, equity? Whence modesty, continence, the -dread of turpitude, the love of praise and esteem? Whence fortitude in -trouble and dangers? From those who having laid a foundation for these -things in early education, have strengthened some of them by the -influence of manners, and sanctioned others by the influence of laws. Of -Xenocrates, one of the noblest of philosophers, it is said, that when he -was asked what his disciples learnt of him, he replied “to do that of -their own choice, which the laws enjoined them to do,” therefore the -citizen who obliges every one by the authority and fear of the law to do -that, which philosophers by reasoning, with difficulty persuade a few to -do, is to be preferred to those learned men who only dispute about these -things. For which of their orations, however exquisite, can be compared -in value to a well constituted state, to public right and to morals. -Truly as great and powerful cities, as Ennius says, are as I think, to -be preferred to villages and castles; so those who stand pre-eminent in -those cities, in authority and counsel, are to be esteemed far before -those in wisdom, who are altogether ignorant of the conduct of public -affairs. And since we are chiefly urged by a desire to increase the -possessions of the human race, and seek by our counsels and labours, to -surround the life of man with gratification and security, and are -incited by the instincts of nature to these enjoyments; let us hold the -course which was always that of the best men: nor attend to those -signals which speculative philosophers make from their retirement, to -allure back those who are already far advanced. - -III. Against these reasons so certain and so clear, it is urged by those -who are opposed to us: first, the labour to be undergone in preserving -the public welfare; a slight impediment to the zealous and industrious, -not alone in matters of such high import, but in inferior things: -whether in studies or in official stations; and to be despised even in -affairs of business. To this they add the dangers to which life is -exposed, and the dread of death, which brave men scorn; being wont to -view it as more wretched to waste away by infirmity and old age, than to -seize an occasion to devote that life to the advantage of their country, -which one day must be rendered to nature. It is here however they deem -themselves most successful and eloquent, when they bring forward the -calamities of eminent men, and the injuries heaped upon them by their -ungrateful countrymen. Here come the instances in Grecian history. -Miltiades, the conqueror and subduer of the Persians, with those wounds -yet streaming, which he received in front, in the height of victory: -preserved from the weapons of the enemy, to waste away his life in the -chains of his countrymen. And Themistocles proscribed and driven from -the country he had freed, flying, not to the harbours of that Greece he -had preserved, but to the barbarous shores he had harrassed. Nor indeed -are instances wanting among the Athenians of levity and cruelty towards -great numbers of their citizens; instances which springing up repeatedly -among them, are said also to have abounded too conspicuously in our -city. For either the exile of Camillus, the misfortune of Ahala, the ill -will towards Nasica, or the expulsion of Lenas, or the condemnation of -Opimus is remembered: or the flight of Metellus, the sad overthrow of C. -Marius, the cutting off of the most eminent citizens, or the destruction -of many of them, which soon after followed. Nor indeed is my name -forgotten. And I judge that deeming themselves to owe both life and ease -to my peril and counsel, they have a more deep and tender remembrance of -me. But it is not easy to explain how they who cross the seas for the -sake of observing or describing * * * - - [Two pages wanting.] - -IV. * * * * At the expiration of my consulship, when in the assembly of -the Roman people, I swore that the republic had been saved by my -exertions, which they confirmed by universal acclamation, I was requited -for the cares and vexations of every injury. Albeit my reverses had more -honour than pain attached to them, and less disquietude than glory. -Greater was my pleasure at receiving the approbation of good men, than -my regret at observing the satisfaction of the bad. But had it happened -otherwise, as I said, what complaint could I make? Nothing unforeseen -could have occurred, nor more grievous than I might have expected for so -many of my deeds. For I was one who could well have gathered greater -fruits from ease than others, on account of the agreeable variety of the -studies I had pursued from my childhood; and if any disaster had -overtaken the republic, I need not have sustained a greater share of it, -but have divided it equally with the rest. I hesitated not to oppose -myself to those stormy tempests, and almost raging waves, for the sake -of preserving my fellow citizens, and of accomplishing at my own risk -the common safety of all. For our country has not produced us, or -educated us under a law, that she is entitled to no support on our part, -lending herself as it were to our convenience only; furnishing a secure -refuge, and a tranquil and peaceful asylum to our indolence: but rather -holds as pledges to her, to be employed for her benefit, the many and -great faculties of our mind, genius, and reason; and only permits us to -appropriate to our private purposes, that portion of them, of which she -stands in no need. - -V. The pretences which are urged for the enjoyment of indolence are not -to be listened to. As when it is stated that the public affairs are -meddled with by men worthy of no confidence, with whom it is disgraceful -to associate: yet to contend against whom is a miserable and dangerous -effort, especially when the multitude is excited. For which reason a -prudent man ought not to take the reins, when he is not able to restrain -the mad and untameable violence of the vulgar: or a generous man expose -himself to the lashes of contumely in a strife with low and outrageous -adversaries: or a wise man hope to withdraw from such a contest without -injury. As if there could well be a more just cause for good and firm -men, endowed with noble minds, to stand forth in aid of their country, -than that they may not be subject to bad men; nor suffer the republic to -be lacerated by them, before the desire of saving it may come too late. - -VI. But who can approve of their exception, that a wise man ought not to -take upon him any part of the public affairs, unless an occasion of -extraordinary need should drive him to it? as if indeed a greater -necessity could ever have happened to any one, than occurred to myself. -How could I have been useful then, had I not been consul? and how could -I have been consul, had I not pursued that course of life from my youth, -which belonging to the equestrian rank, in which I was born, enabled me -to attain the first honours of the state? No man therefore can assume at -pleasure the ability of aiding in the public service, however urgent the -danger may be, unless he stands in that relation to his country, which -fits him for the occasion. And it appears to me most marvellous, that in -the discourse of learned men, they who declare themselves unable to -steer in a calm sea, because they have never been taught, nor have ever -studied the subject, talk of taking the helm in the midst of the -greatest storms. For these very men openly declare, and pride themselves -greatly upon it, that they have never studied or taught the mode of -establishing or protecting the public interest; which they think the -exclusive province, not of learned and erudite men, but of those who are -practised in these matters. What consistency is there then in promising -to aid the republic in times of peril, when they are incapable of the -easier task of directing it in the calmest moments? And although, in -truth, the philosopher is not wont of his own accord, to consider the -details of state affairs, unless called upon by the times to do it, when -indeed he will not decline what duty imposes on him; nevertheless, I -judge the knowledge of state affairs is least to be neglected by a wise -man; that every thing may be familiar to him, for he cannot tell the -moment, when it may be necessary for him to avail himself of his -knowledge. - -VII. These things I have somewhat enlarged upon, because the discussion -proposed and undertaken by me in this work, was on government: and in -order to prevent its being without effect, it was necessary in the first -instance, to remove every doubt as to the duty of engaging in the public -service. Nevertheless if there are any who are governed by the opinions -of philosophers, let them turn their attention for a while, and listen -to those who enjoy a proud pre-eminence among learned men, even when -they have not borne any charge in the republic; still whom I deem from -the extent of their studies, and their writings on government, to have -been invested with functions appertaining to the public interest. But -those seven, whom the Greeks call wise, I perceive have almost all been -greatly engaged in public affairs. For there is no one thing in which -human worth is more nearly allied to the power of the gods, than to -found new states, or to preserve those already founded. - -VIII. Concerning which matters, since it hath happened to me, to be -deemed something worthy of memory in my administration of public -affairs, and to possess some talent for unfolding them; not only in -practice, but being versed too in the art of speaking and teaching: -while of those before me, some were perfect in debate, yet unknown by -their deeds; others of respectable parts for business, without the -talent of oratory. Still it is not my intention here to bring forward -any new system invented by myself, but to repeat a discussion, that took -place at a certain period of our history, among our most illustrious and -wise men, which was related to me a long time ago in my youth, by P. -Rutilius Rufus, when we were at Smyrna together: in the which I think -scarce any point was omitted that belongs to the consideration of these -great matters. - -IX. When P. Africanus, the son of Paulus, established Latin holidays in -his gardens, during the consulate of Tuditanus, and Aquilius; and his -most intimate friends had promised to visit him frequently at that -season. On the morning of the first day, Q. Tubero, the eldest son of -his sister, came. Pleased with his visit, and kindly addressing him -“What! Tubero,” said he, “is it you so early? I should have thought -these holidays would have given you a favourable opportunity of pursuing -your literary inquiries.” “Why in truth,” replied he, “I can apply all -my leisure to my books, for they are always disengaged. But to find you -at leisure, is very remarkable; especially at this time so critical for -the republic.” “So help me Hercules,” said Scipio, “however you find me, -it is more idle in appearance than in truth.” “You must now,” said -Tubero, “relax your mind a little also, for several of us have -determined if it is not inconvenient to you, to spend some of our -leisure with you.” “With all my heart,” replied Scipio, “provided we may -acquire some information thereby on philosophical subjects.” - -X. “Since you invite and encourage me to it yourself,” said Tubero, “let -us first converse, Africanus, before the others come, about the meaning -of this double sun which has been spoken of in the senate. For those who -declare that they have seen two suns, are neither few in number, nor -insignificant persons: so that it appears to be of less importance to -doubt the fact, than to inquire into the cause of it.” “Would that we -had with us our excellent Panætius,” said Scipio, “who among other -objects of knowledge, was so diligent an inquirer about celestial -phenomena. As to myself, Tubero—for to you I will freely declare what I -think; I am not drawn in to adopt in matters of this sort, the opinions -of our friend, who pronounces things which are scarcely within the reach -of conjecture, to be as manifest, as if he beheld them with his eyes, or -could lay his hands upon them. On which account I am accustomed to -consider Socrates much wiser, who leaves the consideration of such -things aside, and teaches that the phenomena about which nature may be -interrogated, are either beyond the force of human reason, or irrelevant -to the conduct of human affairs.” “I know not,” rejoined Tubero, “what -authority there is for the fact, that Socrates rejected all discussion -upon such matters, and confined himself to the moral conduct of human -life. For what author is to be commended, as more ample on that head -than Plato; in whose writings, in many places, it is the custom of -Socrates in discussing morals, the virtues, and finally public affairs; -to allude studiously to the science of numbers, to geometry, and to -harmony, after the Pythagorean mode.” Scipio answered, “these things are -as you say; but I dare say you have heard, Tubero, that Plato after the -death of Socrates, was carried by the love of knowledge first into -Egypt, afterwards into Italy and Sicily, that he might obtain an insight -into the discoveries of Pythagoras. That he associated much with -Archytas the Tarentine, and with Timæus of Locram. That he acquired the -commentaries of Philolaus, and perceiving that the name of Pythagoras -was at that time in great reputation in those places, he dedicated his -time to the disciples of Pythagoras and to their opinions. But as he had -loved Socrates alone, and wished to make all things conducive to his -reputation, he interwove very skilfully the subtlety and humour of the -Socratic style with the mysteries of Pythagoras, and with many branches -of the arts.” - -As Scipio ceased to speak, he suddenly saw L. Furius approaching, and as -soon as he had kindly saluted him, he took him by the hand, and placed -him on his couch. And as P. Rutilius the accomplished preserver of this -conversation appeared at the same time, saluting him also in the same -manner, he bade him be seated near to Tubero. “What are you engaged in,” -said Furius; “hath our arrival broken in upon your conversation?” “Not -in the least,” replied Africanus, “for it is precisely about matters, -such as Tubero has just been introducing, that thou art wont diligently -to inquire into, and to investigate. And indeed our friend Rutilius was -in the habit occasionally of discussing things of this kind with me, -when we were under the walls of Numantia.” “What is the subject you have -fallen upon?” said Philus. “These two suns,” replied he, “respecting -which I am desirous of hearing your opinion.” - -XII. As he spoke this, a boy announced that Lælius was approaching, -having already left his house; upon which Scipio having dressed himself, -left his chamber, and had made but a few paces in the portico, when he -saluted Lælius who was approaching, and those who were with him: Spurius -Mummius, to whom he was particularly attached; Fannius, and Quintus -Scævola, sons-in-law of Lælius, highly gifted young men of the -quæstorial age. And having welcomed them all, he made another turn on -the portico, placing Lælius in the middle; for in their friendship it -was a sort of law between them, that Lælius did homage to Scipio as to a -god, on account of his glorious pre-eminence in war; while in his turn -Scipio, in private life, paid to Lælius all the reverence due to a -parent, on account of his superior years. And having chatted a little -together in various places, Scipio, who was very much enlivened and -gratified with their arrival, was pleased to have them seated in a sunny -place in a little meadow, on account of its being the winter season; -which as they were about to do, M. Manilius came, a prudent and -agreeable person, and very dear to them all; who being cordially saluted -by Scipio and the rest, took his seat next to Lælius. - -XIII. “It does not seem to me necessary,” said Philus “that we should -seek another subject of conversation on account of those who are -arrived, but that we should observe more accuracy, and say something -worthy of their ears.” “What subject were you upon,” said Lælius, “and -what discussion are we come to be present at?” “Scipio was inquiring of -me,” replied Philus, “what my opinion was respecting the fact of two -suns having been seen.” - -Lælius. “Why truly Philus, is there no longer any thing left for us to -inquire about, touching our own domestic affairs, or those appertaining -to the republic, that we must be exploring the things that are passing -in the heavens?” “Dost thou then think,” replied he, “that it does not -concern our own mansions, to know what is passing, and what is done in -that vast one, not the one surrounded by our walls, but that which -constitutes the universe, and which the gods have given to us for a -domicile, and a common country with themselves. Especially when if we -are ignorant of them, many and very high matters will be hidden from us. -As to myself, the contemplation and knowledge of these things delight -me, as certainly as it does you, Lælius, and all who are eager in the -pursuit of knowledge.” “I offer no impediment,” said Lælius, especially -at this holiday time; but shall we hear any thing, or are we come too -late?” - -Philus. “Nothing has been discussed yet, and as the subject is entire, I -freely concede to you, Lælius, the right of expressing your sentiments -first.” - -Lælius. “Let us rather hear you, unless Manilius thinks, that some -decree by way of compromise between these two suns may be adjusted; so -that each may keep possession of its own part of the firmament.” “You -love still to banter that science, Lælius, in which I am proud to -excel,” replied Manilius, “and without which no one could know his own -possession from anothers. But of that by and by. Let us now listen to -Philus, who I perceive has a case of greater difficulty referred to him, -than ever came before me or P. Mucius.” - -XIV. “I shall lay nothing new before you,” said Philus, “nor any thing -discovered or thought of by myself. I remember, however, that C. -Sulpicius Gallus, a very learned man as you know; when this same -phenomenon was stated to have been seen, being by chance in the house of -M. Marcellus, who had been in the consulate with him; ordered a sphere -to be placed before him, which the ancestor of M. Marcellus had taken -from the conquered Syracusans, and brought out of their wealthy and -embellished city; the only thing he had possessed himself of among so -great a spoil. I had heard a great deal of this sphere, on account of -the fame of Archimedes, but did not admire the construction of it so -much; for another which Archimedes also had made, and which the same -Marcellus had placed in the temple of virtue, was more elegant and -remarkable in the general opinion. But subsequently, when Gallus began -very scientifically to explain the nature of the mechanism; the Sicilian -appeared to me to possess more genius, than human nature would seem to -be capable of. Gallus said, that the other solid and full sphere was an -old invention, and was first wrought by Thales of Miletas: but -afterwards was delineated over with the fixed stars in the heavens by -Eudoxus, the Cnidian, a disciple of Plato. The which adorned and -embellished as it was by Eudoxus, Aratus who had no knowledge of -astronomy, but a certain poetical faculty, many years afterwards -extolled in his verses. The mechanism of this sphere, however, on which -the motions of the sun, moon, and those five stars which are called -wandering and irregular, are shown; could not be illustrated on that -solid sphere. But what appeared very admirable in this invention of -Archimedes was, that he had discovered a method of producing the unequal -and various courses, with their dissimilar velocities, by one -revolution. When Gallus put this sphere in motion, the moon was made to -succeed the sun by as many revolutions of the brass circle, as it -actually took days to do in the heavens. From which the same setting of -the sun was produced on the sphere as in the heavens: and the moon fell -on the very point, where it met the shadow of the earth, when the sun -from the region * * * * - - [About ten pages wanting.] - -XV. * * * * * for he was a man I was very much attached to, and I know -that my father Paulus esteemed and placed the highest value on him. I -remember when I was but a boy, being with my father, who was then consul -in Macedonia; that while we were encamped, our army was struck with a -religious dread, because the full and splendid moon in the serenity of -the night, was suddenly eclipsed. He being then our lieutenant, the year -just before that in which he was declared consul, did not hesitate the -following day, to pronounce openly in the camp, that it was no prodigy. -And that what had then taken place, would always occur in future at -those particular periods, when the position of the sun was such, that -its rays could not fall upon the moon. “But how could he,” asked Tubero, -“make men half wild, comprehend such matters, or venture to speak of -them before the unenlightened?” - -Scipio. “Indeed he did, and with great * * * * - - [About two pages wanting.] - -* * * * * there was neither a haughty ostentation, nor any thing in his -speech unbecoming a grave personage; and he accomplished a point of -great importance, in removing from the disturbed minds of the men, the -influence of an idle and fearful superstition. - -XVI. There was an occurrence similar to this during the great war, which -the Athenians and Lacedemonians waged against each other with so much -inveteracy. Darkness being suddenly produced by the obscuration of the -sun, and a prodigious fear taking possession of the minds of the -Athenians. Pericles, the first man in the city, in authority, in -eloquence, and in council; taught the citizens what he had himself -learnt from Anaxagoras, whose pupil he had been: that it was an -unavoidable appearance at the particular period, when the moon had -placed herself immediately before the orb of the sun: and although it -did not take place every lunar period; it could nevertheless be -occasioned only by the moon’s motion. Having convinced them by -reasoning, he delivered the people from their apprehension. For it was -then a strange and unknown reason to give for an eclipse, that the sun -and moon were in opposition to each other, which it is said, was first -observed by Thales the Milesian. At a later period, this had not escaped -our Ennius, who wrote about the year 350 of the building of Rome, in the -nones of June; that “_the moon and night stood before the sun_.” So -great, however, is the advancement of knowledge in these matters, that -from this day, which we find noted in the principal annals, and by -Ennius; the previous occultations of the sun are fixed up to that which -took place in the reign of Romulus, in the nones of the fifth month. -During which darkness, Romulus, whom the laws of nature indeed would -have carried to the tomb, is said to have been borne by his virtue to -heaven. - -XVII. Then Tubero, “Dost thou not perceive Africanus, that what appeared -otherwise to thee a while ago * * * * * * - - [About two pages wanting.] - -* * * * * * “Who can perceive any grandeur in human affairs, whose eyes -are accustomed to survey the empire of the gods? What are temporal -things in the eyes of those conversant with eternal ones? What is there -glorious to the contemplation of him, who looks at the small size of the -earth; first as to its whole extent, then to that part of it which men -inhabit? And yet we, confined to so small a portion of it, unknown to -most nations, hope our name will be diffused to its utmost limits. What -are lands, and houses, and flocks, and immense masses of gold and silver -to him who neither considers them desirable nor calls them so: the -fruition of which appears to him trifling, the use unsatisfactory, the -possession uncertain: and which are often in the hands of the most -contemptible of men? How fortunate may that man be esteemed, who alone -claims a share in all things, not as the privilege of a citizen, but of -a philosopher: not by civil rights, but by the common law of nature, -which forbids any one to be the proprietor of aught, of the proper use -of which he is ignorant! Who considers our consulships and high offices, -not to be sought after for the sake of personal advantage or glory; not -as things to be coveted, but to be undertaken as duties. The man finally -who can say that of himself which my ancestor Africanus, as Cato writes, -was wont to say, “that he never was more busy than when he was doing -nothing; and that he never was less alone, than when nobody was with -him.” - -For who can deem Dionysius to have accomplished a greater thing, when by -the greatest exertion he snatched their liberties from the citizens, -than Archimedes his countryman, who appearing to be occupied in nothing, -produced this sphere of which we were but now conversing? Are they not -more alone, who find no one in the forum or in the crowd who chooses to -talk with them, than those who without any witness can converse with -themselves; or as it were, be present at the councils of the most -learned men, when they solace themselves with their discoveries and -writings? Who in truth can imagine any one to be more rich, than the man -who has no wants, beyond the simple calls of nature; or more powerful -than him, who has attained the possession of al that he desires; or more -blessed than him who is freed from all anxiety of mind? or what man’s -fortune is better established than his, who can carry along with him, or -out of a shipwreck as men are wont to say, all his possessions? What -command, what office, what kingdom can be preferred to that condition of -mind, which looking down upon all things human, and esteeming them to be -the objects of an inferior wisdom, turns ever to the contemplation of -those things that are divine and eternal: persuaded that they only -deserve to be called men, who are refined by the sciences of humanity? -That which has been said of Plato, or of some other sage, appears to me -therefore very excellent. Who being borne by a tempest to unknown lands, -and cast on a desert shore, while his companions were apprehensive on -account of their ignorance of the place, is said to have perceived -geometrical figures described on the sand. Which when he saw, he bade -them all be of good heart, for he had seen vestiges of men. Not that he -judged so from the cultivation of the fields which he beheld, but from -these indications of science. For all these reasons, Tubero, learning, -and learned men, and these thy studies have always been pleasing to me. - -XVIII. Then said Lælius, “I am not bold enough, Scipio, to speak of -these things: nor even to thee, or Philus, or Manilius * * * * * - - [Two pages wanting] - -* * * * in his paternal house we have had a friend, worthy to be -imitated by him. - -“Ælius Sextus, conspicuously discreet and wise.” That he was -conspicuously discreet and wise, is said by Ennius, not because he -sought after what he was not able to discover, but because he answered -those who made inquiries of him, in a manner to solve their difficulties -and anxieties, in whose mouth when arguing against the studies of -Gallus, were always these words of Achilles, in Iphigenia. - - “Astrology, its signs; how are they read in heaven? - When goat or scorpion, or ferocious names arise, - The obvious earth is shunned, to scrutinize the skies.” - -He also said, for many times and willingly I listened to him, that -Zethus the author of Pacuvius, was too great an enemy to science. The -Neoptolemus of Ennius pleased him more; who says that he likes to -philosophize but only with a few; not willing to give himself up to it -altogether. But if the studies of the Greeks delight you so much, there -are others freer and more easily diffused, which we may bring to the use -of life, or even to that of the republic. As for these arts, their value -consists, if in any thing, in stimulating and sharpening the genius of -young boys; enabling them in this manner the better to comprehend -greater things. - -XIX. “I do not dissent from you, Lælius,” said Tubero, “but ask what you -understand by greater things?” - -Lælius. “I will tell you in good faith, although you may somewhat -despise me for it; since it is you who are asking Scipio about these -celestial matters. As for myself, I think those things most worthy of -our attention, which lay immediately before our eyes. How can it -interest me that the grandson of L. Paulus by the mother’s side, born of -such a noble and illustrious family in this republic, should seek for -reasons why two suns have been seen, when he does not inquire the cause -why two senates, and almost two people exist in one republic? For as you -perceive the death of Tiberius Gracchus, and even before that event, the -whole proceedings of his tribunate were dividing one people into two -parties: those who are the detractors of Scipio also, and are envious of -him, urged on at first by P. Crassus and Appius Claudius, keep up -notwithstanding their death, an opposition to us in the senate, through -the influence of Metellus and P. Mucius. Nor will they suffer him to -come forward, who is alone equal to so dangerous a crisis, amidst the -factious and dangerous associations made under the Roman name: amidst -violated compacts, and the new matters daily stirring by the seditious -triumvirs, to the consternation of good and respectable men. Wherefore -young men, if you will listen to me, entertain no apprehensions about -this double sun: for either it is nothing at all, or if it is a reality, -as far as it has been observed, there is nothing injurious in it. Either -we can know nothing about such matters, or even if we could know all -about them, we should not be better or happier for that knowledge. But -one senate and one people we may have; that is practicable. And if it is -not done, we shall suffer for it. And we know it is otherwise, and that -if it were effected, we should have more stability, and be happier and -better.” - -XX. Then Mucius. “What is it we have to learn, in your opinion, Lælius, -that we may be able to effect what you require of us?” - -Lælius. “Those sciences whose tendency is to enable us to be useful to -the state; for I deem that to be the most pre-eminent gift of wisdom, as -well as the noblest fruit of virtue and duty. Wherefore that these -holidays may be productive of conversations in an especial manner useful -to the republic, let us entreat Scipio to impart to us, what he deems to -be the happiest condition of a state. Afterwards we can consider other -matters, the knowledge of which I hope will bring us to the subject -before us, and will unfold the causes of the present condition of -things. - - [Two pages wanting.] - -XXI. * * * * * not for that cause alone I wished it, but because I -thought it proper that the first person in the republic should first -speak on public affairs; and because I remembered that you were -accustomed frequently to discuss with Panætius before Polybius, two -Greeks extremely versed in civil affairs; and that you had proved by -various reasonings the excellence of that form of government, which our -ancestors had transmitted to us from so distant a period. In the which -matter, you, being more competent to it, will do an agreeable thing to -us all, (for I speak also for the rest,) if you will unfold to us your -opinion of the commonwealth.” - -XXII. “I cannot,” he began, “say that I have been in the habit of -turning my mind more intensely and diligently to the consideration of -any subject, than the very one which you now propose to me, Lælius. For -when I perceive that every artificer who truly excels in his vocation, -is filled with anxiety, care, and zeal, lest any one should surpass him -in his art. I, whose chief duty, bequeathed to me by my parents and -ancestors, is the conduct and administration of the republic, must -confess myself more indolent than any artisan, if I bestowed less -attention on the greatest of arts, than he does on the most -insignificant. But neither am I satisfied with the writings on this -subject which the first and wisest among the Greeks have left to us; -while I hesitate to establish my own conclusions in preference to -theirs. Wherefore I intreat you, not to listen to me as one entirely -ignorant of the affairs of the Greeks, nor as one who gives them the -preference to our own writers, particularly in matters of this kind; but -as one liberally brought up by the diligence of distinguished parents, -and ardent in the love of knowledge from his youth; yet nevertheless -much more formed by domestic experience, than by literary studies.” - -XXIII. “I doubt,” said Philus here, “whether any one has ever excelled -you in genius. We know to what studies you have always been partial, and -that in your acquaintance with the great affairs of the state, you have -surpassed every one: wherefore if as you say, your mind has been -particularly turned to matters which have now become almost a science: I -feel very much indebted to Lælius, feeling a hope that what you will say -will be more instructive, than all those things which the Greeks have -written for us.” “You are creating” replied he, “much expectation from -my discourse, which is a very great weight upon one, who is about to -speak of matters of importance.” “However great it may be,” said Philus, -“you will throw it off as you are accustomed to do; nor is there any -danger that a dissertation from you on government will be deficient in -any requisite.” - -XXIV. “I will do what you desire, as well as I am able,” rejoined -Scipio, “and will begin the discussion in conformity with the rule which -I think ought to be observed in the examination of all things, if you -would avoid error. That the name of the subject in discussion being -agreed upon, the meaning of the name shall be defined. If this be found -to be appropriate, the matter can be entered upon at once; for unless -this be perfectly understood at first, we never can understand what we -are disputing about. Wherefore since it is of the republic we are -inquiring, let us first examine what that is we are inquiring about.” -Lælius having shown his acquiescence. “I do not intend, however,” said -Africanus, “in a matter so clear and familiar, to begin with the very -origin of things; the first conjunction of the sexes; then their progeny -and descendants, as some of our learned men are accustomed to do: nor -shall I go into continual definitions of terms—what they are—and how -many varieties of them. When I address wise men, who in war and in -peace, have taken a glorious part in the affairs of a great republic, I -shall not expose myself in such a manner, that the very thing under -discussion shall be more intelligible, than my own explanation of it. -Neither do I take upon me to pursue the subject in every direction, as a -master would: nor can I promise to do it so effectually, that no -omission whatever shall escape me.” “It is exactly such a discourse as -you promise, that I am in expectation of,” said Lælius. - -XXV. “A republic or commonwealth then,” said Scipio, “is the wealth or -common interest of the people. Every assemblage of men however, gathered -together without an object, is not the people, but only an assemblage of -the multitude associated by common consent, for reciprocal rights, and -reciprocal usefulness. The leading cause of this congregating, is not to -be ascribed so much to his weakness, as to the social principle innate -with man. Our species is not a solitary and wandering one, but is so -created that even when enjoying the greatest affluence * * * * - - [Two pages wanting.] - -XXVI. * * * * rather intuitive; for no original institution of the -social state has been found, nor of the other moral virtues. These -congregations therefore made for the purposes I have explained, -established their first seat in some particular place for a residence. -Which after being fortified by their labours and by its position, and -fitted with temples and public squares, the re-union of dwellings -constructed after this manner, they called a town or city. Every people -therefore, formed by the assemblage of such a multitude as I have -described, every city which is the settlement of a people, every -commonwealth which as I have said, is the wealth of the people, must in -order to be permanent, be governed by some authority. That authority -however must always have a strong relation to the causes from whence the -commonwealth derived its origin. It may then be delegated to one, or to -some selected persons; or it may be borne by the whole multitude of the -people. When therefore authority over all things, is in the control of -one man, we call him king; and a commonwealth so ordered, his kingdom. -When the authority is exercised by selected persons, then such a state -is said to be under the government of the better class. But there is -also a popular form of government, for so it is called, where all things -are ruled by the people. And of any of these three modes, if the chain -is in any manner kept together, which at first united men into the -social pact for the sake of the common interest, I would not indeed call -the mode perfect, nor say that in my opinion it was the best, but that -it was to be tolerated, and that one might be preferable to another. For -whether under a just and wise king, or chosen eminent citizens, or the -people themselves, although this last is least to be approved of, -setting aside the irregularities occasioned by the bad passions of some -men, any one may see that a steady government might be preserved. - -XXVII. In kingdoms however, the governed are too much deprived of common -rights, and of power. Under the better class, the multitude can scarcely -be partakers of liberty, as they are not admitted either to the public -councils or offices: and when the government is conducted by the people, -although it be justly and moderately administered, yet equality itself -becomes injustice, seeing that it admits of no degrees of rank. -Therefore, although Cyrus the Persian, was a most just and wise king, -yet such a commonwealth, (for as I said before, it is the common -property,) governed by the nod of one man, does not appear to me very -desirable. And although the Massilians our clients are governed with -great justice, by their chosen chief men, nevertheless in that condition -of a people, there is something resembling slavery. And the Athenians at -a certain period having abolished the Areopagus, conducted every thing -by ordinances, and decrees of the people; yet as they had no -distinctions in dignity, their state was without its ornament. - -XXVIII. And this I say of these three kinds of government, not of the -agitations and disturbances incidental to them, but of their tranquil -and regular state. Those varieties are principally remarkable for the -defects I have alluded to. Then they have other pernicious failings, for -every one of these governments is travelling a dangerous road, bordering -on a slippery and precipitous path. To a king so commendable, or if you -choose, since I especially name him; to the amiable Cyrus; a parallel -springs up in the cruel Phalaris, with all his capricious tyranny; into -whose similitude the government of one man so easily slides with a -downward course. To the administration of the city of the Massilians by -their select chiefs, may be opposed the plot and faction of the Thirty, -which took place at a certain period among the Athenians. Nor need we -look farther; the very Athenian people having assumed the power over all -things, and giving license to the fury of the multitude * * * * * * - - - [Two pages wanting.] - -XXIX. * * * * * * and this great mischief arises whether under the rule -of the better class, or under a tyrannical faction, or under the regal -government; and even frequently under the popular form. At the same time -from the various forms of government of which I have spoken, something -excellent is wont to emanate. For the changes and vicissitudes in public -affairs, appear to move in a circle of revolutions; which when -recognized by a wise man, as soon as he beholds them impending, if he -can moderate their course in the administration of affairs, and restrain -them under his control; he acts truly the part of a great citizen, and -almost of a divine man. Therefore I think a fourth kind of government, -moderated and mixed from those three of which I first spoke, is most to -be approved.” - -XXX. “I know” said Lælius, “that such is your opinion Africanus, for I -have often heard you say so. Nevertheless, unless it is troublesome to -you, I should be glad to learn which you judge best of these three kinds -of government. For either it will throw some light upon * * * * * * - - [Two pages wanting.] - -XXXI. * * * * * * every government partakes of the nature and will of -him who administers it. So that in no other state, save where the power -of the people predominates, has liberty any home. Liberty the sweetest -of all blessings, and which if it is not equal for all, is not liberty. -For what equality can there be, I do not mean in kingdoms where slavery -has no doubtful character: but in those states where all are nominally -free: there indeed they give their votes, confer commands, magistracies -and are solicited and intreated. But in truth they only part with that, -however repugnant it may be to them, which must be conferred: things -which they cannot retain, which is the reason why others seek to possess -them. For they are invested with no command, have no public authority, -nor are called to be judges in the tribunals: privileges which belong -either to ancient families, or are purchased by money. Among a free -people however, as at Rhodes or Athens, there is no citizen -who * * * * * - - [Two pages wanting.] - -XXXII. Some assert, that when one or more in a state becomes conspicuous -by his opulence or riches, disdain and pride soon break out: and the -weak and indolent yield and bend under the arrogance of riches. But if -the people are able to preserve their rights, they think no condition of -things could be more excellent, more free, or more happy. For in their -hands would be the laws, the tribunals, war, peace, treaties, and the -properties and lives of all the citizens. This sort of government they -think is properly called one republic, that is the common interest of -the people. Wherefore it is, that the people are wont to restore -commonwealths to liberty from the domination of kings, and patricians; -not that kings are believed to be necessary to a free people, or that -the better class are the source of power and wealth. And they deny that -these advantages should not be conceded to a free people on account of -the excesses of uncivilized nations: for where the people are unanimous, -and every thing tends to the public safety and liberty, nothing can be -more unchangeable, nothing more firm. Unanimity in such a commonwealth -is very easy, where the common effort is for the public good. But from -opposing interests, where one man clashes with another, discord arises. -Wherefore when the senate had possession of the government, the -condition of the state was never sound. In kingdoms the disadvantages -are still greater; of them Ennius said - - “No holy confidence or fellowship reigns there.” - -Wherefore as the law is the bond of civil society, and equal rights form -that of the law, by what power can a community of citizens be -maintained, where their condition is not an equal one? If therefore it -is not expedient to equalize fortunes; if the powers of mind cannot be -equalized in all, certainly then an equality of rights ought to exist, -among those who are citizens of the same republic. For what is a state -but a community of rights? * * * * * - - [Two pages wanting.] - -XXXIII. * * other governments however are deemed by them not to deserve -those names, which they have chosen to arrogate to themselves. For why -should I call a man who is greedy of rule, or of the sole command, and -who is trampling upon an oppressed people, king, which is the title of -the good Jupiter, rather than tyrant? A tyrant may be clement as well as -a king may be oppressive; the matter really interesting to the people -is, whether they are to serve under a gentle or a severe master: for as -to being any thing but servants, that is not to be avoided. How could -Lacedemon, when she was thought to excel in the science of government, -possess only good and just kings, when she was obliged to take any king -who was sprung from the royal blood? And the better class, who can -endure them, who have arrogated to themselves in their own assemblies, a -name not conceded to them by the people? For who is the man to be -pronounced best, in learning, in the arts, in studies? * * * * * - - [Four pages wanting.] - -XXXIV. * * * * If it was done by lot, the government would be -overthrown; like a ship, at whose helm, some passenger taken at hazard -was placed. A nation can entrust its affairs to whom it may choose; and -if it wishes to remain free, it will choose from among the best. For -certainly the security of states is found in the counsels of the best -citizens; especially as nature has not only ordained that they should -preserve an influence over the weak by their conspicuous virtue and -courage, but also that the weak should resign themselves to the -government of great minds. This most desirable state of things, they -say, is prevented by the erroneous opinions of men who, through -ignorance of that virtue, which belongs to but few, and is seen and -appreciated only by few, deem those who are sprung from a noble race, or -who are opulent and wealthy, to be the best men. Under this vulgar -error, when the power, not the virtues of a few, have got possession of -the government; those chiefs tenaciously preserve the title of better -class; a name however to which the substance is wanting. For riches, -titles, and power, devoid of wisdom, of the knowledge of -self-government, and that of the government of others, exhibit nothing -but insolent and disgraceful pride. Nor can the condition of any city be -more deplorable, than where the richest men pass for the best. But what -can be more delightful than a state virtuously governed? What more -illustrious than the man, who while he governs others, is himself the -slave of no bad passions? Who, while he calls upon the citizens to -observe the regulations he has formed, lives up to them all himself? Nor -imposes any laws upon the people, which he himself obeys not, but who -presents his whole life to his fellow citizens as one unbroken law. If -one man could suffice to all things, there would be no need of many; and -if all men could perceive what is best, and consent to it, no one would -require any chiefs to be elected. The difficulty of coming to wise -determinations, has transferred the rule from one king to many persons; -and the error and rashness of the people, from the multitude to a few. -Thus between the obstinacy of one, and the temerity of many, the better -class have possessed themselves of the middle and least turbulent of all -the situations: by whom if the commonwealth is well administered, the -people relieved from all care and thought, must necessarily be happy: -enjoying their independence through the labours of those, whose duty it -is to preserve it to them; and who ought never to permit the people to -think that their interests are neglected by their rulers. As to that -exact equality of rights, which is held so dear by a free people; it -cannot be preserved: for the people themselves, however free and -unrestrained they may be, are remarkable for their deference to many -persons; and exercise a great preference as it respects men and -dignities. That which is called equality also, is a most unjust thing in -itself: for when the same honour is enjoyed by the high and by the low, -through a whole people, that very equality must be unjust; and in those -states which are governed by the better class, it can never happen. -These, Lælius, and some other reasons resembling them, are wont to be -urged by those who chiefly praise that form of government. - -XXXV. “But which, Scipio, among those three, do you chiefly approve of?” -said Lælius. - -Scipio. “You do well to ask, which chiefly of the three, since -separately I do not approve of any of them; but should prefer to every -one of them, a government constituted out of all three. But if one of -them for its simplicity may be admired, I should approve of the kingly -form, and give it the highest praise. For the name of king calls up at -once the idea of a father, consulting with his citizens as if they were -his own children; and more anxious to preserve them, than to reduce them -to slavery: it being a great advantage to the weak to be sustained by -the exertions and by the foresight of one pre-eminent and good man. Here -however the better class profess to do the same thing to more advantage, -and say there is more wisdom with numbers than with one, and at the same -time equal justice and faith. But the people call out with a loud voice, -that they choose neither to obey one nor many; that nothing is sweeter -to the beasts of the field than liberty, which is wanting to all who -serve either under the better class or under a king. Thus on the score -of personal attachment, kings attract us. The better class by their -wisdom; and liberty on the side of the people. So that in making the -comparison, it is difficult to say which is preferable.” - -L. “I believe it,” said he, “but if you leave this point unfinished, the -other parts of the subject can scarcely be cleared up.” - -XXXVI. S. “Let us imitate therefore Aratus, who in his introduction to a -discourse upon high matters, thought it best to begin with Jupiter.” - -L. “Why with Jupiter? and what has this discussion to do with the verses -of Aratus?” - -S. “Insomuch, that the opening of our debate may be honoured with the -name of him, whom all, learned and unlearned, consent with one voice, to -be the one king of all the gods and men.” “What then!” said Lælius. -“What do you believe in but the things which are before your eyes?” -replied he. “This opinion has been established for the conduct of life, -by those who have had the direction of public affairs; that the belief -might prevail, that one king ruled in heaven, who with his nod, as Homer -says, could tumble down Olympus; and that he should be considered as the -King and Father of all. Great is the authority for it, and many the -witnesses, inasmuch as all have concurred in it. Nations too have -agreed, as we find in the decrees of princes, that the regal form of -government was most excellent, since they imagine the gods themselves to -be under the government of one king. And if we have been told that this -and similar opinions have sprung from fables and the errors of the -ignorant, let us listen to those who may be considered almost the common -teachers of erudite men; who as it were, saw these very things with -their eyes, which we scarcely are acquainted with, when we hear of -them.” “And who are they?” said Lælius. “They,” replied he, who in their -investigations of the nature of all things, have perceived a design in -the universal structure of this world * * * * * * - - [Four pages wanting.] - -XXXVII. * * * * * * “But if you desire it Lælius, I can give you -authorities in no wise barbarous, nor of too remote an antiquity.” - -L. I should be glad to have them. - -S. You are aware that it is now somewhat less than four hundred years -since this city has been governed without kings. - -L. That is true; rather less. - -S. What then are four hundred years, for the age of a city or state; is -it such a long period? - -L. It can hardly be called an adult age. - -S. Then there was a king in Rome four hundred years ago? - -L. And a very superb one. - -S. Who before him? - -L. A most just one; and from that period up to Romulus, who reigned six -hundred years from the present time. - -S. Then he is not so very remote. - -L. Not at all. The institutions of Greece were already on the wane. - -S. I submit to you now, whether Romulus was the king of a barbarous -people? - -L. If as the Greeks say, all men were either Greeks or Barbarians; then -I am afraid he must be esteemed a king of a barbarous people. But if -that epithet is appropriate to a difference of manners, rather than to -languages, I think the Greeks not less barbarians than the Romans.” “In -relation to the matter of which we speak,” said Scipio, “it is -intelligence we are looking for, rather than men. If a discreet people -therefore, not of a very ancient period, have preferred the government -of kings, I am availing myself of testimony which cannot be deemed -savage, uncivilized, or of a barbarous antiquity.” - -XXXVIII. “I perceive Scipio,” said Lælius, “that you are sufficiently -provided with testimony. But with me, as with good judges, sound -argument prevails more than witnesses.” “Make use of an argument then,” -replied Scipio, “which your knowledge of yourself can suggest to you.” -“What knowledge,” said he. - -S. Why as when by chance it happens to you to be angry with some one. - -L. That occurs oftener than I could wish. - -S. What! when you are in anger, do you suffer your mind to fall under -the domination of that passion? - -L. No, so help me Hercules. I rather imitate Archytas, the Tarentine; -who on arriving at his country house, and being greatly offended at -perceiving his orders had been disobeyed, “You are a miserable wretch,” -said he to his farmer, “and I would have you flogged to death if I were -not angry.” “Excellent,” said Scipio. “Archytas wished to calm his anger -by reflection, considering that degree of it which was not under the -control of reason, to be leading on to a sort of sedition of the mind. -To it add avarice, ambition, the passion for glory, and for sensual -pleasures; and it will appear that there exists in the minds of men, a -sort of regal controlling power, to wit, reflection. For that is the -best part of the mind, and where its authority prevails, there is no -room for sensuality, for anger, or for rashness. - -L. So it is. - -S. Do you approve therefore of a mind so disposed? - -L. There is nothing I admire more. - -S. Then you really do not think, reflection being driven away; that -voluptuousness or the angry passions, which are without end, should have -the mastery in all things. - -L. Indeed I can conceive of nothing more wretched, than such a state of -mind; nor of a man more debased than when under such government. - -S. You prefer then all parts of the mind, to be under some government, -the government of reflection? - -L. I certainly prefer it. - -S. Why therefore do you hesitate in your opinion about public affairs; -where if the administration is transferred to many, there will be no -one, as I now understand it, to take the command. And it seems that if -authority is not one thing, it is nothing at all. - -XXXIX. “I would ask,” said Lælius, “of what consequence it is to us, -whether one or many, if justice is dispensed by the latter.” “Since I -find Lælius,” said Scipio, “that my witnesses have made no great -impression on you, I shall not desist from making use of yourself as a -witness to prove what I say.” “Me,” said he, “in what way?” - -S. Why adverting to the directions you so earnestly gave to your family, -when we were lately at Formianum; to obey only the orders of one person. - -L. Oh! my farmer! - -S. Well, at home, I suppose, several are entrusted with the management -of your affairs? - -L. No, only one. - -S. What, your whole establishment! does no one but yourself manage it? - -L. Just so. - -S. Do not you therefore accede to the same conclusion in public affairs: -that the government of a single person, if it is a just one, is the -best? - -L. I am brought to the conclusion, and must almost assent to it. - -XL. You will be more inclined to that opinion, said Scipio, when -omitting the analogies of one pilot, one physician, who if they are any -way skilled in their arts, ought one to have the control of the ship; -the other of the patient, in preference to many; I come to the -consideration of greater matters. - -L. What are they? - -S. Are you not aware that the name of king became odious to this people, -on account of the oppression and pride of one man, Tarquin? - -L. Yes, I am aware. - -S. Then you are aware of what haply in the course of this discussion, I -may find occasion to speak. Tarquin being driven out, the people exulted -with a marvellous sort of insolence of freedom. At one time driving -innocent people into exile; at another, confiscating the property of -many. Next came annual consuls. Then the fasces prostrated before the -people—appeals in all cases. Then the mutiny of the plebeians—then a -complete revolution in every thing, placing all things in the power of -the people. - -L. It is as you say. “It is true,” said Scipio—“in peace and -tranquillity, some license may be permitted when there is nothing to -fear, as at sea sometimes, or in a slight fever: but like him who is at -sea, when suddenly the ocean puts on its terrors, or the sick man, when -his complaint oppresses him, and the assistance of one is implored: so -our people in time of peace, interfere in internal affairs, threaten the -magistrates, refuse submission to them, denounce them and provoke them; -yet in war obey them as they would a king, preferring their safety to -the indulgence of their passions. Also in our more important wars, our -countrymen have constantly preferred the command to be in the hands of -one, without any colleague; the extent of whose power is indicated by -his name. For a dictator is so called on account of every thing being -dictated by him. But in our books, Lælius, you see also that he is -called master of the people.” - -L. It is so. “Wisely therefore did those ancients,” said Scipio * * * * - - [Two pages wanting.] - -XLI. * * * When a people is deprived of a just king, as Ennius says, -after the death of one of the best of kings, - - “Long were their bosoms moved with deep regret; - Oft they together call upon his manes. - Oh, godlike Romulus! the bounteous gods - What a protector did they give in thee? - Oh father, parent, blood derived from heaven!” - -Those whom the laws enjoined them to obey, they did not call lords or -masters; finally, not even kings, but guardians of the country, fathers -and gods. Nor without cause, for what is added, - - “Thou broughtest us into the realms of light!” - -They thought that life, honour, and every comfort was given to them by -the justice of a king. And the same inclinations would have remained -with their posterity, if the character of their kings had not changed. -But you perceive that kind of government was ruined by the injustice of -one man. - -L. I do perceive it, and I am desirous of knowing the course of these -changes, not only in our own country, but in all governments. - -XLII. “It will be for you,” said Scipio, “when I shall have given my -opinion of that kind of government which I prefer, to give a more -accurate account of the mutations in governments; although I do not -think them much to be apprehended in the form I am inclined to. But a -regal form of government is particularly and most certainly exposed to -change. When a king begins to be unjust, that form of government -perishes at once. The tyrant is, at the same time, the worst of all -conditions of government, and the nearest to the best. Whom, if the -better class have overturned, which for the most part happens, the -commonwealth possesses that second class of the three. And this is a -sort of royalty; a paternal government of the principal people, for the -benefit of the rest. But if the people cast out or slay the tyrant; -rejoicing in their own deed, they are more moderate, as long as they -know and feel the value of being so, in their endeavour to protect the -commonwealth constituted by themselves. But when the populace have bent -their force against a just king, and have stripped him of his kingdom; -or even, as it happens very often, have tasted the blood of the better -class, and have prostrated the whole republic in their madness; think -not that the vexed ocean or the wildest conflagration, can be more -easily kept down, than the unbridled insolence of the multitude. - -XLIII. Then is produced what in Plato is so clearly described, if I can -in any manner express it in Latin, a thing difficult to be done, but I -will endeavour. “It is then,” he says, “when the insatiable throats of -the people, parched with the thirst of liberty, and led on by rash -demagogues, have greedily drank, not temperate but too unalloyed -draughts of freedom. Then the magistrates and chiefs, unless they are -too lenient and indulgent, permitting them every excess of liberty; are -pursued, impeached, insulted, and called oppressors, kings, and -tyrants.” I think this part of his works is known to you. - -L. I am well acquainted with it. - -S. Then follows, “Those who pay obedience to the magistrates, are -tormented by the people, are called voluntary slaves. But those -magistrates who affect to be on an equality with the lowest; and other -individuals who strive to abolish all distinction between citizens and -magistrates, are exalted with praises, and overwhelmed with honours. And -in this condition of things, it follows, of course, that there is an -unrestrained license in a government of this kind; so that every private -family is without any government: and this evil extends even to the -beasts. At length the father fears the son—the son disregards the -father: every sort of decency is extinguished, that an open license may -prevail. Nothing distinguishes the citizen from the stranger. The master -pays court to his scholars, that he may be flattered by them. Teachers -are despised by their disciples. Young persons take upon themselves the -authority of aged ones, who abase themselves to mingle in their games, -lest they become odious and burdensome to them. At last slaves give -themselves all sorts of liberties. Wives assume the privileges of their -husbands. Nay the dogs, the horses, the asses at length are so infected -with liberty, and run kicking about so, that it is absolutely necessary -to get out of their way. Wherefore from this infinite license these -things result, that the minds of the citizens become so scornful and -impatient, that if the least power of government is exercised, they -become exasperated and will not endure it; whence they come to despise -every kind of law, that they may be without the least restraint -whatever.” - -XLIV. “You have,” said Lælius, “precisely expressed Plato’s sentiments.” - -S. Returning therefore to the subject of my discourse. “It is from this -very license,” he says, “which they deem to be liberty itself, that a -tyrant springs up as a sapling from a root. For as the destruction of -the better class arises from their overweening power, so this excess of -liberty, effects the slavery of this free people. Thus all extremes of -an agreeable nature, whether in the seasons, or in the fertility of the -fields, or in our natural feelings, are often converted into their -opposites. Especially it occurs in public affairs, where excess of -liberty degenerates into public and individual slavery. Out of such -licentious freedom a tyrant arises, and the most unjust and severe -bondage. For by a people so untameable, or rather so outrageous, some -leader is chosen out of the multitude, in opposition to the better -class, now persecuted and driven from their offices: bold and dishonest, -perversely persecuting those who have frequently deserved well of their -country, and gratifying the people from his own means and from those of -others. To whom, that he may be freed from all apprehensions on account -of his private condition, authority is given and continued to him. -Surrounded too by guards, as was the case with Pisistratus at Athens, at -length he becomes the tyrant of the very citizens who brought him -forward. Who, if he is subdued by the good, as often happens, the state -is regenerated. If by the bad, then a faction is established, another -kind of tyranny. The same state of things too frequently occurs in that -goodly form of government of the better class, when the vices of the -chiefs have caused them to deviate from their integrity. Thus do they -snatch the government of the commonwealth from each other like a -ball—tyrants from kings—chiefs or the people from tyrants; and factions -or tyrants from them, nor does the same mode of government ever last a -long time. - -XLV. These things being so, the regal form of government is in my -opinion much to be preferred of those three kinds. Nevertheless one -which shall be well tempered and balanced out of all those three kinds -of government, is better than that; yet there should be always something -royal and pre-eminent in a government, at the same time that some power -should be placed in the hands of the better class, and other things -reserved for the judgment and will of the multitude. Now we are struck -first with the great equability of such a constitution, without which a -people cannot be free long; next with its stability. The three other -kinds of government easily fall into the contrary extremes: as a master -grows out of a king; factions from the better class; and mobs and -confusion from the people. The changes too are perpetual which are -taking place. This cannot well happen in such a combined and moderately -balanced government, unless by the great vices of the chief persons. For -there is no cause for change, where every one is firmly placed in his -proper station, and never gives way, whatever may fall down or be -displaced. - -XLVI. But I am afraid, Lælius, and you too my very discreet and -respected friends, if I continue long in this strain, my discourse will -appear more like that of a master or teacher to you, than as a -conversation with you. Wherefore I will speak of matters known to us -all, and which we have all inquired into long ago. For I am convinced, -and believe, and declare, that no kind of government, either in the -constitution, the planning, or the practice, is to be compared with that -which our fathers have left to us, and which was adopted by our -ancestors. Which if you please, since you have been desirous that I -should repeat things known to yourselves, I will shew not only what it -is, but that it is the best. And with our own government in view, I will -if I can, have a reference to it, in whatever I may say respecting the -best form of government. The which if I can follow up and effect, I -shall, as I think, amply fulfil the task which Lælius has imposed on me. - -XLVII. “It is your task indeed, Scipio,” said Lælius, “most truly yours. -For who in preference to yourself may speak of the institutions of our -forefathers; you being sprung from such illustrious ancestors; or of the -best form of government. The which if we now possess it, would hardly be -so, if any one stood in a more conspicuous situation than yourself. Or -who may venture to advise measures for posterity, when thou, having -delivered the city from its greatest terrors, hast foreseen for the -latest times?” - - - - - CICERO’S REPUBLIC. - - -[Illustration] - - - - - BOOK II. - - -I. Perceiving them all now eager to listen to him, Scipio thus began to -speak. “It was old Cato, to whom as you know I was singularly attached, -and whom I admired in the highest degree: to whom, either through the -advice of both my parents, or from my own prepossession, I devoted -myself entirely from my youth; whose conversation never could satiate -me. Such was the experience of the man in public affairs, which he had -for a long time successfully conducted in peace and war. His manner of -speaking too, a facetiousness mixed with gravity: his constant desire -also to improve himself and others; indeed his whole life in harmony -with his maxims. He was wont to say, that the condition of our country -was pre-eminent above all others for this cause. That among other -people, individuals generally had respectively constituted the -government by their laws and by their institutes, as Minos in Crete, -Lycurgus in Lacedemon. At Athens, where the changes were frequent, at -first Theseus, then Draco, then Solon, then Clisthenes; afterwards many -others. Finally exhausted and prostrated, it had been upheld by that -learned man Demetrius, of Phalera. But that the constitution of our -republic was not the work of one, but of many; and had not been -established in the life of one man, but during several generations and -ages. For he said so powerful a mind had never existed; from which -nothing had escaped; nor that all minds collected into one, could -foresee so much at one time, as to comprehend all things without the aid -of practice and time. For which reason, as he was wont, so shall my -discourse now repeat the origin of the people; for I have a pleasure in -using the very words of Cato. But I shall more easily follow up my -proposition in describing our own republic to you, in its infancy, its -growth, in its adult, and its present firm and robust state; than if I -were to create an imaginary one, as Socrates is made to do in Plato. - -II. When all had approved of this, he proceeded. “What beginning, -therefore, have we of the establishment of a republic so illustrious and -so known to you all, as the origin of the building of this city by -Romulus, born of his father Mars? For let us concede to the common -opinion of men, especially as it is not only well established, but also -wisely recorded by our ancestors, that those who have deserved well of -us on account of our common interest, be deemed not only to have -possessed a divine genius, but also a divine origin. He therefore after -his birth, with Remus his brother, is said to have been ordered to be -exposed on the Tiber, by the Alban king, Amulius, apprehensive lest his -kingdom should be shaken. In which place, having been sustained by the -teats of a wild beast, the shepherds took him, and brought him up in the -labour and cultivation of the fields. It is said, that when he had grown -up, he was distinguished above the rest by his corporeal strength, and -the daringness of his mind. So that all who then inhabited the fields, -where at this day stands the city, obeyed him willingly and without -dissent. And being constituted their leader, that we may now come from -fables to facts, with a strong force he took Alba-longa, a powerful and -well constructed city in those times, and put the king Amulius to death. - -III. Having acquired which glory, he is said first to have auspiciously -thought of building a city, and of establishing a government. In regard -to the situation of the city, a circumstance which is most carefully to -be considered by him, who endeavours to establish a permanent -government; he chose it with incredible skill. For neither did he remove -to the sea, although it was a very easy thing for him with his forces, -to march through the territory of the Rutulians and Aborigines; neither -would he build a city at the mouth of the Tiber, to which place the king -Ancus led a colony many years after. For he perceived, with an admirable -foresight, that maritime situations were not proper for those cities -which were founded in the hope of continuance, or with a view to empire. -First, because maritime towns were not only exposed to many dangers, but -to unseen ones. For the ground over which an expected enemy moves, as -well as an unexpected one, announces his approach beforehand by many -indications: by sound itself of a peculiarly tumultuous kind. No enemy -can make a march, however forced, without our not only knowing him to be -there, but even who he is, and whence he comes. But a maritime enemy and -a naval force may be before you, ere any one can suspect him to be come. -Nor even when he does come, does he carry before him any indication of -who he is, or from whence he comes, or even what he wants. Finally by no -kind of sign can it be discerned or determined whether he is a friend or -an enemy. - -IV. In maritime cities, too, a sort of debasing and changeable manners -prevail. New languages and new customs are mingled together, and not -only productions but manners are imported from abroad; so that nothing -remains entire of the pristine institutions. Even they who inhabit those -cities are not faithful to their homes, but with capricious inclinations -and longings are carried far from them; and although their persons -remain, their minds are rambling and wandering abroad. Nor did Carthage -or Corinth, long before shaken, owe their ruin to any thing more than to -the unsettled scattering of the citizens, who abandoned the study of -agriculture and arms through their cupidity of gain and love of roaming. -Many pernicious excitements too to luxury, are brought over the sea to -cities by commercial importation or by conquest. Even the very amenity -of the situation suggests many costly and enervating allurements. What I -have said of Corinth, I know not if I may as truly say of all Greece; -for almost all Peloponnessus lies on the sea, and except the -Phliuntians, there are none whose lands do not extend to the coast. -Beyond Peloponnessus, the Enianes, the Dorians, and the Dolopians are -the only people in the interior. What shall I say of the islands of -Greece? which surrounded with billows, float about as it were with the -institutions and manners of their cities. These things as I said before, -relate to ancient Greece; but of the colonies brought by the Greeks into -Asia, Thrace, Italy, Sicily, and Africa, except Magnesia alone, which of -them is not washed by the ocean? Thus a part of the Grecian shores -seemed to be joined to the lands of the barbarians. For among the -barbarians themselves, none were a maritime people, except the Etruscans -and the Carthagenians; the one for the sake of commerce, the other for -the sake of piracy. A most obvious cause of the evils and revolutions of -Greece, arising from the vices of these maritime cities, which awhile -ago I slightly touched upon. Nevertheless among these evils there is a -great convenience. The products of every distant nation can be wafted to -the city you inhabit; and in return the productions of your own lands -can be sent or carried into whatever countries you choose. - -V. Who then more inspiredly than Romulus could secure all the maritime -conveniences, and avoid all the defects? placing the city on the banks -of a perennial river, broadly flowing with an equal course to the sea. -By which the city might receive what it wanted from the ocean, and -return whatever was superfluous. Receiving by the same channel all -things essential to the wants and the refinements of life, not only from -the sea, but likewise from the interior. So that it appears to me, he -had foreseen this city, at some period, would be the seat and capital of -a mighty empire: for a city placed in any other part of Italy would not -easily have been able to acquire such a powerful influence. - -VI. As to the native defences of the city, who is so unobservant as not -to have them marked and fixed in his mind? Such is the alignment and -direction of the wall, which by the wisdom of Romulus, as well of -succeeding kings, was bounded on every part by lofty and craggy hills: -so that the only entrance, which was between the Esquiline and the -Quirinal hills, was defended by a huge mound, and a very wide ditch. The -citadel, surrounded by this craggy and seemingly hewn rock, had such a -gallant position, that in that furious invasion of the terrible Gauls, -it remained safe and intact. He choose also a place abounding in -springs, and salubrious even in a pestilent region. For there are hills -which while they enjoy the breezes, at the same time throw a cool shade -upon the vallies. - -VII. These things were done too with great celerity. For he not only -founded a city, which he ordered to be called Rome, from his own name; -but to establish it, and strengthen the power of the people and his -kingdom, he adopted a strange and somewhat clownish plan, but worthy of -a great man, whose providence extended far into futurity. When the -Sabine virgins, descended from respectable families, were come to Rome -to see the games, whose first anniversary he had then ordered to be -celebrated in the circus, he ordered them to be seized during the -sports, and gave them in marriage to the most honourable families. For -which cause, when the Sabines had made war upon the Romans, and when the -success of the battle was various and doubtful, he struck a league with -Tatius, king of the Sabines, at the entreaty of the very matrons who had -been seized: in consequence of which he admitted the Sabines into the -city: and mutually having embraced each others sacred rites, he -associated their king with him in the government. - -VIII. After the death however of Tatius, all the power came back into -his hands: although he had admitted some chiefs into the royal council -with Tatius, who were called fathers, on account of the affection borne -to them. He also divided the people into three tribes, named after -himself, after Tatius, and after Lucumon, a companion of Romulus, who -had been slain in the Sabine war: and into thirty curia, which curia he -called by the names of those from among the Sabine virgins seized, at -whose entreaties the peace and league had been formed. But although -these things were done before the death of Tatius, yet after that event, -his government became much better established, aided by the authority -and counsel of the fathers. - -IX. In the which he saw and judged as Lycurgus at Sparta had done, a -little while before him: that states were better governed by individual -command and royal power, if the authority of some of the better class -were added to the energy of that kind of government. Thus sustained, and -as it were propped up by the senatorial authority, he carried on many -wars very successfully with his neighbours; and appropriating to himself -no part of the spoil, he never ceased to enrich the citizens. At that -time Romulus paid in most things attention to auspices, a custom we -still retain, and greatly advantageous to the republic. For he built the -city under the observance of auspices at the very beginning of the -republic; and in the establishment of all public affairs, he chose an -augur from each of the tribes to assist him in the auspices. He also had -the common people assigned as clients to the principal men, the utility -of which measure I will afterwards consider. Fines were paid in sheep -and cattle: for then all property consisted in flocks, and in -possessions of lands, whence the terms pecuniary[12] and landholders[13] -were derived. He did not attempt to govern by severity or the infliction -of punishments. - -X. When Romulus had reigned thirty-seven years, and had established -those two excellent foundations of the state, the auspices and the -senate, he obtained this great meed: for when he had disappeared upon a -sudden obscuration of the sun, he was deemed to have been placed among -the number of the gods. A belief which no mortal had ever inspired -without the greatest pre-eminence in virtue. And this is most to be -admired in Romulus, that others who are said to have been deified out of -the mortal state, lived in the less civilized ages of man, when the -proneness to fiction was great, and the unenlightened were easily led to -believe in it. But during the period of Romulus, not quite six hundred -years ago, we know that learning and literature existed, and that the -ancient errors peculiar to the uncultivated ages of mankind were -removed. For if Rome, according to an investigation of the annals of the -Greeks, was built in the second year of the seventh olympiad; the reign -of Romulus occurred at that period when Greece was full of poets and -musicians; and when but little faith would be given to fabulous stories, -unless they were concerning very ancient things. For one hundred and -eight years after Lycurgus ordained laws to be written, the first -olympiad was established: which through a mistake in the name, some have -thought to be founded by Lycurgus. Homer, however, by those who take the -lowest period, is made to precede Lycurgus about thirty years. From -which it may be gathered that Homer flourished many years before -Romulus. So that there was scarce room in so intelligent an age, and -amid so many learned men, for any one to establish fictions. Antiquity -sometimes has received fables crudely devised, but that age already -refined, and especially deriding improbable events, has rejected * * * - - [About 230 letters wanting.] - -* * * * Simonides was born in the fifty-sixth olympiad, by which the -credit given to the immortality of Romulus may be more easily -understood, seeing that the institutions of society were then so well -established, organized, and known. But really so great was the force of -his genius and virtue, that what men would have given no credit to for -many ages in favour of any other man, was believed of Romulus upon the -evidence of Proculus Julius, a countryman, who at the instigation of the -fathers, in order to repel from themselves every suspicion of the death -of Romulus, is said to have declared in the assembly, that he had seen -Romulus on that mount which is now called Quirinal; and that he had -commanded him to request the people to erect a temple for him upon that -hill; that he was a god, and was called Quirinus. - -XI. “Do not you perceive therefore a new people not only sprung from the -wisdom of one man, and not left crying in leading strings, but already -grown up, and almost an adult?” “Indeed we perceive it,” said Lælius, -“and that you have entered upon a new method of discussion, which is no -where to be found in the writings of the Greeks. For that pre-eminent -person,[14] whom no one has excelled in writing, has imagined to himself -a situation, in which he might construct his city after his own -pleasure: admirable enough perhaps, but foreign to the conduct and the -manners of men. Others have discussed the subject in relation to the -kinds and causes of governments, but not under any particular example of -a form of government. You seem to me to be about to do both, for -according to your method, you appear to prefer to attribute to others -what you yourself have observed, than to imagine a state of things, as -Socrates is made to do in Plato. And these matters respecting the -foundation of the city, you suppose to be part of a system, which were -only adopted by Romulus through necessity or chance. And your discourse -is not of a desultory kind, but concerning a particular commonwealth. -Wherefore proceed as you have begun, for already I perceive you are -about to follow on with the other kings, as perfecting the government.” - -XII. “Wherefore,” said Scipio, “when the senate, which Romulus had -instituted out of the better class, and which had been so much favoured -by the king, as to cause them to be called fathers, and their children -patricians; endeavoured after the death of Romulus, to carry on the -government itself without any king; the people would not endure it, and -in their regret for Romulus did not cease to demand a king. Upon which -the leading men prudently imagined a mode of interregnum, new and -unknown to other nations. So that until a regular king was proclaimed, -neither the city should be without a king, nor with one too long a -period. Fearing lest from too long an enjoyment of the government, the -interrex should be reluctant to lay it down, or strong enough to -maintain himself in it. Even in these times, this new people perceived -what had escaped the Lacedemonian Lycurgus; who esteemed it best not to -choose a king, if this were indeed in the power of Lycurgus to do, but -rather to be governed by any one whatever descended from the race of -Hercules. But our ancestors, rude as they appear to have been, thought -it behoved them rather to look to royal wisdom and virtue, than to -descent. - -XIII. When the great fame of Numa Pompilius had reached them, the -people, leaving aside their own citizens, called in by the authority of -the fathers, a king not born among them, and sent to the Curians for a -Sabine to reign over Rome. When he arrived, although the people had -decided that he should be king in the conventions of the curia, -nevertheless he himself had a law passed in the curia concerning his own -power; and as he saw the Romans through the institutions of Romulus were -eager after warlike pursuits, he deemed it proper to wean them somewhat -from that propensity. - -XIV. And first, the lands which Romulus had acquired in war, he divided -equally among the citizens; and pointed out to them, that without -depopulating and pillaging, they might possess all the necessaries of -life, by the cultivation of their lands. He inspired them also with the -love of peace and repose, under which justice and good faith most kindly -flourish; and under the protection of which, the cultivation of the -fields, and the gathering of the harvest are most secure. The same -Pompilius having established auspices of a superior kind, added two -augurs to the ancient number, and placed five priests over sacred things -from the class of the chief men. And having established those laws which -we possess in our monuments, he softened, by the ceremonies of religion, -minds which were inflamed by the habit and inclination of making war. He -added also Flamens, Salii, and Vestal Virgins; and established with -great solemnity all the branches of religion: ordaining many ceremonies -to be learnt and observed, but without any expense. Thus he increased -the duty of religious observances and diminished the cost of them. In -like manner he established markets, games, and all the stated occasions -of assembling the people together. Under which institutions, he recalled -the minds of men become fierce and wild in warlike pursuits, to humanity -and gentleness. When he had reigned thirty-nine years in the most -perfect peace and concord, (in this we follow principally our friend -Polybius, than whom no one was more accurate in ascertaining periods,) -he departed from life; having strengthened every thing for the endurance -of the government, by those two conspicuous virtues, religion and -clemency. - -XV. When Scipio had spoken these words. “Is it true, Africanus,” said -Manilius, “what tradition has brought down to us, that this king Numa -was a disciple of Pythagoras, or is it certain he was a Pythagorean? For -often we have heard this, as having been declared by old people, and -understand it also to be the common opinion; yet we do not see it -sufficiently proved by the authority of the public annals.” “It is -false,” replied Scipio, “entirely so Manilius! Not false alone, but -ignorantly and absurdly false; for the mendacity of those assertions is -not to be endured, which we not only see are not true, but which could -never have been so. It was in the fourth year of the reign of Lucius -Tarquinius Superbus, that Pythagoras is ascertained to have come to -Sybaris and Crotona, and those parts of Italy. For the sixty-second -Olympiad announces that very arrival of Pythagoras, and the beginning of -the reign of Superbus. From which it may be understood by a calculation -of the reigns, that Pythagoras touched first at Italy about a hundred -and forty years after the death of Numa. Nor has this fact, by those who -have very diligently investigated the annals of the times, ever been -thrown into any doubt.” “Immortal gods,” said Manilius, “how inveterate -and great is the error of men! Nevertheless, I can be very well pleased -in the belief, that our intelligence has not been derived from abroad, -and through foreign arts, but from natural and domestic virtues.” - -XVI. “You will distinguish that more clearly,” said Africanus, “when you -perceive how the commonwealth advances and comes to the greatest -perfection by a straight forward and natural course. For in this also -the wisdom of our ancestors is to be praised; that many things derived -from abroad, have been rendered much more perfect by us, than they were -from whence they were brought, and where they first had existence. You -will see also that the greatness of the Roman people has not been -confirmed by chance, but by wisdom and discipline. Fortune indeed being -propitious to us. - -XVII. King Pompilius being dead, the people upon the proposition of an -interrex, created Tullus Hostilius king, in the conventions of the -curia; and he, after the example of Pompilius, consulted the people in -the curia, concerning his power. His military glory was great, and -important warlike affairs took place. He constructed edifices for the -senate and the curia, and surrounded them with military trophies. He -established a law also for the declaration of war, which most justly -decreed by him, he made more sacred by the solemnity of Heralds: so that -every war which was not proclaimed and declared, was deemed to be -impious and unjust. And observe how wisely our kings saw that some sort -of deference must be paid to the people. I might say many things on that -head. Tullus indeed did not venture to appear with royal insignia unless -at the command of the people. For in order that it might be lawful for -him to be preceded by twelve lictors with their fasces * * - - [Two pages wanting.] - -XVIII. * * * * * “The government which your discourse is establishing, -does not creep, but rather flies towards perfection.” S. “After him, -Ancus Martius, grandson to Numa Pompilius by his daughter, was made king -by the people, who had his elevation sanctioned by a law of the curia. -Who having conquered the Latins in a war, incorporated them into the -state. He also added the Aventine and Cælian Mounts to the city. The -lands too which he had conquered he distributed, and made a public -domain of all the forests he had taken on the sea coast. He built a city -at the mouth of the Tiber, and planted a colony there. When he had thus -reigned twenty-three years, he died. “This king also is to be praised,” -said Lælius, “but the Roman history is obscure: for although we know who -was the mother of this king, we do not know who was his father.” S. “So -it is” said he, “but generally the names of the kings only of those -times are conspicuous.” - -XIX. “But it is here that we first perceive the city to have become more -intelligent by extrinsic information. For not a gentle stream flowed -from Greece into this city, but an abundant flood of arts and knowledge. -It is stated that one Demaratus, a Corinthian, a principal man, and of -much honour and authority in his own city, and of an easy fortune, not -being able to endure Cypselus, the tyrant of the Corinthians, fled with -a great deal of money, and betook himself to a flourishing city of -Etruria, among the Tarquinians. When he had heard that the domination of -Cypselus was confirmed, being an independent and powerful man, he -renounced his country, and was received a citizen by the Tarquinians: -and in that city he fixed his home and establishment. Where when he had -begotten two sons from one of the Tarquinian matrons, he instructed them -in all the arts after the manner of the Greeks * * * * - - [Two pages wanting.] - -XX. * * * * * He was well received in the city, and became intimate with -king Ancus on account of his learning and liberal knowledge. So much so -that he shared all his counsels, and might be deemed even a partner in -his kingdom. For there was a great affability in him, and an extreme -readiness in aiding, protecting, and doing liberal acts to every -citizen. Martius therefore being dead, L. Tarquinius was created king by -the united suffrages of the people; for thus he had changed his name -from his Grecian one, that in every thing he might be seen to imitate -the manners of the people. Having caused his accession to be confirmed -by a law, he doubled the pristine number of the fathers; calling those -whose opinions he first asked, ancient fathers of the greater families; -and those whom he had admitted, he called the lesser families. Then he -established the knights; after the manner that has obtained unto our -day. He could not change the names of the Titienses, of the -Rhamnensians, or the Luceres, when he wished to do so; because Attus -Nævius being then Augur in great reputation, would not consent to it. We -see the Corinthians chose formerly to assign cavalry for the public -service, and to have their expenses defrayed by taxes on orphans and -widows. But to the old troops of horse he added others, and made twelve -hundred knights. He doubled this number after he had subdued the Equi in -war, a powerful and ferocious race, which threatened the affairs of the -Roman people. And when he had driven the Sabines from the walls of the -city, he scattered them with his horse and conquered them. It is he whom -we understand to have instituted the great games, which we call Roman, -and to have made a vow during the Sabine war, while in battle, that he -would raise a temple on the capitol to the great and good Jupiter. He -died when he had reigned thirty-eight years. - -XXI. “Now,” said Lælius, “is that saying of Cato very certain, that the -constitution of the state is not the work of one moment or one man: for -it is evident how great an accession of good and useful institutions -occurred under each reign. But he comes next, who appears to me to have -looked farther than them all into the nature of government.” “So it is,” -said Scipio, “for after him Servius Sulpicius is stated first to have -reigned without the command of the people. He is said to have been born -of a Tarquinian slave: she having conceived him by some client of the -king. Brought up among the number of the servants, when he attended at -the royal table, he did not suppress those sparks of genius, which even -then shone forth in the boy: so shrewd was he in every thing, whether in -business or conversation. Wherefore Tarquin, who at that time had only -young children, became so attached to Servius, that he was generally -thought to be his son; and with great pains instructed him in all those -arts, which he himself had been taught, after the very superior manner -of the Greeks. But when Tarquin had perished by the plots of the sons of -Ancus, Servius, as I before said, began to reign, not by the command, -but by the assent and sufferance of the people. For when Tarquin was -falsely said to be alive, and sick from the effects of his wound; he -declared the law in royal pomp, and discharged debtors with his own -money. Conducting himself with much courtesy, he declared that he -pronounced the law at the command of Tarquin. He did not commit himself -to the fathers, but Tarquin being buried, he conferred with the people -about himself, and being authorised to reign, he had his accession -confirmed by a law of the curia. And first he avenged himself by war, -for injuries received from the Etruscans, * * * * * * - - [Two pages wanting.] - -XXII. * * he inscribed eighteen centuries of horse in the great -register. Afterwards having set apart a great number of equestrians -from the mass of the whole people, he distributed the rest of the -citizens into five classes, and divided the old from the young: and -classed them in such a manner, that the suffrages were not in the -power of the multitude, but of the landed proprietors. He was careful -of what ought always to be observed in government; that numbers alone -should not have the ascendency. Which classification if it were -unknown to you, should be explained by me. You will perceive the plan -was such, that the centuries of horse with six suffrages, (a century -being added from the carpenters on account of their great utility to -the city,) and the first class, make eighty-nine centuries: to which -from the one hundred and four centuries, for so many remain; if only -eight are added, the whole power of the people is obtained: and the -much greater multitude comprehended in the ninety-six centuries -remaining, is neither excluded from voting, lest it should seem -disdainful; nor is it made too effective, lest it should be dangerous. -In the which matter he was very circumspect even as to terms and -names. Those from among the wealthy he called “assiduos”[15] from -paying their taxes in money. Those who possessed no more than one -thousand five hundred pieces of brass, or those who were polled in the -register without any possessions whatever, he called proletaries; as -if progeny only; that is, as if nothing but population might be -expected from them. But of those ninety six centuries, more were -enumerated in one century, than almost in the whole first class. Thus -the right of suffrage was not prohibited to any one by law, and that -class had a greater weight of suffrage, which had most at stake in the -preservation of good government. As to public criers, men hired for -parade, clarion players, horn players, and proletaries, * * * * - - [Four pages wanting.] - -XXIII. * * * * * Was[16] sixty-five years more ancient, being built -thirty-nine years before the first olympiad. And the very ancient -Lycurgus had the same thing in view. This equality therefore, and this -triple nature of public affairs appears to me to have been common to us -and to those people. But what is peculiar in our republic, and than -which nothing can be more admirable, I will look very critically into if -I am able; as nothing similar is to be found in any government. For -these things which I have adverted to, were so mingled in this state, -and among the Lacedemonians, and the Carthagenians, that they were not -properly balanced. For in whatever government any one man enjoys -perpetual power, especially royalty, although even a Senate may exist in -it, as was the case at Rome under the kings, and in the laws of Lycurgus -at Sparta; and even granting the people some share in the government, as -was the fact under our kings: still that royal name will stand -pre-eminent, nor can a government of that kind be any thing but a -kingdom, or be called otherwise. But such a form of government is -especially subject to change for this reason; that it easily falls into -the most unprofitable courses, precipitated thereunto by the vices of -one man. For the royal form of government itself, not only is not to be -condemned, but I know not whether it is not greatly to be preferred to -the other simple forms, if I could approve of any simple form of -government. But only as long as it preserves its proper character, which -is that the safety, the equality, and tranquillity of the citizens, are -to be preserved by the justice, the wisdom, and the perpetual power of -one man. Many things however are altogether wanting to a people subject -to a king. Liberty among the first: which is not that we may live under -a just master, but under none at all. * * * - - [Two pages wanting.] - -XXIV. For some time fortune prosperously accompanied this unjust and -cruel master in the administration of affairs. He subdued all Latium in -war, and took Suessa, an opulent and well stored Pometian city. Enriched -with great spoils of gold and silver, he accomplished the vow of his -ancestor in the building of the capitol. He established colonies, and -according to the institutions of those from whom he had derived his -origin, he sent magnificent gifts, as offerings of his spoils, to Apollo -at Delphos. - -XXV. Here the very circle is set in motion, whose natural movement and -revolution you learn to distinguish from the beginning. For the very -head of discretion in civil matters, upon which all our discourse turns, -is to observe the ways and bendings of public affairs; so that when you -perceive what way any thing inclines, you may either keep it back, or -meet it by opposing other things to it. For the king of whom I speak, -having stained himself first with the murder of a good king, no longer -preserved his integrity of mind, and wished to inspire fear himself, -because he dreaded every sort of punishment for his wickedness. -Afterwards borne up with his victories and riches, he exulted with -insolence, and imposed no restraint on his own conduct, or the -licentiousness of his followers. Wherefore when his eldest son had used -violence with Lucretia, the wife of Collatinus, and daughter of -Tricipitinus, and the noble and chaste woman had inflicted death upon -herself on account of that injury; L. Brutus, a man pre-eminent in mind -and courage, released his fellow citizens from that unjust yoke of a -cruel slavery: who, although he was a private citizen, sustained the -whole government, and was the first who taught in this city, that no man -was to be considered insignificant, when the public liberties were to be -preserved. Under which leader and head, the whole city being in -commotion, as well with the recent complaints of the family and kindred -of Lucretia, as with the remembrance of the many wrongs done by the -haughtiness of Tarquin himself, and his sons; the banishment of the -king, his children, and his whole race was pronounced. - -XXVI. Do not you perceive then how a master may spring out of a king, -and how a form of government from being good, may become the very worst, -through the vice of one man. This is that master over the people, whom -the Greeks call tyrant; him only they esteem a king, who consults like a -parent with the people, and preserves those over whom he is placed, in -the most prosperous condition of life. A sort of government very good as -I have said, but bordering upon and inclining to a very pernicious one. -For when this king deviates into unjust rule, at once he becomes a -tyrant, and an animal more hideous, more destructive, and more odious, -in the eyes of gods and men cannot be conceived: surpassing, although in -the human form, the most monstrous wild beasts in cruelty. How can he be -rightly called a man, who observes no fellowship of humanity with his -fellow citizens, no communion of law with the whole race of man? But a -more proper place to speak of this will occur, when circumstances will -suggest to us to speak of those, who have sought to usurp the Government -over free cities. - -XXVII. You have here then the origin of a tyrant, for the Greeks would -have this to be the name of an unjust king. Our ancestors indeed have -called all who have had an exclusive and perpetual dominion over the -people, kings. Thus Spurius Cassius, M. Manilius, and Spurius Mælius, -are said to have wished to establish a kingdom, and even * * * * * * - - [Two pages wanting.] - -XXVIII. Lycurgus gave the name of ancients[17] at Lacedemon, to that too -small number of twenty-eight, to whom he wished the whole authority of -counsel to be confided, while the sole command should be held by the -king. Wherefore our ancestors translating and adopting that term, those -whom he called ancients, they called a senate: as we have already stated -Romulus to have done with the select fathers. Nevertheless, the royal -title, and its strength and power were always pre-eminent. Impart too -something of power to the people, as was done by Lycurgus and Romulus, -and you will not satisfy them with freedom, but you will inflame them -with the passion of liberty, when you have only permitted them to taste -of power. The fear indeed will always hang over them, lest they should -have an unjust king, which generally happens. The fortune therefore of a -people is, as I said before, very uncertain, which is placed in the will -or conduct of one man. - -XXIX. Wherefore this first form, example, and origin of a tyrant, is -found by us in that very government which Romulus instituted with -auspices, and not in that, which Plato says Socrates imagined to himself -in that peripatetic discourse. And as Tarquin subverted the whole fabric -of royalty, not because he grasped a new sort of authority, but because -he made a bad use of it; so let us oppose to him another; a good man, -wise and expert in every thing useful and dignified in civil life: a -tutor and steward as it were of the commonwealth, for so may be called -whoever is the ruler and governor of a state. Imagine to yourselves that -you recognise such a man; one who can protect the state, both by his -counsel and conduct. And since the name of such a man has not been -alluded to in this discourse, and that a character of this kind will be -frequently treated of in what remains to be said * * * * * * - - [Twelve pages wanting.] - -XXX. * * * * * * Plato described a state more to be desired, than to be -hoped for upon the smallest scale. He did not constitute things as they -might exist, but in such a manner as the nature of civil affairs might -be considered. As to myself, if in any way I am able to accomplish it, -with the same principles which he had in view, I will look, not into the -picture and shadow of a state, but into a most powerful republic; that I -may appear to touch, as it were, the true cause of every public good and -evil. After these two hundred and forty years of regal government, and -indeed a little more, including the interregnums, Tarquin being -banished, the royal title was as odious to the Roman people, as it had -been regretted after the death, or rather the disappearance of Romulus, -and as much as they wanted a king then, in like manner, after the -expulsion of Tarquin, they could not endure the name of one. - -XXXI. Under this feeling our ancestors then expelled Collatinus, who was -innocent, through apprehension of his family connexions, and the other -Tarquins from disgust at their names. From the same cause too P. -Valerius ordered the fasces to be lowered when he began to speak before -the people; and had his building materials taken to the foot of the -Velia, as soon as he perceived the suspicions of the people to be raised -on account of his having begun to build in a more conspicuous part of -the Velia, the very place where King Tullus had dwelt. He also, in the -which he greatly deserved the name of Publicola, had that law passed for -the people, which was first carried in the meetings of the centuries, -that no unfriendly magistrate should put to death, or flog any Roman -citizen for appealing. The pontifical books however declare appeals to -have existed under the kings; the augural records show it also. The -twelve tables too in many laws indicate that it was lawful to appeal -from every judgment and punishment. What is brought down to us by -tradition, of the Decemvirs who wrote the laws, being created without -any appeal, sufficiently shows that the other magistrates had not the -power of judging without appeal. The law, too, which for the sake of -concord passed in the consulate of Lucius Valerius Potitus, and M. -Horatius Barbatus, men very justly popular; sanctioned the principle, -that no magistrate should be created without appeal. Nor did the Portian -laws, which are three as you know of the three Portii, contain any thing -new except the confirmation of it. Publicola therefore, upon the law in -favour of appeal being published, immediately ordered the axes to be -taken from off the fasces, and the next day had Sp. Lucretius appointed -to him as his colleague: being his superior in age, he ordered his own -lictors to go to him; and first established the custom that lictors -should precede each of the consuls, alternate months, lest the ensigns -of command among a free people, should be as numerous as in a kingdom. -There was something more than mediocrity in this man, as I consider him: -who having given a moderate liberty to the people, preserved more easily -the authority of the chiefs. Nor do I repeat these things, now so old -and obsolete to you, without cause. I select examples of men and things -drawn from illustrious persons and times, to which the remainder of my -discourse shall be applied. - -XXXII. In such a manner the senate governed the commonwealth in those -days, that though the people were free, still they interfered in but few -things. Public affairs were principally managed under the authority, and -by the rules and customs of the senate. And although the consuls -possessed their power only for a year, it was royal in its nature and -effect. And this was strenuously preserved, as necessary to the -preservation of the influence of the nobles and principal chiefs, that -nothing should be established in the meetings of the people, which was -not sanctioned by the authority of the fathers. In these very times too, -T. Larcius was appointed dictator, about ten years after the first -consuls. A new kind of authority, very much resembling, as we perceive, -the royal power. But all great matters were conducted by the authority -of the principal men, the people submitting to it. And great events took -place in those times in war, under renowned men in the supreme command, -from among those very dictators and consuls. - -XXXIII. But what belongs to the very nature of things, as that a people -emancipated from kings, should take a little more power to themselves; -was brought about not long after, about the sixteenth year, in the -consulate of Postumus Cominus, and Sp. Cassius. Not in the right way -perhaps, but it is of the nature of public affairs frequently to deviate -from what is right. For observe what I said in the beginning, that -unless an equable compensation prevails in a state, in the laws, in -offices, in emoluments; so that the magistrates enjoy their proper -degree of power; the chief men their authority in council, and the -people their liberties, such a state of the government cannot remain -unchanged. For when the city was in commotion on account of the pressure -of their debts, the people first occupied the Sacred Mount, then the -Aventine. Nor could the discipline even of Lycurgus keep the Greeks -within those restraints. In the reign of Theopompus, at Sparta, those -five whom they call Ephori; the ten too in Crete, who are called Cosmoi; -arose against the royal power, as the tribunes of the people did against -the consular authority. - -XXXIV. Perhaps there was a mode by which our ancestors might have -relieved the pressure of the law of debt, which had not escaped Solon, -the Athenian, some short time before, and which our senate adopted not -long after, when on account of the infamous conduct of a creditor, the -citizens were liberated from the general oppression, and voluntary -bondage on account of debt abolished in future.[18] And always at such -periods, when the common people are exhausted by contributions in times -of public calamity, some relief and remedy is to be devised for the -common safety. Which the senate having neglected to do, sufficient cause -was given to the people to create two tribunes during a sedition of the -plebeians, with intent to weaken the power and authority of the senate; -which nevertheless remained a grave and great body, bringing forward in -the service of the state the wisest and bravest men, and strengthening -it by arms and counsel. And their authority was the greater, because far -excelling all others in honour, they were less conspicuous for -voluptuousness, and not much signalized by their wealth. Their high -worth also was the more esteemed in the state, because in private life -they diligently assisted individuals by their advice, and by substantial -services. - -XXXV. In which situation of the republic, the quæstor accused Sp. -Cassius, who enjoyed the highest degree of favour with the people, and -was contriving a usurpation of the government; and as you have heard, -when his own father stated himself to be satisfied of his guilt, the -people assenting to it, he put him to death. It was a grateful thing -also to the people, when Sp. Tarpeius, and A. Aternius, consuls, about -fifty-four years after the first consuls, carried a law in the meetings -of the centuries concerning fines. Twenty years afterwards when L. -Papirius, and P. Pinarius, censors, by pronouncing fines, converted the -strength of the flocks of many private individuals to the public use; a -light valuation of cattle was ordained in the law on fines, during the -consulate of C. Julius and P. Papirius. - -XXXVI. But some years before, when the senate enjoyed the greatest -authority, the people being very patient and obedient, a new plan was -instituted. The consuls and the tribunes of the people abdicated the -magistracy, and ten men were created with the greatest authority, and -without appeal, who were to possess the supreme power, and to inscribe -the laws. Who when they with great equity and prudence, had written ten -tables of laws, appointed ten other decemvirs for the following year, -whose faith and justice are not in like manner praised. From which -college, however, comes that praiseworthy act of C. Julius, who stated -that in his presence a body had been dug out of the chamber of a -patrician, L. Sestius. Although he had supreme power, and as decemvir -was without appeal, he admitted him to bail, refusing to lose sight of -that most excellent law, which forbids sentence to be pronounced on the -head of a Roman citizen, unless in the meetings of the centuries. - -XXXVII. A third decemviral year followed under the same men, they being -unwilling to appoint others. In this condition of the commonwealth, -which I have often already stated not to be lasting, because it is not -equable to all the orders of the state, the chief men had the whole -government in their hands; the most noble decemvirs being always -preferred. No tribunes of plebeians opposed to them, no other -magistrates associated with them, and no appeal left to the people -against death and stripes. Wherefore on account of the injustice of -these men, a great disturbance suddenly arose, and a revolution took -place in the whole commonwealth. They added two tables of iniquitous -laws, in which the very marriages which were even permitted to -strangers, were forbidden by an inhuman law, lest the plebeians should -connect themselves with the fathers; which law was afterwards abrogated -by the plebicist Canuleius. In all things they conducted themselves -libidinously, cruelly, and avariciously towards the people. Upon that -celebrated and well known affair contained in many literary records, in -which one Decimus Virginius on account of the outrage of one of the -decemvirs, slew his virgin daughter with his own hand in the Forum, and -fled lamenting to the army which was then on Mount Algide; the soldiers -abandoned the war they were then engaged in, and as was before done for -a similar cause, first came to the sacred mount, and next to the -Aventine * * * * * - - [Eight pages wanting.] - -XXXVIII. When Scipio had spoken these things, and all by their silence -were expecting the remainder.—“Since my seniors here, Africanus,” said -Tubero, “ask you no questions, hear from me what I still find wanting in -your discourse.” “Most cheerfully,” replied Scipio. “You appear to me,” -said he “to have been pronouncing the eulogium of our republic, when -Lælius was inquiring not respecting ours, but of government in general. -Nor have I learnt from your discourse, by what discipline, or by what -customs or laws, a republic like the one you praise, can be constituted -or preserved.” - -XXXIX. “I think,” said Africanus, “we shall by and by have a more -appropriate occasion, Tubero, of discussing the establishment and -preservation of states. In respect to the best kind of government, I -deem myself to have sufficiently answered the inquiries which Lælius -made. First I pointed out three kinds of government that might be -endured, and to these three their very pernicious opposites: that no one -among them was the best, but that one moderately balanced from all -three, was preferable to either of them. That I have availed myself of -our state for an example, was not with a view to define the best form of -government, for that could be done without an example. But in truth, -that a great state might present the very picture, such as reason and -language might describe it to be. But if without going to the example of -any people, you are desirous of finding that perfect condition of -government, then look at the image which nature presents to us * * * - - [A great number of pages wanting here.] - -XL. S. * * * a character I have been looking for, and have been desirous -of arriving at. - -L. The discreet statesman, perhaps? - -S. The very same. - -L. You have all those present who are so numerous: or you can begin with -yourself. “I wish,” said Scipio, “it was proportionally so in the whole -senate. However, he is a discreet man, who as we have frequently seen in -Africa, seated on a monstrous wild and ferocious animal, governs and -directs him; making him kneel down, not with blows, but with a slight -sign.” - -L. I know, and have often seen it when I was Lieutenant to you. - -S. So the Indian or Carthagenian governs a wild beast, and renders it -docile and gentle with humane conduct. But that intellectual principle -which is hidden in the souls of men, and which is called a part of the -soul, does not bridle or tame one easily subdued, whenever it -accomplishes it, which rarely happens. For that ferocious animal must be -restrained[19] * * * * - - [Either four or eight pages are wanting here.] - -XLII. “Already,” said Lælius, “I see the man I expected, so greatly -endowed, and charged with such duties.” “With this duty only,” replied -Africanus, “for in this one almost all the rest are included. That in -his thoughts and actions he never deviate from himself, so that he may -call upon others to imitate him, and that he may offer himself in the -purity of his mind and his life, as a mirror to his fellow citizens. For -as in stringed instruments or pipes, as well as in singing with voices, -a certain harmony is to be formed with distinct sounds, an interruption -to which cannot be borne by refined ears; this kindred and harmonious -concert being produced by the modification of dissimilar voices. So a -government temperately organized from the upper, the lower and middle -orders blended together, harmonizes like music by the agreement of -dissimilar sounds. And that which in song is called by musicians, -harmony, is concord in a state; the strongest and best bond of safety in -every republic; yet which without justice cannot be preserved.[20] - - [Many pages wanting.] - -XLIV. “I assent entirely to it,” said Scipio, “and declare freely to -you, that we must esteem in nothing all that we have said upon -government, or that may remain farther to be said, unless it be -established, not only that it is false, that injustice is necessary, but -that this is most true; that without the most perfect justice, no -government can prosper in any manner. But if you please, thus far for to -day. The remainder, for many things remain yet to be said, we will defer -until to-morrow.” When this was approved, an end was put to the -discussion for that day. - ------ - -Footnote 12: - - Pecuniosi. - -Footnote 13: - - Locupletes. - -Footnote 14: - - Plato. - -Footnote 15: - - Asses dare. - -Footnote 16: - - Carthage. - -Footnote 17: - - γὲροντας in the MSS. - -Footnote 18: - - This passage appears to deserve a note. The words “nexa” and “nectier” - are used in the original. And at the first glance, the passage, - connecting it with the well known custom of keeping debtors in chains, - as well as the memorable occasion which produced this insurrectionary - movement, would appear to declare, that all kinds of bondage for debt - were abolished in future. In early periods, whoever was unable to pay - his debts, was adjudged by a decree of the prætor, to discharge them - in personal services: for which purpose his person was delivered to - his creditor; whose slave in every sense of the word he thus became, - until the debt was discharged. A debtor thus situated was termed - “addictus” or sentenced. Livy, vi. 36., relates “that those against - whom judgments had been given, (addictos) were led out daily in herds - from the Forum, to the mansions of the patricians, which were filled - with enchained debtors: and that wherever a patrician dwelt, there was - a private prison.” That all debtors were subject to actual bonds, - appears from every indebted person under voluntary judgment, being - called “nexus,” meaning linked or chained; and probably when judgment - was passed, debtors were delivered in that condition to the creditors. - But “nexus” changed its meaning, as the word “bond” has done in our - language, where we bind ourselves only with forms. The urgent - necessity of the plebeians, arising out of the exactions of the - patricians, obliged them to borrow money at usury; and upon such - occasions, for money weighed out to him “per æs et libram,” before - witnesses, the borrower pledged his person and liberty to the lender - as security for the debt. This voluntary act, which was equivalent to - a modern confession of judgment, constituted the debtor a “nexus;” - before the period of payment had expired, at which time only he was - liable to fetters. Upon the occasion of the insurrection mentioned in - the passage; a young man of respectable plebeian family, C. Publilius, - surrendered himself to Papirius, a patrician usurer, in the place of - his father who had failed to redeem himself from his “nexus.” - Rejecting the infamous propositions made to him, Papirius caused him - to be cruelly scourged. This transaction having roused the people, the - senate was obliged to consent to the liberation of all persons who had - become “nexi” by their voluntary act, and to order the practice to be - discontinued in future. - - I have translated the passage in accordance with this view of the - subject. Niebuhr, vol. i. 506. Livy, vi. 36. viii. 28. &c. - -Footnote 19: - - The continuation of this passage is, perhaps, found in Nonius Voc. - Exsultare, “which nourishes itself with blood, and which so delights - in every kind of cruelty, that it scarcely can be satiated with the - sad destruction of human beings.” - -Footnote 20: - - Professor Mai quotes the following passage from St. Augustin, De. Civ. - Dei, as containing a summary of that part of the discussion - interrupted here. “And when Scipio had in a more comprehensive and - diffuse way, shown how advantageous justice was to a state, and how - injurious the absence of it was: Philus, who was one of those present - at the discussion, took it up, and proposed that that subject should - be very carefully investigated, on account of the opinion which was - obtaining, that governments could not be administered without - injustice.” - - - - - CICERO’S REPUBLIC. - - -[Illustration] - - - - - BOOK III. - - - [Four or eight pages wanting.] - -II. * * * * The intelligent principle having found man endowed with the -faculty of uttering rude and imperfect sounds, enabled him to separate -and distinguish them into articulations. Thus words were affixed to -things as signs of them, and man, once solitary, became united to man, -by the sweet bond of conversation. By the same intelligence, the -inflexions of the voice, which we find to be infinite in number, are all -distinguished and expressed, by the invention of a few marks, which -enable us to hold a correspondence with the absent, to indicate our -inclinations, and to preserve a record of things past. To this the -knowledge of numbers was added, a thing not only necessary to life, but -at once immutable and eternal. Which first led us to consider the -heavens, to look upon the motion of the planets with interest, and the -numbering of the nights and days * * * * - - [Eight or ten pages wanting.] - -III. * * * * Whose minds rose to a loftier pitch as I before said, that -they might execute or discover something worthy of the gift they had -received from the gods. Wherefore let those who have treated upon the -moral conduct of life, be deemed by us, great men, as they are; learned -men; masters of truth and virtue. Yet let it be admitted that civil -rights, and the government of a people, whether they are the fruits of -men experienced in the management of public affairs, or, as the fact has -been, the result of their literary leisure, be least despised; causing -as they do to spring up in great minds, as we have often seen, an -incredible and divine virtue. For if any one to those faculties which -the mind has from nature, and to those talents which civil institutions -produce, hath added also the learning, and the more various knowledge of -things, in which men engaged in the discussion of those books are -versed, there is no one who ought not to prefer such a man to all -others. For what can be more excellent, than when the practice and habit -of great affairs is joined to a perfect knowledge of the theory of the -science of them? Or what more perfect can be imagined than P. Scipio, C. -Lælius, and L. Philus; who that they might omit nothing appertaining to -the high character of enlightened men, to the knowledge of our domestic -and ancient customs, united the learning received from Socrates? -Wherefore he who determined and effected both, that is, instructed -himself as well in the institutions, as in the philosophy of the -ancients, I think has accomplished every thing with praise. But if a -choice must be made between those two paths to excellence, and if to any -one, that tranquil way of life passed in the best studies and sciences -may appear happier, still certainly an active, civil life is more -illustrious and more laudable. The greatest men derive their glory from -such a life, as M. Curius * * * * - - “Whom none could overcome with arms or gold.” - - [Six pages wanting.] - -IV. * * * Nevertheless this difference existed in their two different -modes: the one unfolded the principles of nature by their studies and by -their eloquence; the others by their institutions and by their laws. -This commonwealth alone has produced many, if not altogether to be -deemed sages, since that title is so cautiously bestowed, yet worthy of -the greatest praise; for they cultivated the precepts and discoveries of -sages. Wherefore civil governments are to be extolled and ever will be, -since in the nature of things, to constitute a commonwealth which shall -be lasting, is one of the greatest efforts of mind: and thus if we only -enumerate one for every country, what a multitude of excellent men do we -find. For if we permit our minds to take a survey of that famous Greece, -of Italy, Latium, or the Sabine and Volscian people; the Samnites, the -Etrurians; next the Assyrians, the Persians, the Carthagenians. If -these * * * - - [Twelve pages wanting.] - -V. * * * “Truly,” said Philus, “you have imposed a fine task upon me, -wishing me to undertake the justification of what is wrong.” “Surely,” -said Lælius, “you are afraid lest in using the same arguments which are -wont to be brought forward against justice, you may appear to hold such -opinions yourself; you who are almost the only example left of ancient -probity and faith. But your habit of discussing both sides of the -question, in order more easily to get at the truth, is very well known.” -“Well, well,” said Philus, “I will do as you wish, and defile myself -with my eyes open: for since those who search for gold do not refuse to -do it; we who are looking for what is right, a thing much more precious -than gold, assuredly ought not to avoid any thing that is disagreeable. -And I wish, since I am about to make use of another man’s opinions, it -was possible for me to make use of his tongue also. Now, however, L. -Furius Philus, must say what Carneades, a Greek in the habit of saying -whatever he pleased * * * - - [Four pages wanting.] - -VIII. * * * But the other has filled four pretty large books with the -subject of justice. From Chrysippus I have never looked for any thing -very great or magnificent; since he reasons in a particular way of his -own, and examines things rather by the force of words, than the weight -of facts. It was for those distinguished men, to raise up that prostrate -virtue, and elevate it to the divine heights of wisdom. A virtue which -stands alone as it were, greatly munificent and liberal; which loves -every thing better than itself, and is born more for others, than for -its own interests. Nor was the inclination wanting to them: for what -other cause had they for writing, or what motive soever? In genius they -excelled all. But the cause was greater even than their inclination and -strength. The right indeed concerning which we inquire, is something -civil, not natural: if it were, justice and injustice would be the same -things to all men, as hot and cold, bitter and sweet things are. - -IX. Now however, if any one borne upon the chariot with winged serpents, -of which Pacuvius speaks, could survey with his eyes, and look down upon -the many and various nations and cities; he might see chiefly among that -unchanging race of the Egyptians, which preserves in its records the -memory of so many events and ages, an ox esteemed as a god, which the -Egyptians call Apis; and many other strange things among them, among -which wild beasts consecrated into the number of the gods. Then in -Greece, where as with us, magnificent temples are consecrated containing -human images, which the Persians considered impious. For which cause -alone, Xerxes is said to have ordered the temples of the Athenians to be -burnt; considering it to be wicked to shut the gods up within walls, -whose residence was the whole universe. Afterwards Philip who had it in -contemplation, and Alexander who carried it into effect, gave as reasons -for making war against the Persians, that they avenged the temples of -Greece; which the Greeks did not think of repairing, that the -devastation might be an eternal monument to posterity of the infamy of -the Persians. How many, as the Taurians in Axinum, as Busiris the king -of Egypt, as the Gauls, the Carthagenians, have thought it a grateful -and pious duty to the gods, to immolate men. But the institutions of -life differ so much, that the Cretans and Etolians esteem it honourable -to steal: the Lacedemonians used to say that all lands were theirs which -they could reach with a shaft. The Athenians were wont to swear even -publicly, that every soil was theirs, which produced oil and corn. The -Gauls consider it shameful to produce grain by labour, and therefore go -armed to harvest other people’s lands. But we, the most just of men, to -make our own olive and vineyards more valuable, do not permit the -transalpine nations to plant them: in doing which we are said to act -prudently; it is not called acting justly. By which you may understand -there is a wide distance between prudence and equity. Lycurgus, the -founder of the best laws, and the most equal rights, gave the lands of -the wealthy to be cultivated by the lower class in the state of -servitude. - -X. But if I were to describe the various kinds of laws, of institutions, -of customs and manners, not only so different among such divers nations, -but even in a single city, or in this, I could demonstrate them to have -been changed a thousand times. Our friend Manilius here, an interpreter -of laws, will tell you that other laws exist now concerning the legacies -and inheritances of women, than those he was wont to speak of in his -youth, before the Voconian law was passed; which very law, indeed -proposed for the advantage of the men, is full of injustice towards the -women. For why should a woman not have possessions? Why should a vestal -appoint an heir, and her mother not? Why if limits were to be put to the -possessions of women, should the daughter of Crassus, if she were an -only daughter, possess thousands legally, when mine could not possess -two or three hundred * * * * * * - - [Two pages wanting.] - -XI. * * * * * * If these rights were thus sanctioned in us, all men -would have the same rights, and would not have different rights at -different periods. But if it is the duty of a just and good man to obey -the laws, I would ask which are they to be? Or shall he obey all -indiscriminately? But virtue does not admit of uncertainty, nor nature -endure inconstancy. The strength of law consists in punishment, not in -our natural justice. Natural right therefore does not exist. Whence it -follows, that men are not made just by nature. But it is said, although -there are various laws, still good men, by natural inclination, pursue -what is just in itself, and not what is assumed to be so; because it is -the part of a good and just man, to render that justice to every one -which he is deserving of. Now, first, are we in any wise just to the -dumb beasts? For men, not of mediocrity, but great and learned; -Pythagoras and Empedocles, declare that all animals possess the same -degree of right, and denounce unatoning punishments to hang over those -by whom any animal is outraged. It is wicked therefore to injure the -brutes. * * * * * * - - [Eight pages wanting.] - -XII. * * * * * * what we call wisdom, urges us to increase our wealth, -our riches, and to extend our possessions. How could that great -commander[21] who formerly carried the limits of his empire into Asia; -how could he govern, bear sway, reign, have dominion, and the full -enjoyment of voluptuousness, unless he took something from others? But -justice orders us to spare all, to consult the welfare of mankind, to -give to every one his own, and to abstain from every thing that is -sacred, every thing that is public, every thing which is not our own. -What therefore is to be done? If wisdom is consulted, riches, power, -wealth, honours, authority, empire, are open to individuals and nations. -But since it is the public interest we are discussing, instances of a -public nature will illustrate better; and as the same degree of right is -in both, I shall advert to the wisdom of a nation, and I shall omit the -rest. Our own nation, which Africanus in his discourse yesterday, traced -to its origin, whose empire already extends over the earth, has it, once -least of them all, become so by justice or wisdom? * * * * * * - - [Four or eight pages wanting.] - -XIV. For all who possess the power of life and death over a people are -tyrants, yet they prefer to be called kings by the name of the good -Jupiter. When certain persons through the influence of their riches, -their class, or other circumstances, possess themselves of the -government, it is a faction. Yet they call themselves, the better class. -If the people however are uppermost and rule every thing at their own -pleasure, that is called liberty; nevertheless it is licentiousness. But -when one fears another, man mistrusting man, and one class another, then -because no one confides, a sort of pact is made between the people and -the great, from whence that combined form of government springs, which -Scipio has praised. So that neither nature, or the will is the mother of -justice, but weakness. For when one thing is to be chosen out of three, -either to do injustice without permitting it to be done to you; or to do -it and permit it also; or neither one or the other: the best is to do it -with impunity[22] if you can; the second best is neither to do it, nor -suffer it to be done to you: the worst of all is to be eternally -fighting now on account of your own aggressions, now on account of those -of others * * * * * - - [An unknown number of pages wanting.] - -* * * Except the Arcadians and the Athenians, who, I suppose, fearing -lest at some period this decree[23] of justice might appear, have -feigned themselves to be sprung from the earth, like the little mice we -see in the fields. - -XVI. To these things, others are wont to be added principally by those, -distinguished for their honesty in discussion, and having more weight -for that reason. Who when engaged in the inquiry of what constitutes a -good man, frank and plain as we wish to find him, are not themselves -crafty, hardened, and malicious in argument. They deny that the wise man -is good only because goodness and justice are pleasing to him from their -nature; but because the lives of good men are free from apprehension, -care, solicitude and danger. Whereas bad men have always a sting goading -their souls, and judgment and punishment are always present to their -eyes. That there is no emolument, no advantage arising from injustice, -so great as to compensate the fear, and the constant thought that some -punishment is impending * * * * * - - [Four or eight pages wanting.] - -XVII. I ask if there be two men, one of them of the very best kind; -equitable, perfectly just, of exemplary faith: the other singular for -his wickedness and audacity: and suppose the community in such an error, -that the good man passes for a wicked and dishonest one; while the bad -one has the reputation of perfect probity and good faith. And through -this general delusion of the citizens, the good man is harassed, -arrested, bound, his eyes put out, condemned, thrown in chains, tortured -in the fire, banished. Wanting every thing, at last he appears to all to -be deservedly the most wretched of men. On the other hand, the bad man -is praised, sought after, caressed by all. Honours of every kind, -authority, power, and every advantage conferred upon him from all sides. -A man, finally, in the estimation of all deemed the very best, and -worthy of the highest gifts of fortune. Who would be so insane as to -hesitate which of these two he would choose to be? - -XVIII. As it is with individuals, so it is with nations. No community is -so stupid, as not to prefer commanding by injustice, to serving -according to justice. I shall not go far back for examples. Being -consul, you assisting me in council; I had to examine the Numantine -treaty. Who is ignorant that Pompey made that treaty, and that Mancinus -was concerned in the same affair? This last most excellent man supported -the proposition I carried from the consultation in the senate; the other -most earnestly opposed it. Those who valued modesty, integrity, and good -faith preferred Mancinus: yet for his reasoning, counsel, and policy, -Pompey took the lead of him * * * * - - [An unknown number of pages wanting.] - -XXIX. * * * * * Ti. Gracchus was vigilant for the interests of the -people, but neglected the rights of the Latins and the treaties with the -allies. If such customs and license should spread themselves wider, and -our empire be changed from right to force, so that those who until now -voluntarily obey us, should be ruled only by terror; although it has -been vigilantly preserved for us, who are of the present age; yet I -should be very solicitous about our posterity, and about the immortality -of the republic, which might be perpetual, if the institutions and -manners of our forefathers were preserved. - -XXX. When Lælius had thus spoken, all present expressed themselves to -have been very much delighted by him, but Scipio, among the rest, as if -quite elated with pleasure, “many causes,” said he, “indeed Lælius, hast -thou often defended, in such a manner that I can by no means compare our -colleague Servius Galba to thee; whom when he lived thou preferredest to -all; nor in truth any of the attic orators * * * - - [Twelve pages wanting.] - -XXXI. * * * * * Therefore that common interest, that is the -commonwealth, who can recognize it when all are oppressed by the cruelty -of one; when no bond of Law exists, nor that consent of congregated -society, which constitutes a people. And this very condition of the -Syracusans: a celebrated city, as Timæus says, the first among the -Greeks, and the most beautiful of them all: its harbour embosomed within -the walls, its canals running through the city: its broad streets, its -porticoes, temples, fortifications, all these did not help to constitute -a commonwealth, while Dionysius reigned. The people had no part in them, -for the very people belonged to one man. Therefore where there is a -tyrant, it is not a vitiated commonwealth, as I said yesterday, but -reason compels us to declare plainly that no commonwealth at all exists. - -XXXII. “Indeed” said Lælius, “you speak very clearly, and I already -perceive the drift of your discourse. - -S. You see therefore, that when every thing is in the power of a -faction, neither can that be properly called a commonwealth. - -L. I judge it plainly so. - -S. And most rightly do you judge, for what was the condition of the -Athenians, when after that great Pelopponesian war, thirty men were most -unjustly placed in the command of that city? Did the ancient glory of -the city, the admirable nature of its buildings, its theatre, gymnasia, -its noble porticoes, its citadel, or the admirable works of Phidias, or -the magnificent port of Piræus, did they constitute a commonwealth? “Not -in the least” said Lælius, “because indeed the common interest was not -thought of.” - -S. How was it at Rome, when the Decemvirs existed without appeal, in -that third year, when liberty itself had parted with its privileges? - -L. Nothing was left to the people, and truly it was necessary to bring -them to that point, that they might recover their rights. - -XXXIII. S. I come now to the third kind, that in which some -inconsistency will perhaps be perceived, where all things are said to be -done by the people, and to be in the power of the people. When the -multitude orders punishments to be inflicted in any manner that it -pleases, ordering, seizing, keeping, dissipating every thing whatever -they choose, can you then Lælius, deny that to be a republic, where all -things belong to the people, and when indeed we define a republic to be -a commonwealth?” “There is nothing,” said Lælius, “I would sooner deny -to be a republic, than where all things are in the power of the -multitude. We did not consider that they had a republic among the -Syracusans, or at Agrigentum, or at Athens when they were under tyrants, -or at Rome when under the decemvirs. Nor do I see how the name of -republic is appropriate when the multitude rules. Because first, as you -have happily defined it to me, Scipio, a people does not exist, but -where it is held together by consent of law; and this sort of mob, is as -much a tyrant as if it were one man. Indeed it is more mischievous, for -nothing is more ferocious than the wild beast which assumes the name and -form of the people. Nor is it right, when the property of maniacs is -placed by law under the guardianship of kindred, that * * * - - [Eight pages wanting.] - -XXXIV. * * * of it,[24] it may with as much propriety be said that it is -a republic and a commonwealth, as it may be said of a kingdom. “And much -more,” said Mummius, “for a king being one, is more like a master; but -where many good men are at the head of affairs in a republic, nothing -can be more happily constituted. But I certainly prefer a kingdom to the -sway of a democracy; which third and most vicious kind of government -remains for you to explain.” - -XXXV. To this Scipio replied, “I recognize well Spurius, your steady -aversion to the popular mode, and although it might be treated with less -aversion than you are wont to do, nevertheless I agree, that of all -these three kinds, no one is less to be approved of. I do not however -agree with you that the better class are to be preferred to a king; for -if it is wisdom which governs a state, of what consequence is it, -whether it resides in one, or in many? But in our discussion we are led -into a sort of error. When we call them the better class, nothing can be -conceived more excellent, for what can be imagined more desirable than -the best? When however a king is mentioned, an unjust king occurs to our -minds. We do not nevertheless intend to speak of an unjust king, in our -examination of this royal kind of government. Think of Romulus, -Pompilius, and Tullus as kings, and perhaps you will not be so -displeased with that kind of government. - -M. What sort of praise then is left for a democratic government? - -S. What did you think, Spurius, of the Rhodians, with whom we were -together; did you see nothing like a commonwealth there? - -M. Indeed I did, and least of all to be blamed. - -S. You say well. But if you remember all were alike; sometimes -plebeians, sometimes senators; and by turns discharging during certain -months their functions as senators; the other months they remained in -the ranks of the people. In both capacities however they had the -privilege of being present at the meetings for deliberation, and equally -in the theatres and in the courts, great matters and all others were -judged; so numerous was the multitude and so great its power -that * * * * * - ------ - -Footnote 21: - - Alexander. - -Footnote 22: - - These are sophisms brought forward in favour of injustice. - - Vide Lact. Inst. 5. - -Footnote 23: - - To restore things unjustly acquired. - -Footnote 24: - - The better class. - - - - - CICERO’S REPUBLIC. - - -[Illustration] - - - - - BOOK IV. - - -II. * * * * * * How conveniently the orders are set down; the ages, the -classes. The equestrian order where the senate votes. Too many foolishly -seek to abolish that useful institution, hoping that through some -Plebecists procuring the sale of the horses, they may get a largess. - -III. Look now at the other provisions so wisely made, that the citizens -may enjoy a happy and honest state of society, for that is the very -motive for their union; and which government ought to secure to men, by -institutions and laws. In the first place, as to puerile discipline for -free-born young men, respecting which the Greeks have laboured so much -in vain; and the only matter about which our guest Polybius reproaches -the negligence of our institutions. No defined system, or of a public -nature, or uniform for all, was decreed by the laws. - - [Four or eight pages wanting.] - -IV. * * * * * * nor naked when at an age of puberty. So deep did they -seek as it were to lay the foundations of modesty. But how absurd the -exercises of youth in the Grecian Gymnasia; how trifling that drilling -of young boys: what loose and unrestrained manners permitted to them. I -say nothing of the Eleans and Thebans, among whom free license and -permission was given to the young people to indulge in sensuality. The -Lacedemonians too, when they allowed every sensual indulgence short of -violence, among their youth, were destroying what they were granting -such a slight protection to. “I clearly understand, Scipio,” said -Lælius, “that in these practices of the Greeks, which you reprehend, you -had rather attack the most illustrious people, than your favourite -Plato, whom you do not assail at all, especially * * * * * - - - - - CICERO’S REPUBLIC. - - -[Illustration] - - - - - BOOK V. - - -II. * * * * * * No prerogative more royal than the administration of -justice, in which was comprehended the expounding of rights, for -individuals were accustomed to seek justice from kings. On which account -the lands, the fields, the groves, the extensive and rich grazing -districts were defined, which belonged to the sovereign, and were all -managed without any care or labour on his part; that none of the cares -of private business, might abstract him from the affairs of the public. -Nor was any man an umpire or arbitrator of any legal contention, but all -things were decided by royal judgments. And it seems to me, that our -Numa chiefly adopted this ancient custom from the kings of Greece. For -the others, although they also discharged this function, yet a great -many of them waged wars, and occupied themselves in establishing the -rules of war. But that long peace of Numa, was the parent of law and -religion to this city. He also was the writer of those laws which you -know to be extant: all which is appropriate to the very citizen whose -character we are drawing * * * * * * - - [An unknown number of pages wanting.] - -III. S. Do you think there is any harm in his being acquainted with the -nature of roots and seeds? - -M. None, if only his work is not neglected. - -S. But do you think it to be properly the study of a farmer? - -M. Not in the least; for the cultivation of the land would often be -unattended to. - -S. Therefore, as a farmer is acquainted with the nature of his soil, a -steward with the nature of letters, and each can turn from the amusement -of theory to the greater utility of practice; so this our ruler may be -thoroughly conversant with the knowledge of rights and of laws; he may -have looked even into the very fountains of them: but let not his -consultations, his constant readings, and his writings occupy him too -much; but let him be as it were both steward and farmer to the -commonwealth. Let him be skilled in the principles of law without which -no man can be just; let him not be ignorant of civil law: but let it be -as the pilot who studies the stars; the physician who studies the nature -of plants and minerals; each turning his knowledge to the benefit of his -art, without permitting it to impede the practical use of his -vocation * * * - - [An unknown number of pages wanting.] - -IV. * * * * In those states where the good look for praise and honour, -and fly from ignominy and disgrace. Not so much restrained by -apprehension of the penalties established by law, but by a sentiment of -self-respect, which nature has planted in man, a sort of dread of -deserved censure. This sentiment the ruler of a state strengthens by -public opinion, and confirms by education, and by institutions, that -shame may deter the citizen from crime as much as fear. But these -considerations properly belong to renown, and shall be more abundantly -considered. - -V. Life, however, and the comfortable enjoyment of it, are constituted -by legal marriages, lawful children; the keeping hallowed the seats of -the penate gods, and the domestic lares; that all may enjoy public and -private comforts. Without good government, private life cannot be -agreeable, nor can any one be more happy than in a well regulated -state * * * * - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - TRANSCRIBER’S NOTES - - - 1. Corrected items noted in the Errata. - 2. Silently corrected typographical errors in the Preface, - Introduction, and footnotes. - 3. Retained anachronistic and non-standard spellings as printed in the - Preface, Introduction, and footnotes. - 4. Did not alter punctuation or spellings in the Translation with the - exception of joining words split by pages. - 5. 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