The Republic and The Laws (Oxford World's Classics)

by Cicero

  the opinion of our friend Plato: Plato, Republic 4. 424c. Cf. L. 2. 38–9 above.

  that other work: the relevant sections of Cicero’s Republic have not survived.

  four ballot laws: the first was introduced by Gabinius in 139. For him, and the others mentioned, see the Index of Names. For details of voting-procedure see Greenidge (1) 258–9.

  a storm in a teacup: i.e. in local politics. The Latin simpulum means a wine ladle.

  his son: see Index of Names under Gratidianus.

  the Aegean sea: i.e. in national politics.

  on his recommendation: ‘If Scipio could not count on the senatorial jurors of the extortion court to convict his enemies, he might have better luck with the popular assembly, especially if the ballot was secret’ (Gruen 39).

  The Marian Law: as tribune in 119, Marius introduced a law which narrowed the gangways along which the voters passed. This was designed to reduce the opportunities for bribery and intimidation.

  provided the vote is disclosed: if this is seriously meant (and there is no sign to the contrary) Cicero must be deceiving himself. With exemplary restraint, How calls it ‘a futile compromise’ (31).

  this influence: another suggested supplement is ‘{Maintaining deco-rum) is not difficult in the Senate’.

  in his proper turn: senators were invited to speak in turn, according to rank. For details see Greenidge (1) 268–71.

  One ought never to make a long speech: no doubt Cicero would have claimed that his long speeches were justified by exceptional circumstances as classified below.

  to waste the entire day: the filibuster is not a purely modern phenomenon.

  He shall have a grasp of public affairs: one wonders how this was to be ensured.

  to force through a measure by violence: there were acts of violence (many being of this kind) in every year between 63 and 53. For details see Lintott (t) Appendix A.

  Crassus: i.e. Lucius Licinius Crassus. See Index of Names.

  the disorder fomented by Gnaeus Carbo: the exact issue is unknown.

  he loses his immunity: the tribune’s privilege of sacrosanctitas.

  legislation directed at private individuals: in Pro Sestio 65 Cicero complains that he was driven out by a law naming him specifically, brought before the Council of the Plebs by the tribune Clodius; cf. De Domo Sua 47. Interestingly, Ateius Capito, a lawyer of the early empire, includes among examples of privilegium the decree recalling Cicero (Aulus Gellius 10. 20. 3). For a discussion of Cicero’s arguments see Greenidge (2) 361–5.

  no legal action had been taken against me: cf. Pro Sestio 73.

  the whole of Italy: ‘On 8 August [57 BC ], when I was in Brundisium, I heard from Quintus that the measure legalizing my recall had been passed at the Assembly of Centuries. This was greeted with extraordinary delight by all ages and classes in an astonishing crowd that had flocked to Rome from all over Italy’ (Att. 4. 1. 4).

  no official record: the bills are to be filed in the treasury (11 above). This practice had existed since early times (Livy 3. 55. 13); but possibly the system was not working to Cicero’s satisfaction. Certainly under Augustus, about 11 BC, reforms were made as a result of officials’ carelessness (Dio 54. 36).

  The Greeks: probably Cicero’s source is Demetrius of Phalerum, who is mentioned on other occasions.

  a trial… in a court of law: magistrates had always been open to prosecution at the end of their term of office. Cicero’s proposal is new in that it requires a report to be made even if the magistrate has done well.

  Marcus Junius: see Index of Names under Junius.

  INDEX OF NAMES

  Each person’s names are listed in the order used by Cicero.

  ACCIUS, LUCIUS: b. 170, a prolific playwright, he was most famous for his versions of Greek tragedy, but he also handled subjects from Roman history. He died some time after 90. L. 2. 54.

  ACHILLES: the hero of Homer’s Iliad. R. T. 30.

  ACILIUS, LUCIUS: an authority on law, contemporary with Cato the Censor. L. 2. 59.

  AELIUS STILO, LUCIUS: the first great Roman scholar. Born c.150, he had some famous pupils, including Varro and Cicero. He produced editions of Ennius and Lucilius. L. 2. 59.

  AELIUS PAETUS CATUS, SEXTUS: consul 198, famous for his knowledge of the law. R. r. 30, 2. 59.

  AENIANES: a people living in the upper Spercheus valley in north-central Greece. R. 2. 8.

  AEQUI: a mountain tribe north-east of Rome. They fought against Rome in the fifth century, but were conquered and eventually absorbed. R. 2. 36.

  AESCHINES: C.397-C.322. Famous Athenian orator, opponent of Demosthenes. R. 4. 13.

  AESCULAPIUS: Latinized form of Asclepius the Greek god of healing. The cult was brought to Rome in 293, and a temple was dedicated in 291. L. 2. 19.

  AETOLIANS: a people of north-central Greece. R. 3. 15.

  AHALA, GAIUS SERVILIUS: he was exiled by his ungrateful countrymen after killing Spurius Maelius, a would-be tyrant, in 439. R.i. 6.

  ALEXANDER THE GREAT: 356–323. R. 3. 15; L. 2. 41.

  AMALTHEA: nurse of Zeus, variously described as a nymph and a she-goat. L. 2. 7.

  AMPHIARAUS: a prophet who foresaw that the expedition of the seven Argive chiefs against Thebes was doomed to fail, but nevertheless took part in it at the behest of his wife, Eriphyle, who had been bribed with a necklace by Polynices. L. 2. 33.

  AMPIUS BALBUS, TITUS: tribune in 63, Balbus was a staunch supporter of Pompey. Exiled by Julius Caesar, he was recalled in 46 through Cicero’s influence. L. 2. 6.

  AMULIUS: deposed his brother Numitor from the throne of Alba Longa, and made Numitor’s daughter, Silvia, a Vestal Virgin. She, however, was violated by Mars and became the mother of Romulus and Remus. R. 2. 4.

  ANAXAGORAS: 500–428. After coming to Athens in 480, he taught that in the beginning the seeds of everything existed in an undifferentiated mixture. Thanks to a rotatory motion initiated by mind, the various seeds separated out, and our world was formed. R. 1. 25.

  ANCUS MARCIUS: fourth king of Rome (641–617). He built the first bridge over the Tiber and extended Roman territory to the coast, where he founded Ostia. R. 2. 5, 33, 35, 38.

  ANTIOCHUS OF ASCALON: C. 125-C.68. He broke away from the scepticism of the New Academy and developed an eclectic system embodying elements of the Old Academy, Aristotle, and the Stoics. L. 1. 54.

  APIS: the sacred bull worshipped by the Egyptians in Memphis. The cult is believed to have given rise to the worship of Sarapis, a Hellenized Egyptian religion which became widespread in the third century. R. 3. 14.

  APOLLO: a Greek deity with many functions, including music, archery, medicine, and the care of flocks and herds. From early times he was a god of prophecy, and had a number of oracular shrines of which Delphi was the most famous. R. 2. 44.

  APPIUS: see Claudius.

  APULEIUS SATURNINUS, LUCIUS: as tribune in 103 he secured grants of land for the veterans of Marius’ campaign against Jugurtha. In 100 he proposed similar grants for the veterans of the campaigns against the Teutones and Cimbri. In addition, against the will of the Senate, he proposed a bill providing cheap corn for the people. Eventually he alienated Marius and was put to death. L. 2. 14; 3. 20, 26.

  AQUILIUS, MANIUS: consul in 129. With a senatorial commission he organized the province of Asia. R. 1. 14.

  AQUILO: the north wind (the Greek Boreas). L. 1. 3.

  ARATUS:(of Soli in Cilicia), c.3 15–240. Author of an astronomical poem entitled Phaenomena, which was long admired. Cicero translated it in his youth. R. 1. 22, 56; L. 2. 7.

  ARCESILAUS: 316–242. As Head of the Academy, he gave the school the sceptical direction which it followed until the time of Antiochus. L. i. 39.

  ARCHIMEDES OF SYRACUSE: c.287. 212. FAMOUS AS A MATHEMATICIAN AND AS AN INVENTOR OF INGENIOUS DEVICES, E.G. A SCREW FOR RAISING WATER. R. 1. 21, 22, 28.

  ARCHYTAS: (of Tarentum in southern Italy), flourished in the first half of the fourth century. Famous for the advances he made
in mathematics and musical theory. In philosophy he was a Pythagorean. R. 1. 16, 60.

  ARISTO OF C HIOS: a pupil of Zeno, he founded a branch of Stoicism about 250. Contrary to Zeno, he maintained that, among things neither good nor bad, no distinction could be drawn between ‘preferable’ and ‘non-preferable’. L. 1. 38, 55.

  ARISTODEMUS: a tragic actor at Athens in the early fourth century. R. 4. 13-

  ARISTOPHANES: C.450-C.385. The most famous representative of the Greek Old Comedy, which was remarkable for its outspokenness. L. 2. 37.

  ARISTOTLE: 384–322. Only a few of Aristotle’s voluminous writings seem to have been available to Cicero; but some of the main features of his thinking were to be found in the works of his successors, e.g. Theophrastus and later Demetrius of Phalerum. L. i. 38, 55; 3. 14.

  ASELLIO, SEMPRONIUS: he served under Scipio at Numantia (134–3). He wrote a history of his own time in at least fourteen books down to the age of Sulla, in which he consciously improved on the annalistic tradition by dealing with cause and purpose and conveying a patriotic feeling. L. 1. 6.

  ATILIUS CALATINUS, AULUS: consul 258 and 254, dictator 249, he was a famous general in the first Punic war (264–41). R. 1. 1; L. 2. 28.

  ATTICUS, TITUS POMPONIUS: see Introd. p. xxiv.

  ATTUS NAVIUS: a famous augur in the time of Tarquinius Priscus; see Livy 1. 36 with Ogilvie’s note. R. 2. 36; L. 2. 33.

  AULUS ATERNIUS: in about 454, with his fellow consul, Spurius Tarpeius, he brought in a law regulating fines and deposits. R. 2. 60.

  BRUTUS, DECIMUS JUNIUS: consul 138 with Scipio. For his opposition to the tribunes see Curiatius, below. He campaigned successfully in Spain and used the spoils to erect public buildings. Later, in 129, he was responsible for Tuditanus’ victory in Illyria. Patron of the poet Accius. L. 2. 54; 3, 20.

  BRUTUS, LUCIUS JUNIUS: consul in 509 after the expulsion of King Tarquinius Superbus (Livy 1. 56–60). R. 2. 46.

  BUSIRIS: mythical king of Egypt who slaughtered all foreigners entering the country. R. 3. 15.

  CAECILIUS STATIUS: came to Italy as a prisoner of war from northern Italy in 223. Wrote over forty Roman comedies which brought him great prestige. Died in 168. R. 4. 11.

  CALATINUS: see Atilius.

  CALCHAS: mythical Greek seer in the period of the Trojan war. L. 2. 33. CAMILLUS, MARCUS FURIUS: he subdued the Etruscan town of Veii in 396, but incurred the hostility of the plebs for his disposition of the spoils and was later sent into exile. He raised an army, however, and defeated the Gauls, who were departing after sacking Rome in 390. He then recovered the gold with which the Romans had bought off the invaders. R. 1. 6. CANULEIUS, GAIUS: as tribune in 445, he introduced a bill allowing intermarriage between patricians and plebeians. R. 2. 63.

  CARBO, GAIUS PAPIRIUS: a pro-Gracchan tribune in 131, he carried a law extending the secret ballot to legislative assemblies. An energetic opponent of Scipio. L. 3. 35.

  CARBO, GNAEUS PAPIRIUS: when he was tribune in 92, his actions led the Senate to place responsibility for disorder at a meeting on the presiding official. He fought in the Italian war, supported Cinna, and was consul with Marius in 82. He perished in Sulla’s proscriptions. L. 3. 42.

  CARNEADES: 214–129. He became head of the Academy some time before 155. His analytical powers enabled him to present strong arguments against belief in providence, prophecy, and fate. R. 3. 8.

  CARTHAGINIANS: as they were Phoenician colonists, it is sometimes hard to distinguish them from the Phoenicians of the homeland, as in R. 3.7 and 15. They were Rome’s chief rival from 264 to 146. R. 1. 1, 42; 2. 42, 67; 3. 7, 15; 6. 11.

  CASSIUS LONGINUS RAVILLA, LUCIUS: as tribune in 137 he carried a law which decreed that in public trials votes should be registered by secret ballot. L. 3. 35, 36, 37.

  CASTOR AND POLLUX: twin sons of Leda and Zeus, often called the Dioscuri. Their cult came to Rome because they were supposed to have intervened on the Romans’ side in the battle against the Latins at Lake Regillus in 496. L. 2. 19.

  CATO, MARCUS PORCIUS THE CENSOR: 234–149, consul 195, censor 184, he was the archetypal high-minded conservative; in war, politics, literature, and scholarship a major figure. R. T. T, 27; 2. 1, 2, 3; L. 1. 6; 2. 5.

  CATO, MARCUS PORCIUS: 95–46, great-grandson of the Censor; he was a stern moralist and a resolute champion of the Republic, opposing the insurrection of Catiline and the claims of the powerful generals. In the end he threw in his lot with Pompey, and, rather than surrender to Caesar, committed suicide at Utica in North Africa. L. 3. 40.

  CECROPS: the mythical founder of Athens. He had a reputation for benevolence, and was credited with the institution of burial and the invention of writing. L. 2. 64.

  CERES: Roman goddess of grain, identified with the Greek Demeter. L. 2. 37.

  CICERO, MARCUS TULLIUS: grandfather of the author. L. 3. 36.

  CICERO, QUINTUS TULLIUS: see Introd. p. xxiv.

  CHARONDAS: a lawgiver in Catana, Rhegium, and other Sicilian centres. Most of the reports about him are fictitious. L. T. 57; 2. 14.

  CHRYSIPPUS: c. 280–206, converted from the scepticism of the Academy to Stoicism by Cleanthes, whom he succeeded as Head of the school in 232. A formidable logician and a voluminous writer. R. 3. 12.

  CILICIANS: on the south-east coast of Asia Minor. Now part of Turkey. R. 2. 33; (L. 2. 41).

  CLAUDIUS PULCHER, APPIUS: consul 143, political rival of Scipio and father-in-law of Ti. Gracchus, with whom he served on the agrarian commission. R. 1. 31.

  CLAUDIUS PULCHER, APPIUS: brother of Cicero’s enemy, Clodius; consul in 54; he dedicated a book, on augural law to Cicero, with whom he was augur in 50. L. 2. 32.

  CLAUDIUS PULCHER, GAIUS: consul 177, censor in 169 with T. Gracchus senior. He was unpopular with the knights because he reviewed the membership of the order and sternly controlled their letting of contracts. R. 6. 2.

  CLAUDIUS PULCHER, GAIUS: opponent of Saturninus; aedile 99, consul 92. L. 3. 42.

  CLEINIAS: a Cretan who figures in Plato’s Laws. L. 1. 15. CLEISTHENES: at the end of the sixth century he reorganized the Athenians into ten tribes, each containing a group from the city, the coast, and the hinterland. He also reformed the council, the assembly, and the army, thus creating the democracy of the fifth century. R. 2. 2; L. 2. 41.

  CLEITARCHUS OF ALEXANDRIA: after 280 he wrote a history of Alexander’s exploits which was severely criticized but widely read. L. 1.7. CLEON: a fifth-century Athenian politician who opposed Pericles. His career was a mixture of success and failure, but in the later tradition he is represented as a vulgar demagogue. R. 4. n.

  CLEOPHON: an Athenian politician who became ‘leader of the people’ after the restoration of democracy in 410. He opposed making peace with Sparta after the battles of Cyzicus, Arginusae, and Aegospotami. He was finally executed for evading military service. R. 4. 11.

  CLODIUS or CLAUDIUS QUADRIGARIUS, QUINTUS: a supporter of Sulla. He wrote a history of Rome in at least 23 books from the sack of Rome in 390 down to his own times. L. 1. 6.

  COCLES, HORATIUS: according to tradition, in 508 he held back the Etruscan army of Porsenna until the Sublician bridge across the Tiber could be demolished. (Livy 2. 10.) L. 2. 10.

  COELIUS ANTIPATER, LUCIUS: after 121 he wrote a history of the second Punic war in seven books. His style was flamboyant, with speeches, vivid descriptions, and poetic echoes. L. 1. 6.

  COELIUS CALDUS, GAIUS: tribune in 107, he proposed voting by ballot in trials for treason. L. 3. 36.

  COLLATINUS, LUCIUS TARQUINIUS: husband of Lucretia; consul in 509. R. 2. 46, 53.

  CORNELIAN CLAN: one of the six clans which, from early times, formed an aristocracy within the patriciate itself. L. 2. 56, 57.

  CORUNCANIUS, TIBERIUS: consul in 280, commanded armies against the Etruscans and Pyrrhus. He was the first plebeian pontifex maximus (254–253), and an authority on law. L. 2. 52,

  COTTA, LUCIUS AURELIUS: as praetor in 70, he passed a law by which criminal juries should consist o
f senators, knights, and financial officials (tribuni aerarii). He supported Cicero against Catiline and during his exile. L. 3. 45.

  CRASSUS, LUCIUS LICINIUS: b. 140, he was a famous orator, admired by Cicero, who made him the chief speaker in his De Oratore. As censor in 92, he had the teaching of rhetoric by Latin instructors banned—an act of political conservatism. L. 3. 42.

  CRASSUS, PUBLIUS LICINIUS: father-in-law of Gaius Gracchus. He was an important member of the group that opposed Scipio and supported the Gracchi. R. 1. 31; his wealth is mentioned in 3. 17.

  CURIATIUS, GAIUS: tribune in 138, during a food shortage he tried in vain to persuade the authorities to buy corn. When troops were being levied for service in Spain, he demanded that each tribune be allowed to exempt ten men. When the consuls Decimus Brutus and Scipio Nasica refused, he imposed a fine and had them put in prison. L. 3. 20.

  CURIUS DENTATUS, MANIUS: a much revered figure in the austere old Roman mould. He was consul four times. As a general, he led armies to victory over the Senones in the north, the Samnites, Pyrrhus, and the Lucanians in the south. He died in 270. R. 3. 6, 40; L. 2. 3.

  CYBELE: the Phrygian mother-goddess associated with Mt. Ida, who presided over crops, medicine, prophecy, and war. In consequence of a prophecy that, if brought to Rome, she would rid the country of the Carthaginians, her cult was imported from Asia Minor in 204; she was given a temple on the Palatine and was served by oriental priests. L. 2. 22.