Cicero

Front 1

Commonwealth

Back 1

• Cicero’s definition of the Commonwealth is a population in a city or state under a government with a sense of unity and not division.
• There has to be a unified agreement on what the law should be.
• He says that deliberation must occur in the state and this deliberation must involve discussion and reason giving.
• Commonwealths that have a strong love of the peace and tranquility will continue to exist.
• The best source of wealth for the Commonwealth is continuing to be frugal and understand what it needs to support itself.
• If the Commonwealth were ever to argue over something and become divided, then the lack of unity will result in its own end.

Front 2

Justice

Back 2

• The idea of justice according to Cicero is defined through his concept of natural law.
• Natural law which is discerned through the use of reason enables law makers to create just civil laws.
• Cicero outlines how he believes that Natural Law is the true Justice which humans must use rational thinking in order to derive and use.
• Cicero (through Scipio) believes that justice is universal and that law will exist the same way throughout. In his books, Cicero believes that Justice was handed down from the G-ds to the humans as a common bond.
• For this reason, he believes that humans have the ability to use their “servants and messengers” to interpret justice.

Front 3

Monarchy

Back 3

• A Monarchy is the rule of one, where a single king has power over the entire state.
• Cicero supports the monarchy because you have supremacy of reason, with one voice ruling over all parts of the state.
• This is similar to the fact that you have a single mind ruling over the entire body and soul. Due to the fact that Monarchy’s have an easy to follow power structure, Cicero believes it has the best reason and judgment in ruling.
• However, the strength of one is also the monarchy’s greatest weakness: Cicero notes that if a king is think of his position as only for his own good, he would become a tyrant.
• That type of government is the worse possible outcome.

Front 4

Natural Law

Back 4

• Natural Law is Cicero’s theory of Universal Justice.
• He believes that it is the justice, which operates the world in which we live in.
• Cicero says that this law is the same throughout no matter what city one is in.
• It is a neutral existence that does not favor one group over another and is consistent over time.
• It is what nature tells us to do instinctively, the reason that there are different civil laws is because our reason becomes corrupted over time.

Front 5

Reason

Back 5

• Reason is in Cicero’s opinion the ability of the mind to think.
• Right reason, he argues, is what moves men towards learning of Natural Justice and complying with it.
• Cicero uses reason as proof of the existence of Natural Law, along with the senses of the body, for they allow mankind to think of something that all civil laws should aim towards.
• Reason is a sort of divine bond between Humans and G-ds, as C thinks that attribute was pasted down.

Front 6

Republicanism

Back 6

• Republicanism is one of the systems of Governments that Cicero demonstrates.
• It is a state with a constitution of civil laws where everyone including the rulers are bound by what the lawmaking body has decided.
• In a Republic system, the various social classes are structured in order to provide incentives for each class. There is also the existence of an Individual Morality and Civic Duty to participate in the state.

Front 7

Sabine Women

Back 7

• The Sabine Women came from a small tribe existing nearby Rome.
• During a time in which the city of Rome needed women, they decided to trick the Sabine men into competing in a tournament (like the Olympics).
• While the men were away, they captured and reaped the Sabine Women in order to reproduce and incorporated them into the Roman society.
• Cicero wonders if this transaction was just or not because it help keep the Roman state alive but acted through trickery.

Front 8

Shame

Back 8

• Cicero brings up the idea of shame when talked about the condemned man and the “censor’s judgment”.
• He talks about how there is no other punishment besides embarrassment, which often is a motivator in itself.
• Shame, whether individual or public, can be a powerful motivator in making sure that people stay on the right track.
• One can also think of a little kid as they get caught doing something wrong, they feel a large amount of shame.

Front 9

Soul

Back 9

• Cicero attributes the existence of a Soul to the idea of natural law.
• The ability to reason that there is something more in the universe also suggests that there is more in humanity.
• The reason is that if one can grasp the idea of eternity, then they would be able to understand the human soul.
• Cicero also states that man whose soul is overcome with bodily desires will only have darker ends than those who follow natural law.

Front 10

Virtue

Back 10

• Quite simply Cicero’s idea of virtue is nature at its highest form of perfection.
• He believes that all men have that natural inclination to perform the great acts of virtue.
• When there is an equal level of virtue between two men, friendship is able to foster between two people.
• If men act virtuously, the state will benefit and be better off from it. Cicero’s use of these terms is two-fold: explaining how a Commonwealth can exist and also explaining the importance of Natural Law.
• He says the best in virtue by nature should rule over those who are weaker.