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CICERO’S NATURAL LAW AND POLITICAL
PHILOSOPHY
Aug 31st, 2018 PAUL MEANY (/PEOPLE/PAUL-
MEANY)
The Ancient Roman Cicero’s idea of natural law has much to teach Editor for Intellectual History, Libertar
us about the evolution of liberty ianism.org
(https://twitter.com/PaulMeany2
Paul Meany is the editor for
intellectual history at Libertarianism
.org, a project of the Cato Institute.
Most of his work focuses on
examining thinkers who predate
classical liberalism but still articulate
broadly liberal attitudes and
principles. He is the host of Portraits
of Liberty, a podcast about uncovering
and exploring underrated figures
throughout history who have argued
for a freer world. His writing covers
a broad range of topics, including
proto-feminist writers, Classical
Greece and Rome’s influence on the
American Founding, ancient Chinese
philosophy, tyrannicide, and the first
argument for basic income.
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HISTORY (/TOPICS/HISTORY)
C
ICERO
(https://www.libertarianism.org/encyclopedia/cicero-106-43-bc) is a rarity
in history: a philosophically inclined man who held political power. He was
born in Arpinum in 106 BC. His political career took place during the twilight of the
ailing Roman Republic. He was a self-described constitutionalist, but also a dedicated
moderate who wished for peace and harmony above all else. Cicero’s natural law
(https://www.libertarianism.org/encyclopedia/natural-law) views persist as influential
to this day. Unlike many of his contemporaries, Cicero did not forge a career by means
of war but instead through oratory in the law courts of his day. He opposed the tyranny
of Caesar (https://www.libertarianism.org/publications/essays/marcus-tullius-cicero-
who-gave-natural-law-modern-world) and, subsequently, Mark Antony. Eventually,
Cicero was assassinated after delivering an intensely scathing condemnation of the
tyranny of Mark Antony as part of a series of speeches entitled the Philippics.
INTRODUCTION
Studying Cicero offers us key insights into both the development of modern western
theories of natural law and the structuring of political communities around these
principles. Given Cicero’s massive influence, it is a shame that the praise bestowed upon
him has drastically waned in the last hundred years. But it is never too late for a revival;
Cicero’s work proves consistently useful and relevant, especially considering its wide-
reaching repercussions on western intellectual and political history.
GOD, THE DIVINE MIND OF THE UNIVERSE
Cicero was a skeptic of the religious beliefs of his day. As a politician in a state in which
religious institutions played a prominent role, Cicero respected the Roman religion,
though solely on the grounds of tradition and utility. At certain points in his writing he
chastised people for taking the traditional religious myths too seriously. On the topic of
poetical works and the people who take them literally he wrote that “they are
demanding in this case the kind of truth expected of a witness rather than a poet.” 1
Cicero knew that there was a difference between historical and poetic truths. Cicero
therefore did not take as literal the descriptions of the Roman pagan gods.
But this is not to say that Cicero was an atheist. To the contrary, since he was influenced
by contemporary Stoics, Cicero believed that there was a divine reason which governed
every aspect of the universe; “I say, then, that the universe and all its parts both
received their first order from divine providence, and are at all times administered by
it.” 2 In the last chapter of his De Re Publica
(https://www.loebclassics.com/view/marcus_tullius_cicero-
de_re_publica/1928/pb_LCL213.3.xml) , Cicero described how all people are granted
their souls by the eternal fires of the stars and planets under God’s control.
For Cicero, this divine mind designed and ordered the universe. He Cicero concluded, speech “has
asserted that all things are implanted with a function and end
separated us from savagery and
towards which they are directed by the dictates of their own nature;
this is called law. To Cicero, “law in the proper sense is right reason barbarism.”
in harmony with nature ” 3 These laws are not in constant flux or
in harmony with nature. These laws are not in constant flux or
evolution. Cicero stated emphatically that “there will not be one
such law in Rome and another in Athens, one now and another in the future, but all
peoples at all times will be embraced by a single and eternal unchangeable law.” 4
Since everything is designed with an end or purpose in mind, Cicero believed that by
examining and understanding something’s form and function, one could figure out how
something ought to act. Thus he argued that by examining humanity he could
understand how humanity ought to act. To comprehend the nature of justice, one must
seek it by understanding the nature of humanity, since “moral excellence is nothing
other than the completion and perfection of nature.” 5
A DASH OF DIVINITY IN EACH PERSON
Cicero firmly believed that humanity stood between God and the beasts, “for whereas
nature made other animals stoop down to feed, she made man alone erect, encouraging
him to gaze at the heavens as being, so to speak akin to him and his original home.” 6
The favored status accorded to humanity is affirmed by our possession of the
interrelated faculties of reason and speech.
Reason allows us to perform four main functions. Firstly, it enables us to infer causal
relationships between external objects. We do not just see that dominos fall, but rather
we understand that they fall as part of a chain of events. Secondly, reason equips us to
remember events, thus allowing us to accumulate knowledge and increase our
understanding of the world throughout our life. Thirdly, our capacity for reason allows
us to moderate our behavior; unlike animals who are slaves to their passions, humans
can act civilly around others and be considerate. Lastly, and most importantly from
Cicero’s perspective, is humanity’s quest for truth: “above all, the search after truth and
its eager pursuit are peculiar to man.” 7 We have the urge to uncover the divine order of
the universe in all fields of life, whether it be through logic, astrology, mathematics or
philosophy.
Our other divine faculty is speech, which Cicero called “the queen of arts.” 8 Speech is
a critical ability because it enables people to cooperate, work towards common goals
and compromise on issues. Cicero insisted that, rather than using brute force like
beasts, we are instead capable of utilizing rational discourse to achieve our ends: “There
two types of conflict: the one proceeds by debate, the other by force. Since the former is
the proper concern of a man, but the latter of beasts, one should only resort to the latter
if one may not employ the former.” 9 We also use speech to gain knowledge and share it
with our fellow people. Speech in combination with memory, as facilitated by reason,
allows people to learn more than animals could ever comprehend. However, speech is
not only a tool, but a sign of humanity’s sociable nature. We are not designed to live
alone, “for our species is not made up of solitary individuals or lonely wanderers.” 10
Speech is a distinctive quality of man that allows for cooperation. As Cicero concluded,
speech “has separated us from savagery and barbarism.” 11
UNIVERSALITY OF HUMANITY
Every person in possession of these faculties is considered Cicero believed that humanity’s
a member of the worldwide commonwealth of humanity. Each
ultimate goal was justice.
human is endowed with two personas. The “second persona” is
individual to every person. It is composed of our talents, our
personal tastes and our respective duties assigned to us based upon
our individual abilities. The “first persona,” which is common to all people,
incorporates our capacity for speech and reason. Cicero believed that reason is the
highest good, for “what is there, I will not say in man, but in the whole of heaven and
earth, more divine than reason?” 12 The importance of reason is emphasized because it
is present both in humanity and in God. Therefore, “there is a primordial partnership in
reason between man and God” which makes humanity special and distinguishes man
from other living beings. 13 This partnership is not limited to a certain sect of humanity,
but to all who resemble Cicero’s definition of man: the endowment of a soul with speech
and reason. “[T]hus however one defines man, the same definition applies to us all.
This is sufficient proof that there is no essential difference within mankind.” 14 Cicero
further affirmed the universality of humanity, stating that all races can attain virtue by
using nature as their guide. An important consequence of this partnership between God
and humans is that every person is infused with a dash of divinity, meaning both that
they are worthy of dignity and that they command our respect until proven otherwise.
As mentioned before, divine law implants everything in the universe with an end goal,
or a purpose for existing. Cicero believed that humanity’s ultimate goal was justice.
Stressing this point, he exclaimed that “surely nothing is more vital than the clear
realization that we are born for justice.” 15 For Cicero, justice was not only a useful tool
for creating harmony among men, but was also a virtue in and of itself. All that is good,
according to Cicero, necessarily contains a degree of justice, “for nothing can be
honorable if justice is absent.” 16 Justice elevates all things to a more respectable plain,
since “justice is the crowning glory of all virtues.” 17
To Cicero, natural law was not merely a theory of individual moral conduct; instead, it
provided a blueprint for society. Natural law played a crucial role in shaping Cicero’s
political philosophy, most notably in two key areas; Cicero’s normative definition of law
and his defense of private property.
LAW
Cicero insisted that civil law must shape itself in accordance with the natural law of
divine reason. To him, justice was not a matter of opinion, but of fact. He believed that
law “is spread through the whole human community, unchanging and eternal, calling
people to their duty by its commands and deterring them from wrongdoing by its
prohibitions.” 18 If the law of men (civil law) does not conform with the commands of
nature (divine law), Cicero argued that by definition, the former cannot be truly
considered law, as true law is “right reason in harmony with nature.” 19 Since we derive
justice from humanity’s nature and man’s relationship to his environment, anything
contrary to this cannot be considered just or lawful. Cicero concluded that the principles
of justice are fourfold: (1) do not initiate violence without good reason; (2) keep one’s
promises; (3) respect people’s private property and common property; (4) be charitable
to others within one’s means. 20
According to Cicero, the state exists to uphold laws which are in harmony with the
universal principles of nature. If a state does not uphold right reason in agreement with
nature, it is not a state. The law and the state are normative in nature, rather than
conventional. He argued that without the key element of justice embodied in law, a state
cannot be formed, observing that “many harmful and pernicious measures are passed
in human communities--measures which come no closer to the name of laws than if
a gang of criminals agreed to make some rules.” 21 In his speeches condemning Mark
Antony, Cicero even suggested that the laws Mark Antony passed held no validity as he
enforced them using naked violence, rather than right reason. For Cicero law is more
than just force, it is right reason in agreement with nature. 22 Similarly, on the subject
of Caesar, Cicero believed the emperor’s reign was a state in form but not in ethical
substance. 23
PRIVATE PROPERTY
Cicero’s philosophy is characterized by a strong sense of Cicero was one of the first thinkers
individualism. This is most evident in his approach to private
to posit the view that the
property. Agreeing with the Stoics, Cicero believed that God gave
the world to man for his own use: “everything produced on the preservation of property rights
earth is created for the use of mankind.” 24 However this does not was one of the core reasons people
mean that we share everything in common, for Cicero argued that formed states.
every creature has a tendency to preserve itself, but the difference
between human and beast lies within man’s capacity to plan for the
future. Thus, private property is important and necessary as it
allows people to live in peace. Every person is expected to appropriate for themselves
and their family what they need to survive. Cicero held that one of the reasons people
united in the state of nature was in order to preserve what was already in their
possession.
For Cicero, property has always existed, even in the state of nature, i.e., in the absence
of a governmental body. Cicero did not claim that ownership of property is a natural
right, but rather believed that it was established through a mixture of convention and
consent. Even though property is not a natural right, it is a logical extension of our
nature. One of the main features of Cicero’s natural law theory is the concept of “to each
his due.” 25 If the state is authentic in its conduct (i.e. adhering to the principles of
natural law), then it will formalize and protect what each person has legitimately
appropriated from nature.
Many ancient Greek thinkers had previously discussed why people LEARN MORE
congregated in political communities. Aristotle’s description of
humanity as a “political animal” was commonplace throughout ANCIENT ORIGINS OF MODERN DEBATE: SOCIALISM IN
PLATO AND ARISTOTLE
ancient thought. However, Cicero was one of the first thinkers to
posit the view that the preservation of property rights was one of Plato and Aristotle both embraced a vision of the good
the core reasons people formed states. On the duties of public life which saw commercial activity as necessarily
officials Cicero wrote that “the men who administer public affairs beneath political, academic, and artistic life. Read more
about this in our piece
must first of all see that everyone holds on to what is his, and that
(https://www.libertarianism.org/columns/ancient-
private men are never deprived of their goods by public acts ” 26
private men are never deprived of their goods by public acts.
origins-modern-debate-socialism-plato-aristotle) by
Darren Nah.
One can justly acquire property through due process of the law,
long occupancy, purchase, and conquest through just war. 27
Cicero’s stance on private property conforms to his principles of
justice: “of justice, the first office is that no man should harm
another unless he has been provoked by injustice; the next that one should treat
common goods as common and private ones as one’s own.” 28 Unlike Plato and
Aristotle, Cicero did not believe that the highest function of the state was the molding of
people’s characters; instead, he asserted that it was to safeguard people’s life and
liberty.
While Cicero condemned excessive greed and lust, he generally believed that people
should be allowed to accumulate wealth so long as they do not harm others in their
ventures. Quoting the Stoic Chrysippus, Cicero made the comparison between the
accumulation of wealth and a race; there is no issue with putting all your effort into
winning the race, provided one does not trip others along the way. The theme of
“leaving people alone, as long as they do not harm others” is a recurring idea in Cicero’s
thought.
CICERO’S LASTING INFLUENCE
Cicero’s views have had enormous impact on the development of western thought. It is
therefore a tragedy that he has become increasingly overlooked in recent times. The
marginalization of Cicero is in part a consequence of accusations that his work consists
solely of restated views of Greek philosophers. The originality of Cicero’s work is
a difficult topic to discuss as many of the sources he would have “copied” are lost to the
ravages of time. However, it is certain that his writings are the first surviving works of
political philosophy that discuss extensively the fundamental concept of natural law
and the way in which society could be organized on the basis of its principles.
Admirers of Cicero throughout history have been in no short supply. The Roman
biographer Plutarch tells the story of the emperor Augustus walking through his home.
While Augustus, an enemy of Cicero, is strolling he finds his grandchild attempting to
hide the fact that he was reading Cicero. When Augustus saw the book, he took it and
then gave it back, telling his grandson that its author was “a learned man, my child,
a learned man and a lover of his country.” 29
During the medieval period, the ethical handbook De Officiis was one of the most widely
read texts in Europe, next to the Bible. Throughout the Renaissance, Cicero was widely
praised amongst the Italian republics for his skill as an orator and for his just conduct as
a statesman. He was praised by Petrarch, the father of humanism, as “the great genius”
of antiquity. 30
In early modern England, John Locke
(https://www.libertarianism.org/publications/essays/editorial-john-locke) employed
Cicero’s phrase “salus populi suprema lex,” or “let the welfare of the people be the
ultimate law,” as an epigraph to his most famous work, The Second Treatise On
Government. Locke even went so far to say that “‘salus populi suprema lex’ is certainly so
just and fundamental a rule, that he, who sincerely follows it, cannot dangerously err.”
31
During the American Revolution, Founding Father John Adams wrote
(https://www.amazon.com/Defence-Constitutions-Government-America-Twenty-
Second/dp/1584771402) in reference to Cicero that ‘all the ages of the world have not
produced a greater statesman and philosopher united in the same character, his
authority should have great weight.” 32 When fellow Founding Father Thomas Jefferson
was drafting the Declaration of Independence, he cited what he called “the elementary
books of public right.” Among these were the works of Cicero. 33 Jefferson referred to
Cicero as both an “exalted patriot” (https://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Jefferson-
Executive-Jeremy-Bailey/dp/0521868319) and “the father of eloquence and
philosophy.” 34
Arguably, the influence of Cicero rivals that of philosophical heavyweights Aristotle and
Plato. For anyone interested in the evolution of liberty from the natural rights-based
tradition of politics, Cicero is undoubtedly an invaluable resource.
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1. Cicero, De Legibus, 1.4.
2. Cicero, De Natura Deorum, 2.30.
3. Cicero, De Re Publica, 3.32.
4. Cicero, De Re Publica, 3.33.
5. Cicero, De Legibus, 1.26.
6. Cicero, De Legibus, 1.27.
7. Cicero, De Officiis, 1.13.
8. Cicero, De Natura Deorum, 2.148.
9. Cicero, De Officiis, 1.34.
10. Cicero, De Re Publica, 1.39.
11. Cicero, De Natura Deorum, 2.148.
12. Cicero, De Legibus, 1.22.
13. Cicero, De Legibus, 1.23.
14. Cicero, De Legibus, 1.30.
15. Cicero, De Legibus, 1.28.
16. Cicero, De Officiis, 1.62-63.
17. Cicero, De Officiis, 1.20.
18. Cicero, De Re Publica, 3.33.
19. Cicero, De Re Publica, 3.33.
20. Neal Wood, Cicero’s Social and Political Thought (Berkeley, 1991), p. 77.
21. Cicero, De Legibus, 2.13.
22. Cicero, De Re Publica, 3.22.
23. Cicero, De Officiis, 1.26, 3.32, 3.82-85.
24. Cicero, De Officiis, 1.22.
25. Cicero, De Officiis, 1.15, 20, 23.
26. Cicero, De Officiis, 2.73.
27. For more information on Cicero’s theory of just war consult Gavin Stewarts chapter on Cicero in
Just War Thinkers: From Cicero to the 21st Century (London, 2017).
28. Cicero, De Officiis, 1.20.
29. Plutarch, Cicero, 49.3.
30. Petrarch, On His Own Ignorance, 40.
31. John Locke, An Essay Concerning the True Original, Extent, and End of Civil Government, XIII:158.
32. John Adams, A Defence of the Constitutions of Government of the United States of America,
I:xix-xx, xxi.
33. Jeremy Bailey, Thomas Jefferson and Executive Power (Cambridge, 2007), p.106.
34. The Jefferson Cyclopedia (New York, 1900), p. 142, 818.
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