,illustration3      ,specimen           
palimpsesti vaticani4      ,imbert's    
,lithographic ,facsimile4               
,,the                                   
,,republic ,,of ,,cicero1               
,,translated ,,from ,,the ,,latin2      
,,and ,,accompanied ,,with ,a           
,,critical ,,and ,,historical           
,,introduction4                         
,,by                           ,g4 ,w4  
,,featherstonhaugh1 ,,esq4              
,,fellow ,,of ,,the ,,geological        
,,society ,,of ,,london2 ,,of ,,the     
,,american   ,,philosophical ,,society2 
,,of ,,the ,,lyceum ,,of ,,natural      
,,history ,,of ,,new-,,york1 ,c4        
,c4 ,c4    ,illustration                
,,new-,,york3                ,,published
 ,,by ,g4  ,c4 ,,carvill1 #ajh          
,,broadway4                             
#ahbi4                                  
,,southern ,,district ,,of ,,new-,,york1
 ss4      ,be it remembered1 that on the
 #bc;d day of ,january1 ,a4 ,d4 #ahbi1  
in the  fifty-third year of the         

,independence of the ,united ,states of 
,america1 ,g4   ,c4 ,carvill1 of the    
said district1 hath deposited in this   
office the  title of a book1 the right  
whereof they claim as proprietors1 in   
the  words following1 to wit3    8,the  
,republic of ,cicero1 translated from   
the ,latin2 and accompanied with  a     
,critical and ,historical ,introduction4
 ,by ,g4 ,w4 ,featherstonhaugh1 ,esq41  
,fellow of the ,geological ,society of  
,london2 of the ,american               
,philosophical ,society2 of the ,lyceum 
of ,natural ,history of ,new-,york1 c4  
c4 c40    ,in conformity to the ,act of 
,congress of the ,united ,states1       
entitled1 8,an  ,act for the            
encouragement of learning1 by securing  
the copies of maps1  charts1 and books1 
to the authors and proprietors of such  
copies1 during  the times therein       
mentioned20 and also1 to an ,act1       
entitled1 8,an ,act1  supplementary to  
an ,act1 entitled an ,act for the       
encouragement of  learning1 by securing 

the copies of maps1 charts1 and books1  
to the  authors and proprietors of such 
copies1 during the times therein        
mentioned1 and extending the benefits   
thereof to the arts of designing1       
engraving1 and etching historical and   
other prints40                          
,,fred4 ,i4 ,,betts1                    
,clerk of the ,southern ,district of    
,new-,york4                             
,,errata4         ,,introduction1 p4    
#bb1 line #ab1 dele 8then40             
,,do4      p4 #bg1 line #af1 for        
8requires10 read 8require40             
,sleight  ,george1 ,printers1 ,jamaica1 
,l4 ,i4                                 
,,to                       ,,roderick   
,,impey ,,murchison1 ,,esq4             
,f4 ,r4 ,s41 ,f4 ,g4 ,s41 c4 c4 c4      
,i dedicate these pages to you1 my dear 
,,murchison1 that you may have a        
renewed assurance of my great esteem and
 friendship for you4 ,i should  have had
 a livelier satisfaction in doing so1 if
 the part ,i have had in  the production

 of them1 were more worthy of your      
refined taste4 ,i hope  to offer some   
compensation1 however1 in the assurance1
 that you will  find in them many       
congenial opinions and principles4      
,g4 ,w4 ,,featherstonhaugh4             
,new-,york1 ,january #ba1 #ahbi4        
,,preface4      ,i am not aware that any
 translation of the ,republic of ,cicero
 into the  ,english tongue has been     
made4    ,believing that it cannot but  
excite a deep interest with generous    
minds1  as well on account of the high  
nature of the subject1 the illustrious  
name of ,cicero1 as of the great motives
 which led him to compose this  work1 ,i
 venture to offer a translation of it to
 the public4    ,in this extensive      
republic1 where every individual reads1 
it appears  peculiarly proper1 that an  
,english dress should be given to a     
work1 of  which almost every page       
teaches that public happiness depends   
upon  individual virtue4    ,cicero's   
definition of a republic1 that it is an 

association of the  people for the      
defence and advancement of the common   
interest2 will be  understood here1     
which may be doubtingly said of any     
other republics now  in existence4    ,a
 bare translation of the fragments of   
this mutilated work1 unassisted  by any 
commentary1 could not but have been     
unsatisfactory4 ,the  deficiencies of   
the original are somewhat compensated to
 us1 not alone  in the grandeur of      
thought which pervades it1 but in the   
majesty of  diction1 precise1 elevated1 
as it frequently is1 and always governed
 by  the most refined taste4 ,it would  
be a vain effort to attempt the dignity 
of the ,latin tongue1 when adorned with 
the elegancies of the ,ciceronian       
style4 ,humbly as the translation may   
deserve to be considered1 it will       
perhaps be deemed sufficiently faithful3
 and that the translator has not        
altogether failed in pointing out to    
grave and reflecting minds1 the         
immediate cause of the ruin of a noble  

,republic4    ,he has therefore prefixed
 a brief historical introduction2 the   
which1  whether it will be thought too  
long1 or not sufficiently detailed1 will
  probably depend upon the reader's     
historical recollections4 ,the motive   
for drawing it up was to render the work
 more generally useful and  acceptable4 
,,introduction4      ,the imperfect     
manuscript1 a translation of which is   
now presented to the  ,american public1 
was discovered in the ,library of the   
,vatican1 by  ,professor ,angelo ,mai2 a
 person of singular ingenuity in the    
detection of  those ,palimpsests whose  
contents were written upon ancient      
writings  partially erased4 ,a fac      
simile of part of the ,,mss4 accompanies
 this  work4 ,the ,republic of ,cicero  
was greatly cherished by those who lived
 in  and near his times2 of which       
occasional evidences are found in the   
writings of antiquity4 ,but the tyranny 
of the emperors bridled the  ,romans so 
soon after its appearance1 that ,horace1

 ,virgil1 ,seneca1  ,quintilian1 ,pliny1
 and even ,tacitus1 have not dared to   
praise it1 lest  they should bring down 
vengeance upon themselves4 ,it is       
remarkable that  while despotism was    
rapidly extinguishing philosophy and    
letters1 and  the very existence of     
these precious monuments of better times
 was  scarcely thought of2 the          
,christian religion was gradually       
raising up  amidst the persecutions of  
the primitive church1 new champions for 
truth  and justice2 to whose works we   
are indebted for many valuable fragments
  of the best writers of antiquity1 and 
for almost all the passages of          
,cicero's ,republic which we were       
acquainted with1 until the late         
discovery of professor ,mai4 ,it is in  
the works of ,st4 ,augustin and of      
,lactantius that these passages most    
abound2 and they are appealed to by     
them as most eloquent arguments1 in     
support of just government1 and         
virtuous conduct4 ,scipio's ,dream1     

forming the only part of the sixth  book
 which has been preserved1 and which is 
one of the most splendid  passages that 
has been saved from antiquity1 has long 
had a place in the  works of ,macrobius1
 a writer at the beginning of the fifth 
century1  addicted to the ,pythagorean  
mysticisms2 and who has preserved it    
probably on account of the occult       
astronomical relation of numbers        
contained in it4 ,notwithstanding the   
mutilated state of the ,,mss41 the      
order of the books is distinctly        
preserved1 the general plan of the work 
is obvious1 and we have much greater    
reason to rejoice at what we  possess1  
than to regret what is wanting4 ,the    
disordered state of the  government and 
the republic at large1 evidently        
suggested to ,cicero this  patriotic and
 bold attempt to stem the influence of  
bad men1 and raise  the falling         
liberties of his country4 ,in this      
highly philosophical  discourse he      
sought to recall the ,romans from the   

interests of ambitious  individuals1 and
 fix their attention upon the greater   
interests of the  country1 where each   
man had a stake3 to revive their        
veneration for the  simplicity of the   
early institutions of ,rome1 and for the
 men who had  made themselves           
illustrious by their virtues3 and to    
guard the people  more effectually      
against the innovations and factions now
 succeeding  each other with so much    
rapidity1 he invests those ancient times
 with a  perfection1 that the           
attractions of his eloquence alone can  
excuse4    ,of the original simplicity  
of the government1 some evidences are   
afforded by this work2 as where it is   
stated that lands were assigned to  the 
sovereign1 and cultivated for him by the
 people1 that he might have  nothing to 
do but administer justice4 ,the         
principal men too of the state  in those
 early times lived in the vicinity of   
,rome1 cultivating a small  possession4 
,the illustrious names of ,fabius1      

,lentulus1 ,cicero1 c41 were  perhaps   
given to those husbandmen who excelled  
in the cultivation of  those vegetables2
 such was the opinion of ,pliny4#a      
,the censor had the power of            
reprimanding those whose fields were    
slovenly cultivated4 ,many customs of   
those antique times are found in        
,cato's curious ,treatise on ,rural     
,affairs4 8,our ancestors constituted   
and  ordained thus in their ,laws3 ,a   
thief was condemned to double           
restitution2 an usurer to quadruple4    
,you may judge from this how much  worse
 a citizen they deemed the usurer to be 
than the thief4 ,and when  they praised 
a worthy man1 they spoke thus of him3   
#8that he was a good  farmer1 an        
excellent husbandman4' ,he that was     
commended in these terms1  was thought  
to be praised enough40#b ,and again     
speaking of a good  husbandman1 he says1
 8,he should part with his old cattle1  
his weaned  calves and lambs1 his wool1 
his skins1 his old carts and worn out   

irons1  his old slaves1 and his sick    
ones2 and if he has got any thing else  
he  does not want1 let him sell it4 ,a  
father of a family ought always to  sell
 and never to buy40 ,dion says that a   
messenger summoned the  patricians by   
name1 but that the people were convened 
by the blowing of  a horn4#c ,but the   
splendid military government which soon 
grew up1  gave both state employment and
 riches to that class once distinguished
  for their industry and frugality4     
,agriculture was abandoned to slaves1   
and men branded for crimes3 it was no   
longer deemed an honourable  employment4
 ,luxury and habits of profusion made it
 necessary for  conspicuous men to      
acquire the means of indulging in them1 
at the  expense of principle and        
patriotism4 ,at length when sensual     
gratifications became dearer to a       
majority of the ,romans than liberty1   
the republic was overthrown1 and        
military despotism accomplished the     
circle of military influence2           

extinguished every spark of light and   
liberty2 stripped the empire of its     
moral and physical power1 and left  it  
unmindful of its past glorious          
existence1 to perish in a blind and     
helpless old age4    ,marcus ,tullius   
,cicero was born at ,arpinum1 a city of 
the ,samnites1 which  had long enjoyed  
the freedom of ,rome4 ,his family was an
 ancient one1 and  of the equestrian    
order2 which comprehended the most      
respectable gentry  of the empire1 who  
were only inferior in rank to the       
patricians4 ,having  assumed the manly  
gown at his sixteenth year1 he          
immediately began to  acquire a         
knowledge of the laws of his country1   
under the two ,scvolas1  eminent persons
 of that day4 ,the ,marsian war1 and the
 civil broils of  ,marius and ,sylla1   
the former of whom was also a native of 
,arpinum1  occurred during the          
prosecution of his civil studies2 and   
although they  gave some interruption to
 them1 yet these violent contentions    

falling  immediately under his          
observation1 he became at an early      
period  accustomed to consider the      
political situation of his country4     
,these  circumstances no doubt had some 
influence in deciding his future career2
  although the rare natural activity of 
his mind would perhaps have led  him    
under any situation to the investigation
 of all moral and physical  relations4  
,prompted by this impulse1 he now began 
the study of ,grecian  philosophy under 
the learned ,athenians who fled to ,rome
 from the  persecutions of ,mithridates1
 and afterwards perfected himself in it 
under ,molo the ,rhodian2 a man so      
distinguished1 that he was permitted to 
address the ,roman ,senate in the ,greek
 tongue without an interpreter4  ,about 
the age of twenty-six1 with his mind    
filled with all the knowledge  taught at
 that period1 he first began to plead at
 the ,forum4 ,his  celebrated successful
 defence of ,s4 ,roscius was made soon  
after1 in  which he braved1 what the    

other ,roman orators had not dared to   
do1 the  resentment of ,sylla4 ,by this 
bold measure1 the generosity of his     
character1 as well as the force of his  
talents1 were developed1 and his        
reputation established as the most      
powerful orator of ,rome4 ,he visited   
,athens not long after this period1     
partly to avoid the displeasure of      
,sylla1 and partly to renew the study of
 philosophy1 which he here  pursued with
 great ardour4 ,his friend ,atticus1 who
 was at ,athens at the  same time1 had  
embraced the ,epicurean doctrines2 but  
,cicero appears at  this early period to
 have believed in a future state2 a     
doctrine which  at a later period he has
 most eloquently recorded in his        
celebrated  ,dream of ,scipio4 ,at the  
end of two years1 he returned to ,rome1 
greatly  improved by his intercourse    
with the philosophers and orators of    
,greece  and ,asia4    ,in his          
thirty-first year1 and not long after   
his marriage1 he was  elected to the    

qustorship1 which opened his way to the 
,senate4 ,one of  the provinces of      
,sicily fell to him by lot1 and he      
exercised his  qustorial functions with 
such moderation and ability1 as to      
induce the  ,sicilians to confer        
extraordinary honours upon him at the   
termination of  his year2 when he       
returned to ,rome1 determined           
henceforward to withdraw  himself as    
little as possible from the eyes of the 
,roman people4 ,in his  thirty-seventh  
year he received the unanimous suffrages
 of all the  tribes for the edileship1  
which introduced him into the           
magistracy4 ,the  exhibition of the     
shows and games1 which was the province 
of the ediles1  was conducted by ,cicero
 with great satisfaction to the people1 
and  without injuring materially his own
 private fortune4 ,in this he achieved  
a difficult point1 which marks his great
 prudence and address4 ,so great  had   
the affection of the people now become  
for him1 that at three  different       

elections for prtor1 he was each time   
placed at the head of  the list by the  
unanimous vote of all the centuries4 ,in
 his forty-third  year1 having been very
 diligent in strengthening his interest1
 he became  a candidate for the         
consulship with others2 among whom were 
,l4 ,sergius  ,cataline3 but such was   
his popularity that he was saluted      
consul by  acclamation of the people    
before the votes were counted4 ,he      
received  also a strong support from the
 patricians1 who had uniformly been     
opposed to his advancement2 but         
,cicero's reputation for knowledge and  
probity was so great1 and the times were
 becoming so critical1 that they  deemed
 the government safe in his hands4 ,the 
patricians at this time  were of the    
faction of ,sylla1 to which also        
,cataline belonged3 and the  ,tribunes  
and the people were of the ,marian      
faction2 at the head of which  was      
,julius ,csar1 a near relation to       
,marius4 ,although ,csar1 and ,cicero   

were both on the popular side1 yet they 
were not united upon any common         
principles of order4 ,csar was always   
individually opposed to him3 and  when  
,cicero being consul1 was endeavouring  
in the senate to bring the  associates  
of ,cataline to punishment2 ,csar       
defended them1 and even  indirectly     
encouraged their cause1 by declaring his
 disbelief in the  immortality of the   
soul4 ,the suppression of this          
conspiracy of ,cataline1  ,cethegus1    
,lentulus and many others1 among whom   
,csar was generally  numbered1 raised   
the reputation of ,cicero to the        
greatest height4 ,by his  incessant     
vigilance1 ,rome was saved from the     
horrors of a general  massacre and      
pillage4 ,the greatest honours were paid
 him by the senate  and equestrian      
order3 and for the first time the       
sublime epithet of  8,father of his     
,country0 was addressed to a ,roman     
citizen in the senate1  in the person of
 ,cicero4#d ,this great action of his   

life he most  feelingly alludes to in   
the introduction to his first book of   
the  ,republic4 8,nor is my name        
forgotten10 c4 ,the feelings too which  
the  circumstances attending the very   
last act of his consulship excited in   
him1 are eloquently pourtrayed in a     
passage immediately following4 ,it  was 
the custom for the consul at the        
expiration of his office1 to make a     
speech in the assembly of the people1   
and to swear that he had executed  his  
duties with fidelity4 ,when he was      
already in the rostra1 and was  about to
 address the whole people assembled on  
this interesting  occasion2 ,metellus1 a
 new tribune1 prompted by the officious 
spirit of  popular authority1 which     
often delights to mortify the great and 
good1  forbade the consul to address the
 people1 alleging that ,cicero having   
caused ,lentulus and the rest to suffer 
death without being heard in  their     
defence1 did not deserve to be heard    
himself4 ,whereat with an  enthusiastic 

presence of mind peculiar to himself1 he
 swore with a loud  voice that he had   
saved the republic3 and the multitude   
moved by a  generous feeling which the  
demagogues had no time to tamper with1  
more  than atoned to him for the        
intended affront from their tribune1 by 
a  simultaneous shout that he had sworn 
nothing but the truth1#e and by         
accompanying him from the ,forum to his 
own house4    ,in this most glorious    
year of his life1 and at the very time  
when he was  occupied in saving his     
country1 ,octavius ,csar was born2 by   
whose arts  and influence ,cicero1 as   
well as the republic1 were not more than
 twenty  years after destroyed4 ,and    
although he had acted so noble a part   
toward  his country1 which under his    
government had been saved from the most 
profligate attempt that had yet been    
made upon its liberties2 and  enjoyed   
the highest rank in the senate1 and the 
first consideration from  all good men2 
corruption had now reached such a       

height1 that  pre-eminence in virtue1   
shining forth in so active a citizen as 
,cicero1  who was constantly thwarting  
the designs of bad men1 served but to   
unite  their efforts against him4 ,he   
became henceforward the object of their 
hatred and vengeance4 ,csar1 who did not
 believe in a future state1 and  who    
consequently had no principle to        
restrain him1 was constantly  plotting  
means to usurp the government4 ,pompey1 
in whose interest ,cicero  had always   
been1 and who at the close of the       
,mithridatic war had become  the most   
powerful man in the ,republic1 was      
afraid to disoblige the  numerous       
enemies of ,cicero1 and declined even to
 strengthen him by a  public approbation
 of the measures he had taken to        
suppress the  conspiracy of ,catiline4  
,the luxurious and the corrupt1 who far 
outnumbered the rest1 were willing to   
sell the republic and themselves  to the
 highest bidders4 ,the people were as   
usual the tools of  demagogues4 ,every  

thing conspired to accelerate the       
downfall of the  republic4 ,in the face 
of these fearful odds stood ,cicero1 a  
large  majority of the senate1 and of   
the equestrian order1 which comprehended
  the independent landholders and gentry
 of the ,roman nation3 and with but     
little other support than the           
satisfaction of being engaged in the    
noblest of causes1 the maintenance of   
regular government4 ,it is most  painful
 to look back upon the history of the   
degradation of such a  people2 corrupted
 and ruined by their blind admiration of
 that falsest  of all idols1 military   
glory4    ,an event occurred the year   
after his consulate1 which brought him  
into a  new conflict with some of the   
worst of these men4 ,p4 ,clodius1 at    
this  time a qustor1 a vicious and      
debauched young man of family1 and who  
possessed many personal advantages1 had 
an intrigue with ,csar's wife  ,pompeia4
 ,satiated with ordinary voluptuousness1
 he disguised himself as  a woman1 and  

entered the house of ,pompeia in the    
night time1 when she  with other        
distinguished ,roman matrons1 was       
celebrating the mysteries of  the ,bona 
,dea1 or ,patroness of ,chastity4 ,he   
was discovered and fled4 ,such  was the 
respect in which these mysteries1 at    
which women alone  officiated1 were     
held1 that the profanation excited the  
utmost  indignation throughout the city4
 ,even ,csar found it necessary to put  
away his wife4 ,the senate directed the 
consuls to prepare a law for the  trial 
of ,clodius before the people1 which was
 resisted by one of the  tribunes       
friendly to ,clodius4 ,at length it was 
agreed that a law should  be passed to  
try him before the prtor and a select   
number of judges4  ,clodius rested his  
defence upon an alibi1 which he         
endeavoured to  sustain by witnesses4   
,when ,cicero was called to give his    
deposition1 he  was insulted by the mob 
which adhered to ,clodius2 but such was 
the  veneration in which he was held1   

that the judges stood up1 and received  
him with great honour4 ,he testified    
that ,clodius had been with him in  his 
house in ,rome on the very day of the   
pollution4 ,csar who was also  called1  
said that he was ignorant of the whole  
affair2 although it  occurred in his own
 house1 and in the presence of his      
mother and sister1  who had deposed to  
the truth of the accusation4 ,being     
asked1 why then he  had put away his    
wife8 he answered1 8,because those who  
are connected  with me1 must be as free 
from suspicion as from crime40#f        
,that the wife of ,csar must be free    
even from suspicion1 is a saying  that  
has passed down to our days3 yet too    
many who have heard it are  ignorant of 
the circumstances attending its origin4 
,we read the  commentaries of ,csar at  
school1 and are fired with admiration at
 his  talents and successes4 ,we are    
thus prepared to pity his death and the 
manner of it4 ,but the military and     
political glories of ,csar1 can never   

furnish an apology for a profligate     
private life2 and a memorable saying  is
 stripped of every attraction1 when we  
know that it was uttered by the  lips of
 a perjured atheist4    ,in a letter to 
,atticus1 ,cicero draws a curious       
picture of the judges  selected to try  
this famous cause2 a majority of whom   
appears to have  been packed from the   
outcasts of all the orders1 and to have 
been paid  for the occasion4 ,clodius   
was acquitted by a majority of          
thirty-one  voices over twenty-five4    
,upon their appointment some of them had
  requested a guard from the senate to  
protect them from the mob4 ,upon  which 
occasion1 ,catulus a distinguished      
member of the senate1 very  facetiously 
asked one of the judges1 8why they      
wanted a guard1 and  whether it was to  
protect the money which ,clodius had    
bribed them with80    ,after his        
acquittal1 ,clodius was wont to attempt 
to throw ridicule upon  ,cicero in the  
senate1 finding it vain to encounter him

 in argument1 and  hoping to divert in  
some degree the force of his attacks4   
8,so the  judges0 said ,clodius1 8would 
give no credit to your oath40           
8,twenty-five  of them did10 replied    
,cicero3 8the rest would give you none  
it seems1  but made you pay beforehand40
    ,after the return of ,pompey to     
,rome1 as well as of ,csar from ,spain1 
a  triumvirate of interests was formed  
between these two and ,crassus3 each    
having his own ascendancy in view4      
,csar1 to make the interest it was  thus
 intended to direct against the         
independence of the republic1 still     
stronger1 made overtures to ,cicero1 who
 declined connecting himself with  them4
 ,at length ,csar openly declared       
against him1 and favoured the  election 
of ,clodius to the tribunate1 in the    
which he succeeded4 ,being  now in      
authority1 he brought forward the law1  
that whoever had taken  away the life of
 a ,roman citizen1 uncondemned1 should  
be interdicted  bread and water4 ,this  

was directed against ,cicero1 in        
relation to his  consular acts          
respecting the conspirators2 and        
affected him so much1  that although the
 law was in general terms1 and his name 
was not  mentioned in it1 he changed his
 garments1 and appeared abroad sordidly 
dressed to attract the compassion of the
 people4 ,the young ,romans of  liberal 
character1 to the number of twenty      
thousand also changed their  dress1 and 
accompanied him2 soliciting the favour  
of all in authority1  and of the people1
 against the passage of this law4 ,but  
the combination  of bad men proved too  
strong against him1 and ,pompey having  
refused his  protection1 ,cicero was    
induced by the advice of his friends1 to
 withdraw  himself into a temporary     
exile from ,rome4 ,this humiliating     
event took  place in his forty-ninth    
year4 ,during his absence his residences
 both in  town and country1 which were  
upon a scale commensurate with his      
dignity1  were despoiled2 and together  

with the furniture appropriated by the  
consuls and by ,clodius4 ,at length the 
daring insolence of that tribune1  and  
the perpetual broils he occasioned1     
began to indispose all men  against him1
 except his immediate profligate        
retainers4 ,advantage was  taken of this
 to propose in the senate the recall of 
,cicero2 which  finally prevailed at a  
very numerous convocation of the        
senators and  magistrates2 ,clodius     
alone giving a dissenting voice4 ,at its
 final  passage into a law by the ,roman
 people1 the field of ,mars was crowded 
with their assembled centuries4 ,such   
was the public veneration for him1  that
 voters from every town in ,italy were  
present to insure the passage  of a law 
which restored so great a benefactor to 
his country4 ,all the  centuries        
concurred in an act thus most solemnly  
passed by the whole  ,roman people4 ,in 
anticipation of the event1 he left      
,dyrrhachium in  ,macedonia1 and soon   
after his arrival at ,brundisium1 where 

his daughter  ,tullia had come to meet  
him1 he received the welcome news from  
,rome4 ,his  journey was a continued    
triumph1 and he was received on his     
arrival at  the city in the most        
enthusiastic manner4 ,an insufficient   
sum of money  was voted to him to       
rebuild his mansions4 ,when he had      
almost finished  his palatine house1 it 
was attacked by one of ,clodius' mobs1  
and  destroyed4 ,broils and slaughters  
were now so common in the streets of    
,rome1 that gladiators were retained to 
assist in these feuds2 in which  the    
consuls of the same year were sometimes 
opposed to each other4  ,cicero who had 
now reached his fifty-first year1 was   
again made to feel  how unremitting is  
the hatred of enemies1 and uncertain the
 support of  friends4 ,public virtue    
appeared to him to have no longer any   
value in  the eyes of the ,romans4 ,he  
saw that every man attended more to his 
private safety and advancement1 than to 
the public peace and dignity of  the    

city2 and perceiving the necessity of a 
powerful protector for  himself and     
family in his old age1 he appears from  
one of his letters to  have determined  
to conform himself in every thing to the
 pleasure of  ,pompey4 ,we also see him 
from time to time engaged in agreeable  
services  to ,csar1 with whom ,pompey   
was yet connected4 ,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 republic4 ,in his    
fourth  epistle to ,atticus1 he says#g  
8,if they will not be friendly to me who
  possess no power1 ,i must endeavour to
 make those like me who have the  power 
of being useful4 #8,i told you so long  
ago1' you will say2 ,i know  that you   
did1 and ,i was an ass for not taking   
your advice40 ,the opinion  too of his  
friend ,clius1 would have great weight  
with most men1 in such  disturbed times4
 8,it cannot have escaped you1 that the 
duty of men  amidst domestic            

dissensions1 is to espouse the honestest
 side1 as long  as the contention is of 
a civil nature1 and force is not used4  
,but when  it comes to wars and camps1  
they should take the strongest side1 and
  consider that the best which is the   
most safe40#h    ,the influence of ,csar
 was now becoming very conspicuous4 ,his
 military  career in ,gaul1 his         
generosity1 and the universality of his 
talents1  gave him at length a          
pre-eminence over ,pompey in the public 
estimation4  ,pompey and ,crassus had   
entered into the consulship with little 
observance of constitutional forms2 and1
 with as little deference to the        
senate1 had caused provinces to be      
assigned to them for five years4  ,spain
 and ,africa to ,pompey4 ,syria and the 
fatal ,parthian war to ,crassus4  ,this 
triumvirate had now almost the whole    
,roman military force at their  command4
    ,it was in the spring of the next   
year1 that ,cicero at his ,cuman villa1 
began his famous work on government4 ,he

 was now advancing into his             
fifty-fourth year1 and it appears that  
he had completed his work before  he    
entered upon his command in ,cilicia4   
,his military career was  distinguished 
by great activity and judgment4 ,he was 
saluted emperor by  the army upon one of
 his military successes1 and returned   
gladly to ,rome  at the end of the year4
 ,during the remainder of his eventful  
life1 he  appears to have found comfort 
only in the cultivation of philosophy   
and  letters4 ,the corruption of the    
,romans1 the ruin of the republic1 the  
death of his beloved daughter1 and his  
separation from the wife he had  lived  
with thirty years1 embittered his days4 
,he was too conspicuous a  man not to be
 affected by all the political changes  
which took place4  ,crassus perished in 
the ,parthian war2 and ,csar1 as soon as
 he felt  himself strong enough1 crossed
 the ,rubicon1 which was the limit of   
his  military command1 and marched upon 
,rome1 from which ,pompey and the       

senate ingloriously fled4 ,cicero at    
length felt himself also constrained  to
 follow the fortunes of ,pompey1 because
 he believed the dignity of the  ,roman 
name was alone to be found under his    
banners4 ,and when the battle  of       
,pharsalia left ,csar sole master of the
 ,roman world1 he submitted to  ,csar1  
because there was no other government to
 submit to4 ,but he  rejoiced in his    
death1 of which he was a spectator1 and 
to the last1  gave all the aid in his   
power to the patriots who sought to     
raise the  liberties of his country4 ,in
 his latter days1 he showed an          
invincible  spirit1 defying the         
profligate ,anthony in the plenitude of 
his power4  ,and when the assassins of  
the second and more bloody triumvirate  
surprised him1 he ordered his servants  
to set down the litter in which  they   
were carrying him1 and forbade them to  
defend him4 ,then undauntedly           
stretching out his neck1 he bade his    
executioners do their pleasure2  happy  

to escape from so much misery1 to the   
immortality he had always  believed in4 
,this occurred when he was just entering
 his  sixty-fourth-year4    ,this rapid 
sketch of the transactions of ,cicero's 
times1 will1 it is  hoped1 not be deemed
 impertinent1 but may rather be         
considered as  assisting the general    
reader to form an adequate estimate of  
the great  object which ,cicero had in  
view1 when he drew up this celebrated   
treatise1 which was to revive the       
veneration of the ,roman people for     
their ancient institutions1 now in      
danger from the machinations of  lawless
 men1 at the head of whom was ,csar1 who
 denying in the senate a  future        
existence1 expressed his contempt for   
all religion4 ,but it has  been objected
 to ,cicero that he was insincere1 and  
that he called upon  his countrymen to  
venerate what was often the object of   
his ridicule4  ,the leading men of ,rome
 who formed the sacerdotal order1 from  
the  earliest periods and under all     

circumstances maintained their influence
  over the people1 chiefly by that      
religion they had been brought up in    
the veneration of1 and especially by the
 observance of auspices4 ,but in  time  
the credulity of the ,romans began to   
relax4 ,men like ,cicero had for  their 
religion the glorious doctrine of the   
immortality of the soul1 and  a great   
majority of his enlightened equals no   
doubt entertained his  opinions4        
,others1 and among them was his brother 
,quintus1 from various  motives1 as has 
always been the case in the history of  
superstitions1  persevered in the       
prejudices they had received from       
education4  ,prejudices acquired in     
infancy from our earliest and dearest   
protectors1  and to relinquish which1   
seems to require the relinquishment of  
all  reverence for those we most        
venerate4 ,when therefore ,cicero       
ridicules  the religious observances of 
his times1 it is to enlightened men he  
sometimes addresses himself2 just as men

 have in all times laughed at           
absurdities they do not care publicly to
 assail3 and at other times he  may have
 used his ridicule to expose the most   
stupid superstitions  indiscriminately  
to all4 ,when in his ,republic he       
praises the institution  of auspices1   
however he may be charged with          
inconsistency1 it was done  from great  
and public motives1 and not from selfish
 ones4 ,there is no  hypocrisy in this  
conduct1 as we understand the word2 and 
if we examine  the whole bearing of     
,cicero's life1 the policy which the    
circumstances  of it1 sometimes obliged 
him to1 will not offend liberal minds4  
,in  estimating therefore the character 
of ,cicero1 it is well to remember ,dr4 
,middleton's remark in his preface 8and 
in every thing especially that  relates 
to ,cicero1 ,i would recommend the      
reader to contemplate the whole         
character1 before he thinks himself     
qualified to judge of its separate      
parts1 on which the whole will always be

 found the surest comment40    ,the     
first book is the most complete of the  
whole six3 the opening  however is      
imperfect4 ,cicero in his own person    
enters into a discussion  whether       
governments should be administered by   
contemplative  philosophers1 or by      
active practical men4 ,he recapitulates 
the arguments  on both sides of the     
question1 often discussed by the        
ancients1 and  decides the question in  
consonance with those feelings which had
  governed his very active life4 ,the   
eloquence and force of some of the      
passages are inimitable4 ,they will be  
applicable to all times as long as      
civil government exists among men4 ,but 
in this country where the  experiment of
 a popular government is trying upon so 
comprehensive a  scale1 the grandeur of 
the sentiments deserves the attention of
 every  man4 ,as where he states as an  
argument of those who shun active       
occupations1 that it is dangerous to    
meddle with public affairs in  turbulent

 times1 and disgraceful to associate    
with the low and  disreputable men who  
are conspicuous at those periods2 that  
it is vain  to hope to restrain the mad 
violence of the vulgar1 or to withdraw  
from  such a contest without injury2    
8,as if10 he adds with a generous       
enthusiasm1 8there could be a more just 
cause for good and firm men1  endowed   
with noble minds1 to stand forth in aid 
of their country1 than  that they may   
not be subject to bad men2 nor suffer   
the republic to be  lacerated by them1  
before the desire of saving it may come 
too late40    ,after disposing of this  
question1 he proceeds with great address
 to open  the plan of his work1 and     
presents in all the beautiful simplicity
 of  the times1 ,scipio1 his friend     
,llius1 with some of their most         
accomplished cotemporaries1 seated1 not 
in the gorgeous saloon of a  ,lucullus  
or ,crassus1 but in the sunny part1     
because it was the winter  season1 of   
the lawn of ,scipio's country place2    

where they had convened  to pass the    
,latin holidays in discussing           
philosophical questions4 ,here1  upon an
 inquiry being instituted into the cause
 of two suns reported to  have been seen
 in the heavens1 occasion is found to   
introduce in a very  pleasing manner1   
the astronomical knowledge of the day1  
which ,cicero was  well versed in4      
,scipio is made here to deliver a       
magnificent passage1  beginning at the  
#agth section4 8,who can perceive any   
grandeur in human  affairs10 c4#i ,this 
inquiry about celestial phenomena1 which
 appeared  so foreign to a philosophical
 investigation on the principles of     
government1 is admirably closed and     
without the abruptness being  perceived1
 by ,llius asking how it can interest   
him that ,scipio should  be solicitous  
about the two suns1 8when he does not   
inquire the cause  why two senates1 and 
almost two people exist in one          
republic40 ,at the  general request     
,scipio consents to deliver his opinion 

of government4 ,he  defines a republic  
to be the 8public thing10 or common     
interest of all3  and he shews most     
satisfactorily that human beings        
congregate not on  account of their     
weakness1 but that they are led thereto 
by the social  principle1 which is      
innate in man1 and leads him even in the
 midst of  the greatest abundance to    
seek his fellow4 ,he successively       
examines the  despotic1 the             
aristocratic1 and democratic forms of   
government3 their  advantages and       
disadvantages2 and concludes that a     
fourth kind of  government1 moderated   
and compounded from those three is most 
to be  approved4 ,this is subsequently  
recurred to and enlarged upon4 ,many    
persons will be surprised that the      
balanced representative form of         
government1 which has but in modern     
times received the sanction of the      
wisest nations1 should have been        
shadowed forth in an apparently         
speculative opinion1 two thousand years 

ago4 ,we must however remember1  that in
 the numerous small independent states  
of ,greece2 their various  forms of     
government1 the tyranny of their kings1 
the oppression of the  aristocracies1   
and the violence of the people1 had     
produced many  discussions among their  
writers4 ,few of these have come down to
 us4 ,yet  ,cicero was familiar with    
them1 and it is evident that his plan of
 a  mixed government was drawn from this
 source4 ,there is a passage to this    
effect preserved in the ,anthology of   
,stobus1 of ,hyppodamus4 ,he says  that 
royalty1 which is a copy of divinity1 is
 insufficient1 on account  of the       
degeneracy of human nature4 ,that it    
must be limited by an  aristocracy1     
where the principle of emulation leads  
men to excel each  other3 and that the  
citizen also should be admitted into    
that mixed  government as of right3 but 
cautiously1 as the people are apt to    
fall  into disorders4 ,these opinions   
also flattered the ,romans1 for in fact 

it  was substantially their own form of 
government1 which consisted of  consuls1
 patricians1 and the people and their   
tribunes4    ,scipio in the #dc;d       
section1 gives an eloquent passage from 
,plato1 where  the excesses of the      
multitude are painted in the strongest  
language2 a  passage which might well   
have been inspired by the ,french       
revolution4    ,scipio opens the second 
book with the origin of the ,roman      
people1  adopting the received opinions 
concerning the early history of ,rome1  
of  ,romulus1 and the succeeding kings4 
,these opinions have of late1 been  much
 controverted4 ,niebuhr whose erudition 
appears to be inimitable1  whatever     
success he may be thought to have had in
 shaking them1 has  substituted nothing 
satisfactory in their place1 at least as
 far as we  may gather from his first   
volume4 ,one thing may be safely        
asserted1 that  ,cicero might well      
present in his republic1 those          
traditions of the  times1 as the real   

history of his country1 because the     
,roman people were  acquainted with no  
other4 ,he could not call upon them to  
venerate the  founders of ,rome and     
their institutions1 and tell them at the
 same time  they had never existed4     
,niebuhr himself strengthens the account
 given at  section #ai1 ,book ,,ii41 of 
the ,greek descent of the first         
,tarquin1 by  observing that the clay   
vases made at ,tarquinii were painted1  
and  resembled in colour and drawing    
some discovered near ,corinth4 ,he says 
they are found only in the district of  
,tarquinii1 and that the  circumstance  
implies a peculiar intercourse between  
,corinth and  ,tarquinii4    ,in the    
#bb;d section of the #b;d ,book1 is     
another passage with which ,niebuhr  is 
not satisfied1 and which even ,professor
 ,mai terms 8vexatissimum  locum40      
,cicero says the ,roman people were     
distributed by ,servius into  six       
classes1 whose entire elective force was
 one hundred and  ninety-three          

centuries4 ,to give the landed          
proprietors who were rated in  the first
 class1 a majority of this number1 or   
ninety-seven votes1 three  centuries of 
horse with six suffrages1 meaning those 
inscribed in the  great census or       
register1 in contradistinction to the   
horsemen set apart  from the mass of the
 whole people2 the century of           
carpenters1 and the  first class1       
constituted together eighty-nine        
centuries4 ,eight more  centuries taken 
from the other five classes and added to
 this number1  made ninety-seven1 being 
a majority of one over ninety-six1 and  
thus in  ,cicero's words 8,confecta est 
vis1 populi universa40 ,the unwearied   
erudition of ,niebuhr1 to which great   
deference is due1 is not satisfied  with
 the simplicity of this statement of the
 ,roman ,constitution1 but  assails it  
with an unusual bitterness of critical  
spirit4 ,he supposes  the passage from  
its genuine state to have been corrupted
 by successive  transcribers and        

commentators1 to the order in which     
,professor ,mai has  thought proper to  
give it to the public1 and that in its  
original state  it stood thus4 8,nunc   
rationem videtis esse talem ut prima    
classis1  addita centuria qu ad summum  
usum urbis fabris tignariis est data3   
,,lxxxi centurias habeat2 quibus ex     
,,cxiv centuriis1 tot enim reliqu sunt1 
equitum centuri cum sex suffragiis sol  
si accesserunt10 c4    8,now you will   
perceive the plan was such1 that the    
first class1 a  century being added from
 the carpenters on account of their     
great  utility to the city1 consisted of
 eighty-one centuries2 to which if from 
the one hundred and fourteen centuries1 
for so many remain1 only the  centuries 
of horse with six suffrages are added10 
c4 ,i forbear to add  his very curious  
reasons for this proposed restoration1  
and which1 not  to be deemed            
extravagant1 require to be judged by    
those familiar with  the emendations of 
ancient ,,mss4 ,it will be perceived1   

however1 that he  makes the whole number
 of centuries to consist of one hundred 
and  ninety-five2 and that he gives the 
landed proprietors a majority of        
ninety-nine over the ninety-six         
centuries belonging to the other five   
classes1 which appears superfluous in a 
system which aimed at the  appearance of
 moderation1 8ne superbum esset40       
,substantially the system  appears to   
have been this4 ,the ,roman people were 
distributed into six  classes1 having   
one hundred and ninety-three centuries  
or votes4 ,the  first class consisting  
of men of rank and property1 with the   
centuries  of horse1 had ninety-six     
votes2 leaving ninety-seven votes to the
 other  five classes4 ,in order1        
however1 to give the ascendancy to the  
first  class in the least offensive way1
 the century of blacksmiths and         
carpenters was added to the first class1
 under pretence of their great  utility 
to the city2 but really because they    
were dependent upon the  first class and

 the cavalry for employment1 and could  
be relied upon4 ,in  this manner the    
first class secured a majority of       
ninety-seven votes4  ,the second book   
closes with a declaration from ,scipio1 
that unless the  most perfect justice is
 observed1 no government can prosper4   
,the third book opens with a            
philosophical analysis of the faculties 
of  man1 introductory to the great      
principle of the immutable nature of    
justice1 which it appears was fully     
discussed in this book1 of which so     
small a portion is preserved4 ,a        
splendid picture is drawn in the second 
section of an accomplished statesman1   
such as ,cicero himself had aimed  to   
be1 and which from a passage in one of  
his letters to ,atticus1  appears to    
have been farther elaborated in the     
sixth book4 ,it relates to  a triumph   
about which he felt some anxiety after  
his government of  ,cilicia4 8,if this  
idea of a triumph which even you        
approve1 had not been  infused into me1 

you would not have had to look far for  
the perfect  citizen described in the   
sixth book40#aj ,philus is called upon  
to  defend the cause of injustice after 
the manner of ,carneades the ,greek     
sophist4 ,the powerful passage contained
 in the seventeenth section is          
delivered by him4 ,it was reserved for  
,llius to close the discussion as  the  
advocate of justice4 ,scarce any part of
 his discourse is preserved4  ,some     
fragments have1 however1 been collected 
by ,professor ,mai1 preserved  by       
,nonius the ,philologist1 and by        
,lactantius4 ,in the one1 ,llius is made
  to declare1 that the ,roman youth     
ought not to be permitted to listen to  
,carneades1 who if he thought as he     
spoke1 was a bad man2 and if he was     
not1 as he preferred to believe1 his    
discourse was nevertheless  detestable4 
,one of the passages from ,lanctantius  
is that well known  exposition of       
eternal right1 or natural law of justice
 of which  conscience is the voice4     

8,there is indeed a law1 right reason1  
which is in accordance with  nature2    
existing in all1 unchangeable1 eternal4 
,commanding us to do what  is right1    
forbidding us to do what is wrong4 ,it  
has dominion over good  men1 but        
possesses no influence over bad ones4   
,no other law can be  substituted for   
it1 no part of it can be taken away1 nor
 can it be  abrogated altogether4       
,neither the people or the senate can   
absolve us  from it4 ,it wants no       
commentator or interpreter4 ,it is not  
one thing at  ,rome1 and another thing  
at ,athens3 one thing to-day1 and       
another thing  to-morrow2 but it is a   
law eternal and immutable for all       
nations and for  all time4 ,god1 the    
sole ,ruler1 and universal ,lord1 has   
framed and  proclaimed this law4 ,he who
 does not obey it1 renounces himself1   
and is  false to his own nature3 he     
brings upon himself the direst tortures1
  even when he escapes human            
punishments40#aa    ,the fourth book of 

which a mere fragment is preserved1     
appears to have  treated of domestic    
manners1 the education of youth1 and of 
,roman life1  public and private4 ,we   
have lost here many fine pictures of the
  simplicity of ,roman manners1 at that 
flourishing period of the republic1  as 
well as of the progress of luxury1 which
 was not inconsiderable4 ,a  fragment of
 this book is preserved in ,nonius1     
where ,scipio opposes the  collection of
 a revenue1 necessary perhaps to make   
good those  deficiencies which          
extravagance had produced4 8,nolo enim  
eundem populum  imperatorem et          
portitorem esse terrarum4 ,optimum autem
 et in privatis  familiis et in         
republica vectigal duco esse            
parsimoniam40 8,i am not  willing that  
the same people should be the sovereigns
 and the  toll-gatherers of the world4  
,i look upon economy to be the best     
revenue  for the republic1 and for      
private individuals40    ,the fifth book
 is also a mere fragment4 ,st4 ,augustin

 has preserved some  notices of it1 from
 which it appears that it treated very  
much of the  ancient ,roman             
institutions1 with a view to show the   
degeneracy of the  times in which       
,cicero wrote4 ,in the fifth section of 
this book1 he  speaks of the comfortable
 enjoyment of life depending upon legal 
marriages and lawful children2 from     
whence perhaps we may gather the        
obligation which the dissolute manners  
of the times had laid him under1  of    
asserting the value of these ties1 as   
well as his own veneration for  them4   
,of the sixth book no part whatever has 
come down to us with this ,,mss3  but   
the important fragment on a future state
 preserved in ,macrobius1  warrants our 
supposing that he was naturally led in a
 treatise so highly  philosophical1 to  
pass from the consideration of human    
morals1 to the  great object which moral
 conduct has in view3 the resisting of  
human  weakness1 for the sake of fitting
 the immortal part of our nature for a  

higher condition of being4 ,the dream of
 ,scipio1 encumbered as it is by  some  
of the pedantry of the schools1 is a    
production of the highest  order1 upon  
this most sublime of all subjects4      
-----    ,footnote #a3      ,his4 ,nat4 
#ah4 #c4 #a4    ,footnote #b3      ,cato
 de ,re ,rustica4 ,majores enim nostri1 
c4    ,footnote #c3      ,dio4 #aa4 #h4 
,gellius xv4 #bg4    ,footnote #d3      
,roma patrem patri ,ciceronem libera    
dixit4 ,juv4 #h4    ,footnote #e3       
,magna ,voce me vere jurasse juravit4   
,ep4 fam4 #e4 #b4    ,footnote #f3      
,quoniam1 inquit1 meos tam suspicione   
quam crimine judico carere    oportere4 
,suet4 ,j4 ,cs4 #gd4    ,footnote #g3   
,sed quoniam qui nihil possunt1 c4      
,footnote #h3      ,ep4 fam4 #h4 #ad4   
,footnote #i3      8,quid porro aut     
prclarum putet in rebus humanis40 ,lib4 
#a4 xvii4    ,footnote #aj3      ,let4  
to ,att4 vii4 #c4    ,footnote #aa3     
,lact4 ,inst4 vi4 #h4                   
,,cicero',s ,,republic4                 

,illustration                           
,,book ,i4      ,i4 ,for without the    
strong feeling of patriotism1 neither   
had ,g4 ,duelius1  ,aulus ,atilius or   
,l4 ,metellus freed us from the terror  
of ,carthage2 or  the two ,scipios      
extinguished with their blood the rising
 flame of the  second punic war4        
,quintus ,maximus would not have        
weakened1 nor ,m4  ,marcellus have      
crushed the one which was springing up  
with still greater  strength3 or ,p4    
,africanus turning it from the gates of 
this city1 have  borne it amid the walls
 of our enemies4 ,yet it was not thought
  unbecoming in ,m4 ,cato1 an unknown   
and a new man1 by whom all of us who    
emulate his course are led as a bright  
example of industry and virtue1  to     
enjoy the repose of ,tusculum1 that     
healthy and convenient situation4  ,that
 insane man1 however1 as some have      
considered him1 preferred when  urged by
 no necessity1 to contend amid those    
waves and tempests to  extreme old age2 

rather than pass his days in the most   
agreeable manner1  amid so much ease and
 tranquillity4 ,men without number ,i   
omit1 each of  whom were benefactors to 
the ,state1 and who are not far removed 
from the  remembrance of this           
generation4 ,i forbear to commemorate   
them1 lest any  one should reproach me  
with neglecting to speak of himself or  
his  immediate friends4 ,this one truth 
,i would mark1 that nature has so       
strongly implanted in man the necessity 
of virtue1 and so powerful an           
inclination to defend the common        
welfare1 that this principle overcomes  
all the blandishments of voluptuousness 
and ease4    ,,ii4 ,yet to possess      
virtue1 like some art1 without          
exercising it1 is  insufficient4 ,art   
indeed1 when not effective1 is still    
comprehended in  science4 ,the efficacy 
of all virtue consists in its use4 ,its 
greatest  end is the government of      
states1 and the perfection not in words 
but in  deeds1 of those very things     

which are taught in the halls4 ,for     
nothing  is propounded by philosophers1 
concerning what is esteemed to be just  
and proper1 that is not confirmed and   
assured by those who have  legislated   
for states4 ,for from whence springs    
piety1 or from whom  religion8 ,whence  
the law1 either of nations1 or that     
which is called  civil8 ,whence justice1
 faith1 equity8 ,whence modesty1        
continence1 the  dread of turpitude1 the
 love of praise and esteem8 ,whence     
fortitude in  trouble and dangers8 ,from
 those who having laid a foundation for 
these  things in early education1 have  
strengthened some of them by the        
influence of manners1 and sanctioned    
others by the influence of laws4 ,of    
,xenocrates1 one of the noblest of      
philosophers1 it is said1 that when he  
was asked what his disciples learnt of  
him1 he replied 8to do that of  their   
own choice1 which the laws enjoined them
 to do10 therefore the  citizen who     
obliges every one by the authority and  

fear of the law to do  that1 which      
philosophers by reasoning1 with         
difficulty persuade a few to  do1 is to 
be preferred to those learned men who   
only dispute about these  things4 ,for  
which of their orations1 however        
exquisite1 can be compared  in value to 
a well constituted state1 to public     
right and to morals4  ,truly as great   
and powerful cities1 as ,ennius says1   
are as ,i think1 to  be preferred to    
villages and castles2 so those who stand
 pre-eminent in  those cities1 in       
authority and counsel1 are to be        
esteemed far before  those in wisdom1   
who are altogether ignorant of the      
conduct of public  affairs4 ,and since  
we are chiefly urged by a desire to     
increase the  possessions of the human  
race1 and seek by our counsels and      
labours1 to  surround the life of man   
with gratification and security1 and are
  incited by the instincts of nature to 
these enjoyments2 let us hold the       
course which was always that of the best

 men3 nor attend to those  signals which
 speculative philosophers make from     
their retirement1 to  allure back those 
who are already far advanced4    ,,iii4 
,against these reasons so certain and so
 clear1 it is urged by those  who are   
opposed to us3 first1 the labour to be  
undergone in preserving  the public     
welfare2 a slight impediment to the     
zealous and industrious1  not alone in  
matters of such high import1 but in     
inferior things3  whether in studies or 
in official stations2 and to be despised
 even in  affairs of business4 ,to this 
they add the dangers to which life is   
exposed1 and the dread of death1 which  
brave men scorn2 being wont to  view it 
as more wretched to waste away by       
infirmity and old age1 than to  seize an
 occasion to devote that life to the    
advantage of their country1  which one  
day must be rendered to nature4 ,it is  
here however they deem  themselves most 
successful and eloquent1 when they bring
 forward the  calamities of eminent men1

 and the injuries heaped upon them by   
their  ungrateful countrymen4 ,here come
 the instances in ,grecian history4     
,miltiades1 the conqueror and subduer of
 the ,persians1 with those wounds  yet  
streaming1 which he received in front1  
in the height of victory3  preserved    
from the weapons of the enemy1 to waste 
away his life in the  chains of his     
countrymen4 ,and ,themistocles          
proscribed and driven from  the country 
he had freed1 flying1 not to the        
harbours of that ,greece he  had        
preserved1 but to the barbarous shores  
he had harrassed4 ,nor indeed  are      
instances wanting among the ,athenians  
of levity and cruelty towards  great    
numbers of their citizens2 instances    
which springing up repeatedly  among    
them1 are said also to have abounded too
 conspicuously in our  city4 ,for either
 the exile of ,camillus1 the misfortune 
of ,ahala1 the ill  will towards        
,nasica1 or the expulsion of ,lenas1 or 
the condemnation of  ,opimus is         

remembered3 or the flight of ,metellus1 
the sad overthrow of ,c4  ,marius1 the  
cutting off of the most eminent         
citizens1 or the destruction  of many of
 them1 which soon after followed4 ,nor  
indeed is my name  forgotten4 ,and ,i   
judge that deeming themselves to owe    
both life and ease  to my peril and     
counsel1 they have a more deep and      
tender remembrance of  me4 ,but it is   
not easy to explain how they who cross  
the seas for the  sake of observing or  
describing 99 99 99                     
,two pages wanting4    ,,iv4 99 99 99 99
 ,at the expiration of my consulship1   
when in the assembly of  the ,roman     
people1 ,i swore that the republic had  
been saved by my  exertions1 which they 
confirmed by universal acclamation1 ,i  
was requited  for the cares and         
vexations of every injury4 ,albeit my   
reverses had more  honour than pain     
attached to them1 and less disquietude  
than glory4  ,greater was my pleasure at
 receiving the approbation of good men1 

than  my regret at observing the        
satisfaction of the bad4 ,but had it    
happened  otherwise1 as ,i said1 what   
complaint could ,i make8 ,nothing       
unforeseen  could have occurred1 nor    
more grievous than ,i might have        
expected for so  many of my deeds4 ,for 
,i was one who could well have gathered 
greater  fruits from ease than others1  
on account of the agreeable variety of  
the  studies ,i had pursued from my     
childhood2 and if any disaster had      
overtaken the republic1 ,i need not have
 sustained a greater share of it1  but  
have divided it equally with the rest4  
,i hesitated not to oppose  myself to   
those stormy tempests1 and almost raging
 waves1 for the sake  of preserving my  
fellow citizens1 and of accomplishing at
 my own risk  the common safety of all4 
,for our country has not produced us1 or
  educated us under a law1 that she is  
entitled to no support on our part1     
lending herself as it were to our       
convenience only2 furnishing a secure   

refuge1 and a tranquil and peaceful     
asylum to our indolence3 but rather     
holds as pledges to her1 to be employed 
for her benefit1 the many and  great    
faculties of our mind1 genius1 and      
reason2 and only permits us to          
appropriate to our private purposes1    
that portion of them1 of which she      
stands in no need4    ,v4 ,the pretences
 which are urged for the enjoyment of   
indolence are not  to be listened to4   
,as when it is stated that the public   
affairs are  meddled with by men worthy 
of no confidence1 with whom it is       
disgraceful  to associate3 yet to       
contend against whom is a miserable and 
dangerous  effort1 especially when the  
multitude is excited4 ,for which reason 
a  prudent man ought not to take the    
reins1 when he is not able to restrain  
the mad and untameable violence of the  
vulgar3 or a generous man expose        
himself to the lashes of contumely in a 
strife with low and outrageous          
adversaries3 or a wise man hope to      

withdraw from such a contest without    
injury4 ,as if there could well be a    
more just cause for good and firm  men1 
endowed with noble minds1 to stand forth
 in aid of their country1  than that    
they may not be subject to bad men2 nor 
suffer the republic to  be lacerated by 
them1 before the desire of saving it may
 come too late4    ,,vi4 ,but who can   
approve of their exception1 that a wise 
man ought not to  take upon him any part
 of the public affairs1 unless an       
occasion of  extraordinary need should  
drive him to it8 as if indeed a greater 
necessity could ever have happened to   
any one1 than occurred to myself4  ,how 
could ,i have been useful then1 had ,i  
not been consul8 and how could  ,i have 
been consul1 had ,i not pursued that    
course of life from my youth1  which    
belonging to the equestrian rank1 in    
which ,i was born1 enabled me  to attain
 the first honours of the state8 ,no man
 therefore can assume at  pleasure the  
ability of aiding in the public service1

 however urgent the  danger may be1     
unless he stands in that relation to his
 country1 which  fits him for the       
occasion4 ,and it appears to me most    
marvellous1 that in  the discourse of   
learned men1 they who declare themselves
 unable to  steer in a calm sea1 because
 they have never been taught1 nor have  
ever  studied the subject1 talk of      
taking the helm in the midst of the     
greatest storms4 ,for these very men    
openly declare1 and pride themselves    
greatly upon it1 that they have never   
studied or taught the mode of           
establishing or protecting the public   
interest2 which they think the          
exclusive province1 not of learned and  
erudite men1 but of those who are       
practised in these matters4 ,what       
consistency is there then in promising  
to aid the republic in times of peril1  
when they are incapable of the  easier  
task of directing it in the calmest     
moments8 ,and although1 in  truth1 the  
philosopher is not wont of his own      

accord1 to consider the  details of     
state affairs1 unless called upon by the
 times to do it1 when  indeed he will   
not decline what duty imposes on him2   
nevertheless1 ,i  judge the knowledge of
 state affairs is least to be neglected 
by a wise  man2 that every thing may be 
familiar to him1 for he cannot tell the 
moment1 when it may be necessary for him
 to avail himself of his  knowledge4    
,,vii4 ,these things ,i have somewhat   
enlarged upon1 because the discussion   
proposed and undertaken by me in this   
work1 was on government3 and in  order  
to prevent its being without effect1 it 
was necessary in the first  instance1 to
 remove every doubt as to the duty of   
engaging in the public  service4        
,nevertheless if there are any who are  
governed by the opinions  of            
philosophers1 let them turn their       
attention for a while1 and listen  to   
those who enjoy a proud pre-eminence    
among learned men1 even when  they have 
not borne any charge in the republic2   

still whom ,i deem from  the extent of  
their studies1 and their writings on    
government1 to have  been invested with 
functions appertaining to the public    
interest4 ,but  those seven1 whom the   
,greeks call wise1 ,i perceive have     
almost all been  greatly engaged in     
public affairs4 ,for there is no one    
thing in which  human worth is more     
nearly allied to the power of the gods1 
than to  found new states1 or to        
preserve those already founded4         
,,viii4 ,concerning which matters1 since
 it hath happened to me1 to be  deemed  
something worthy of memory in my        
administration of public  affairs1 and  
to possess some talent for unfolding    
them2 not only in  practice1 but being  
versed too in the art of speaking and   
teaching3  while of those before me1    
some were perfect in debate1 yet unknown
 by  their deeds2 others of respectable 
parts for business1 without the  talent 
of oratory4 ,still it is not my         
intention here to bring forward  any new

 system invented by myself1 but to      
repeat a discussion1 that took  place at
 a certain period of our history1 among 
our most illustrious and  wise men1     
which was related to me a long time ago 
in my youth1 by ,p4  ,rutilius ,rufus1  
when we were at ,smyrna together3 in the
 which ,i think  scarce any point was   
omitted that belongs to the             
consideration of these  great matters4  
,,ix4 ,when ,p4 ,africanus1 the son of  
,paulus1 established ,latin holidays in 
his gardens1 during the consulate of    
,tuditanus1 and ,aquilius2 and his  most
 intimate friends had promised to visit 
him frequently at that  season4 ,on the 
morning of the first day1 ,q4 ,tubero1  
the eldest son of  his sister1 came4    
,pleased with his visit1 and kindly     
addressing him  8,what6 ,tubero10 said  
he1 8is it you so early8 ,i should have 
thought  these holidays would have given
 you a favourable opportunity of        
pursuing  your literary inquiries40     
8,why in truth10 replied he1 8,i can    

apply all  my leisure to my books1 for  
they are always disengaged4 ,but to find
 you  at leisure1 is very remarkable2   
especially at this time so critical for 
the republic40 8,so help me ,hercules10 
said ,scipio1 8however you find me1  it 
is more idle in appearance than in      
truth40 8,you must now10 said  ,tubero1 
8relax your mind a little also1 for     
several of us have  determined if it is 
not inconvenient to you1 to spend some  
of our  leisure with you40 8,with all my
 heart10 replied ,scipio1 8provided we  
may  acquire some information thereby on
 philosophical subjects40    ,x4 8,since
 you invite and encourage me to it      
yourself10 said ,tubero1 8let  us first 
converse1 ,africanus1 before the others 
come1 about the meaning  of this double 
sun which has been spoken of in the     
senate4 ,for those who  declare that    
they have seen two suns1 are neither few
 in number1 nor  insignificant persons3 
so that it appears to be of less        
importance to  doubt the fact1 than to  

inquire into the cause of it40 8,would  
that we  had with us our excellent      
,pantius10 said ,scipio1 8who among     
other  objects of knowledge1 was so     
diligent an inquirer about celestial    
phenomena4 ,as to myself1 ,tubero--for  
to you ,i will freely declare what ,i   
think2 ,i am not drawn in to adopt in   
matters of this sort1 the opinions  of  
our friend1 who pronounces things which 
are scarcely within the reach  of       
conjecture1 to be as manifest1 as if he 
beheld them with his eyes1 or  could lay
 his hands upon them4 ,on which account 
,i am accustomed to  consider ,socrates 
much wiser1 who leaves the consideration
 of such  things aside1 and teaches that
 the phenomena about which nature may be
  interrogated1 are either beyond the   
force of human reason1 or irrelevant  to
 the conduct of human affairs40 8,i know
 not10 rejoined ,tubero1 8what          
authority there is for the fact1 that   
,socrates rejected all discussion  upon 
such matters1 and confined himself to   

the moral conduct of human  life4 ,for  
what author is to be commended1 as more 
ample on that head  than ,plato2 in     
whose writings1 in many places1 it is   
the custom of  ,socrates in discussing  
morals1 the virtues1 and finally public 
affairs2  to allude studiously to the   
science of numbers1 to geometry1 and to 
harmony1 after the ,pythagorean mode40  
,scipio answered1 8these things are  as 
you say2 but ,i dare say you have heard1
 ,tubero1 that ,plato after the  death  
of ,socrates1 was carried by the love of
 knowledge first into  ,egypt1          
afterwards into ,italy and ,sicily1 that
 he might obtain an insight  into the   
discoveries of ,pythagoras4 ,that he    
associated much with  ,archytas the     
,tarentine1 and with ,timus of ,locram4 
,that he acquired the  commentaries of  
,philolaus1 and perceiving that the name
 of ,pythagoras  was at that time in    
great reputation in those places1 he    
dedicated his  time to the disciples of 
,pythagoras and to their opinions4 ,but 

as he had  loved ,socrates alone1 and   
wished to make all things conducive to  
his  reputation1 he interwove very      
skilfully the subtlety and humour of the
  ,socratic style with the mysteries of 
,pythagoras1 and with many branches  of 
the arts40    ,as ,scipio ceased to     
speak1 he suddenly saw ,l4 ,furius      
approaching1 and as  soon as he had     
kindly saluted him1 he took him by the  
hand1 and placed  him on his couch4 ,and
 as ,p4 ,rutilius the accomplished      
preserver of this  conversation appeared
 at the same time1 saluting him also in 
the same  manner1 he bade him be seated 
near to ,tubero4 8,what are you engaged 
in10  said ,furius2 8hath our arrival   
broken in upon your conversation80 8,not
  in the least10 replied ,africanus1    
8for it is precisely about matters1     
such as ,tubero has just been           
introducing1 that thou art wont         
diligently  to inquire into1 and to     
investigate4 ,and indeed our friend     
,rutilius was  in the habit occasionally

 of discussing things of this kind with 
me1  when we were under the walls of    
,numantia40 8,what is the subject you   
have  fallen upon80 said ,philus4       
8,these two suns10 replied he1          
8respecting  which ,i am desirous of    
hearing your opinion40    ,,xii4 ,as he 
spoke this1 a boy announced that ,llius 
was approaching1  having already left   
his house2 upon which ,scipio having    
dressed himself1  left his chamber1 and 
had made but a few paces in the portico1
 when he  saluted ,llius who was        
approaching1 and those who were with    
him3 ,spurius  ,mummius1 to whom he was 
particularly attached2 ,fannius1 and    
,quintus  ,scvola1 sons-in-law of       
,llius1 highly gifted young men of the  
qustorial age4 ,and having welcomed them
 all1 he made another turn on  the      
portico1 placing ,llius in the middle2  
for in their friendship it  was a sort  
of law between them1 that ,llius did    
homage to ,scipio as to a  god1 on      
account of his glorious pre-eminence in 

war2 while in his turn  ,scipio1 in     
private life1 paid to ,llius all the    
reverence due to a  parent1 on account  
of his superior years4 ,and having      
chatted a little  together in various   
places1 ,scipio1 who was very much      
enlivened and  gratified with their     
arrival1 was pleased to have them seated
 in a sunny  place in a little meadow1  
on account of its being the winter      
season2  which as they were about to do1
 ,m4 ,manilius came1 a prudent and      
agreeable person1 and very dear to them 
all2 who being cordially saluted  by    
,scipio and the rest1 took his seat next
 to ,llius4    ,,xiii4 8,it does not    
seem to me necessary10 said ,philus     
8that we should  seek another subject of
 conversation on account of those who   
are  arrived1 but that we should observe
 more accuracy1 and say something       
worthy of their ears40 8,what subject   
were you upon10 said ,llius1 8and  what 
discussion are we come to be present    
at80 8,scipio was inquiring of  me10    

replied ,philus1 8what my opinion was   
respecting the fact of two  suns having 
been seen40    ,llius4 8,why truly      
,philus1 is there no longer any thing   
left for us to  inquire about1 touching 
our own domestic affairs1 or those      
appertaining  to the republic1 that we  
must be exploring the things that are   
passing  in the heavens80 8,dost thou   
then think10 replied he1 8that it does  
not  concern our own mansions1 to know  
what is passing1 and what is done in    
that vast one1 not the one surrounded by
 our walls1 but that which  constitutes 
the universe1 and which the gods have   
given to us for a  domicile1 and a      
common country with themselves4         
,especially when if we  are ignorant of 
them1 many and very high matters will be
 hidden from us4  ,as to myself1 the    
contemplation and knowledge of these    
things delight  me1 as certainly as it  
does you1 ,llius1 and all who are eager 
in the  pursuit of knowledge40 8,i offer
 no impediment10 said ,llius1 especially

  at this holiday time2 but shall we    
hear any thing1 or are we come too      
late80    ,philus4 8,nothing has been   
discussed yet1 and as the subject is    
entire1 ,i  freely concede to you1      
,llius1 the right of expressing your    
sentiments  first40    ,llius4 8,let us 
rather hear you1 unless ,manilius       
thinks1 that some  decree by way of     
compromise between these two suns may be
 adjusted2 so  that each may keep       
possession of its own part of the       
firmament40 8,you  love still to banter 
that science1 ,llius1 in which ,i am    
proud to  excel10 replied ,manilius1    
8and without which no one could know his
 own  possession from anothers4 ,but of 
that by and by4 ,let us now listen to   
,philus1 who ,i perceive has a case of  
greater difficulty referred to him1     
than ever came before me or ,p4         
,mucius40    ,,xiv4 8,i shall lay       
nothing new before you10 said ,philus1  
8nor any thing  discovered or thought of
 by myself4 ,i remember1 however1 that  

,c4  ,sulpicius ,gallus1 a very learned 
man as you know2 when this same         
phenomenon was stated to have been seen1
 being by chance in the house of  ,m4   
,marcellus1 who had been in the         
consulate with him2 ordered a sphere  to
 be placed before him1 which the        
ancestor of ,m4 ,marcellus had taken    
from the conquered ,syracusans1 and     
brought out of their wealthy and        
embellished city2 the only thing he had 
possessed himself of among so  great a  
spoil4 ,i had heard a great deal of this
 sphere1 on account of  the fame of     
,archimedes1 but did not admire the     
construction of it so  much2 for another
 which ,archimedes also had made1 and   
which the same  ,marcellus had placed in
 the temple of virtue1 was more elegant 
and  remarkable in the general opinion4 
,but subsequently1 when ,gallus began   
very scientifically to explain the      
nature of the mechanism2 the ,sicilian  
appeared to me to possess more genius1  
than human nature would seem to  be     

capable of4 ,gallus said1 that the other
 solid and full sphere was an  old      
invention1 and was first wrought by     
,thales of ,miletas3 but  afterwards was
 delineated over with the fixed stars in
 the heavens by  ,eudoxus1 the ,cnidian1
 a disciple of ,plato4 ,the which       
adorned and  embellished as it was by   
,eudoxus1 ,aratus who had no knowledge  
of  astronomy1 but a certain poetical   
faculty1 many years afterwards  extolled
 in his verses4 ,the mechanism of this  
sphere1 however1 on which  the motions  
of the sun1 moon1 and those five stars  
which are called  wandering and         
irregular1 are shown2 could not be      
illustrated on that  solid sphere4 ,but 
what appeared very admirable in this    
invention of  ,archimedes was1 that he  
had discovered a method of producing the
 unequal  and various courses1 with     
their dissimilar velocities1 by one     
revolution4 ,when ,gallus put this      
sphere in motion1 the moon was made to  
succeed the sun by as many revolutions  

of the brass circle1 as it  actually    
took days to do in the heavens4 ,from   
which the same setting of  the sun was  
produced on the sphere as in the        
heavens3 and the moon fell  on the very 
point1 where it met the shadow of the   
earth1 when the sun  from the region 99 
99 99 99                                
,about ten pages wanting4    ,,xv4 99 99
 99 99 99 for he was a man ,i was very  
much attached to1 and ,i know  that my  
father ,paulus esteemed and placed the  
highest value on him4 ,i  remember when 
,i was but a boy1 being with my father1 
who was then consul  in ,macedonia2 that
 while we were encamped1 our army was   
struck with a  religious dread1 because 
the full and splendid moon in the       
serenity of  the night1 was suddenly    
eclipsed4 ,he being then our lieutenant1
 the year  just before that in which he 
was declared consul1 did not hesitate   
the  following day1 to pronounce openly 
in the camp1 that it was no prodigy4    
,and that what had then taken place1    

would always occur in future at  those  
particular periods1 when the position of
 the sun was such1 that  its rays could 
not fall upon the moon4 8,but how could 
he10 asked ,tubero1  8make men half     
wild1 comprehend such matters1 or       
venture to speak of  them before the    
unenlightened80    ,scipio4 8,indeed he 
did1 and with great 99 99 99 99         
,about two pages wanting4    99 99 99 99
 99 there was neither a haughty         
ostentation1 nor any thing in his       
speech unbecoming a grave personage2 and
 he accomplished a point of  great      
importance1 in removing from the        
disturbed minds of the men1 the         
influence of an idle and fearful        
superstition4    ,,xvi4 ,there was an   
occurrence similar to this during the   
great war1 which  the ,athenians and    
,lacedemonians waged against each other 
with so much  inveteracy4 ,darkness     
being suddenly produced by the          
obscuration of the  sun1 and a          
prodigious fear taking possession of the

 minds of the  ,athenians4 ,pericles1   
the first man in the city1 in authority1
 in  eloquence1 and in council2 taught  
the citizens what he had himself  learnt
 from ,anaxagoras1 whose pupil he had   
been3 that it was an  unavoidable       
appearance at the particular period1    
when the moon had  placed herself       
immediately before the orb of the sun3  
and although it  did not take place     
every lunar period2 it could            
nevertheless be  occasioned only by the 
moon's motion4 ,having convinced them by
  reasoning1 he delivered the people    
from their apprehension4 ,for it was    
then a strange and unknown reason to    
give for an eclipse1 that the sun  and  
moon were in opposition to each other1  
which it is said1 was first  observed by
 ,thales the ,milesian4 ,at a later     
period1 this had not escaped  our       
,ennius1 who wrote about the year #cej  
of the building of ,rome1 in the  nones 
of ,june2 that 8the moon and night stood
 before the sun40 ,so  great1 however1  

is the advancement of knowledge in these
 matters1 that  from this day1 which we 
find noted in the principal annals1 and 
by  ,ennius2 the previous occultations  
of the sun are fixed up to that which   
took place in the reign of ,romulus1 in 
the nones of the fifth month4  ,during  
which darkness1 ,romulus1 whom the laws 
of nature indeed would  have carried to 
the tomb1 is said to have been borne by 
his virtue to  heaven4    ,,xvii4 ,then 
,tubero1 8,dost thou not perceive       
,africanus1 that what appeared          
otherwise to thee a while ago 99 99 99  
99 99 99                                
,about two pages wanting4    99 99 99 99
 99 99 8,who can perceive any grandeur  
in human affairs1 whose eyes  are       
accustomed to survey the empire of the  
gods8 ,what are temporal  things in the 
eyes of those conversant with eternal   
ones8 ,what is there  glorious to the   
contemplation of him1 who looks at the  
small size of the  earth2 first as to   
its whole extent1 then to that part of  

it which men  inhabit8 ,and yet we1     
confined to so small a portion of it1   
unknown to  most nations1 hope our name 
will be diffused to its utmost limits4  
,what  are lands1 and houses1 and       
flocks1 and immense masses of gold and  
silver  to him who neither considers    
them desirable nor calls them so3 the   
fruition of which appears to him        
trifling1 the use unsatisfactory1 the   
possession uncertain3 and which are     
often in the hands of the most          
contemptible of men8 ,how fortunate may 
that man be esteemed1 who alone  claims 
a share in all things1 not as the       
privilege of a citizen1 but of  a       
philosopher3 not by civil rights1 but by
 the common law of nature1  which       
forbids any one to be the proprietor of 
aught1 of the proper use  of which he is
 ignorant6 ,who considers our           
consulships and high offices1  not to be
 sought after for the sake of personal  
advantage or glory2 not  as things to be
 coveted1 but to be undertaken as       

duties4 ,the man finally  who can say   
that of himself which my ancestor       
,africanus1 as ,cato writes1  was wont  
to say1 8that he never was more busy    
than when he was doing  nothing2 and    
that he never was less alone1 than when 
nobody was with  him40    ,for who can  
deem ,dionysius to have accomplished a  
greater thing1 when by  the greatest    
exertion he snatched their liberties    
from the citizens1  than ,archimedes his
 countryman1 who appearing to be        
occupied in nothing1  produced this     
sphere of which we were but now         
conversing8 ,are they not  more alone1  
who find no one in the forum or in the  
crowd who chooses to  talk with them1   
than those who without any witness can  
converse with  themselves2 or as it     
were1 be present at the councils of the 
most  learned men1 when they solace     
themselves with their discoveries and   
writings8 ,who in truth can imagine any 
one to be more rich1 than the man  who  
has no wants1 beyond the simple calls of

 nature2 or more powerful  than him1 who
 has attained the possession of al that 
he desires2 or more  blessed than him   
who is freed from all anxiety of mind8  
or what man's  fortune is better        
established than his1 who can carry     
along with him1 or  out of a shipwreck  
as men are wont to say1 all his         
possessions8 ,what  command1 what       
office1 what kingdom can be preferred to
 that condition of  mind1 which looking 
down upon all things human1 and         
esteeming them to be  the objects of an 
inferior wisdom1 turns ever to the      
contemplation of  those things that are 
divine and eternal3 persuaded that they 
only  deserve to be called men1 who are 
refined by the sciences of humanity8    
,that which has been said of ,plato1 or 
of some other sage1 appears to me       
therefore very excellent4 ,who being    
borne by a tempest to unknown lands1    
and cast on a desert shore1 while his   
companions were apprehensive on  account
 of their ignorance of the place1 is    

said to have perceived  geometrical     
figures described on the sand4 ,which   
when he saw1 he bade  them all be of    
good heart1 for he had seen vestiges of 
men4 ,not that he  judged so from the   
cultivation of the fields which he      
beheld1 but from  these indications of  
science4 ,for all these reasons1        
,tubero1 learning1  and learned men1 and
 these thy studies have always been     
pleasing to me4    ,,xviii4 ,then said  
,llius1 8,i am not bold enough1 ,scipio1
 to speak of  these things3 nor even to 
thee1 or ,philus1 or ,manilius 99 99 99 
99 99                              ,two 
pages wanting    99 99 99 99 in his     
paternal house we have had a friend1    
worthy to be  imitated by him4    8lius 
,sextus1 conspicuously discreet and     
wise40 ,that he was  conspicuously      
discreet and wise1 is said by ,ennius1  
not because he  sought after what he was
 not able to discover1 but because he   
answered  those who made inquiries of   
him1 in a manner to solve their         

difficulties  and anxieties1 in whose   
mouth when arguing against the studies  
of  ,gallus1 were always these words of 
,achilles1 in ,iphigenia4               
8,astrology1 its signs2 how are they    
read in heaven8          ,when goat or  
scorpion1 or ferocious names arise1     
,the obvious earth is shunned1 to       
scrutinize the skies40    ,he also said1
 for many times and willingly ,i        
listened to him1 that  ,zethus the      
author of ,pacuvius1 was too great an   
enemy to science4 ,the  ,neoptolemus of 
,ennius pleased him more2 who says that 
he likes to  philosophize but only with 
a few2 not willing to give himself up to
 it  altogether4 ,but if the studies of 
the ,greeks delight you so much1 there  
are others freer and more easily        
diffused1 which we may bring to the use 
of life1 or even to that of the         
republic4 ,as for these arts1 their     
value  consists1 if in any thing1 in    
stimulating and sharpening the genius of
  young boys2 enabling them in this     

manner the better to comprehend  greater
 things4    ,,xix4 8,i do not dissent   
from you1 ,llius10 said ,tubero1 8but   
ask what you  understand by greater     
things80    ,llius4 8,i will tell you in
 good faith1 although you may somewhat  
despise me for it2 since it is you who  
are asking ,scipio about these          
celestial matters4 ,as for myself1 ,i   
think those things most worthy of  our  
attention1 which lay immediately before 
our eyes4 ,how can it  interest me that 
the grandson of ,l4 ,paulus by the      
mother's side1 born of  such a noble and
 illustrious family in this republic1   
should seek for  reasons why two suns   
have been seen1 when he does not inquire
 the cause  why two senates1 and almost 
two people exist in one republic8 ,for  
as you  perceive the death of ,tiberius 
,gracchus1 and even before that event1  
the  whole proceedings of his tribunate 
were dividing one people into two       
parties3 those who are the detractors of
 ,scipio also1 and are envious of  him1 

urged on at first by ,p4 ,crassus and   
,appius ,claudius1 keep up              
notwithstanding their death1 an         
opposition to us in the senate1 through 
the influence of ,metellus and ,p4      
,mucius4 ,nor will they suffer him to   
come forward1 who is alone equal to so  
dangerous a crisis1 amidst the  factious
 and dangerous associations made under  
the ,roman name3 amidst  violated       
compacts1 and the new matters daily     
stirring by the seditious  triumvirs1 to
 the consternation of good and          
respectable men4 ,wherefore  young men1 
if you will listen to me1 entertain no  
apprehensions about  this double sun3   
for either it is nothing at all1 or if  
it is a reality1  as far as it has been 
observed1 there is nothing injurious in 
it4 ,either  we can know nothing about  
such matters1 or even if we could know  
all  about them1 we should not be better
 or happier for that knowledge4 ,but    
one senate and one people we may have2  
that is practicable4 ,and if it is  not 

done1 we shall suffer for it4 ,and we   
know it is otherwise1 and that  if it   
were effected1 we should have more      
stability1 and be happier and  better40 
,,xx4 ,then ,mucius4 8,what is it we    
have to learn1 in your opinion1 ,llius1 
that we may be able to effect what you  
require of us80    ,llius4 8,those      
sciences whose tendency is to enable us 
to be useful to  the state2 for ,i deem 
that to be the most pre-eminent gift of 
wisdom1 as  well as the noblest fruit of
 virtue and duty4 ,wherefore that these 
holidays may be productive of           
conversations in an especial manner     
useful  to the republic1 let us entreat 
,scipio to impart to us1 what he deems  
to  be the happiest condition of a      
state4 ,afterwards we can consider other
  matters1 the knowledge of which ,i    
hope will bring us to the subject       
before us1 and will unfold the causes of
 the present condition of  things4      
,two pages wanting4    ,,xxi4 99 99 99  
99 99 not for that cause alone ,i wished

 it1 but because ,i  thought it proper  
that the first person in the republic   
should first  speak on public affairs2  
and because ,i remembered that you were 
accustomed frequently to discuss with   
,pantius before ,polybius1 two  ,greeks 
extremely versed in civil affairs2 and  
that you had proved by  various         
reasonings the excellence of that form  
of government1 which our  ancestors had 
transmitted to us from so distant a     
period4 ,in the which  matter1 you1     
being more competent to it1 will do an  
agreeable thing to  us all1 7for ,i     
speak also for the rest17 if you will   
unfold to us your  opinion of the       
commonwealth40    ,,xxii4 8,i cannot10  
he began1 8say that ,i have been in the 
habit of  turning my mind more intensely
 and diligently to the consideration of 
any subject1 than the very one which you
 now propose to me1 ,llius4 ,for  when  
,i perceive that every artificer who    
truly excels in his vocation1  is filled
 with anxiety1 care1 and zeal1 lest any 

one should surpass him  in his art4 ,i1 
whose chief duty1 bequeathed to me by my
 parents and  ancestors1 is the conduct 
and administration of the republic1 must
  confess myself more indolent than any 
artisan1 if ,i bestowed less  attention 
on the greatest of arts1 than he does on
 the most  insignificant4 ,but neither  
am ,i satisfied with the writings on    
this  subject which the first and wisest
 among the ,greeks have left to us2     
while ,i hesitate to establish my own   
conclusions in preference to  theirs4   
,wherefore ,i intreat you1 not to listen
 to me as one entirely  ignorant of the 
affairs of the ,greeks1 nor as one who  
gives them the  preference to our own   
writers1 particularly in matters of this
 kind2 but  as one liberally brought up 
by the diligence of distinguished       
parents1  and ardent in the love of     
knowledge from his youth2 yet           
nevertheless  much more formed by       
domestic experience1 than by literary   
studies40    ,,xxiii4 8,i doubt10 said  

,philus here1 8whether any one has ever 
excelled  you in genius4 ,we know to    
what studies you have always been       
partial1 and  that in your acquaintance 
with the great affairs of the state1 you
 have  surpassed every one3 wherefore if
 as you say1 your mind has been         
particularly turned to matters which    
have now become almost a science3 ,i    
feel very much indebted to ,llius1      
feeling a hope that what you will say   
will be more instructive1 than all those
 things which the ,greeks have  written 
for us40 8,you are creating0 replied he1
 8much expectation from  my discourse1  
which is a very great weight upon one1  
who is about to  speak of matters of    
importance40 8,however great it may be10
 said ,philus1  8you will throw it off  
as you are accustomed to do2 nor is     
there any  danger that a dissertation   
from you on government will be deficient
 in  any requisite40    ,,xxiv4 8,i will
 do what you desire1 as well as ,i am   
able10 rejoined  ,scipio1 8and will     

begin the discussion in conformity with 
the rule which  ,i think ought to be    
observed in the examination of all      
things1 if you  would avoid error4 ,that
 the name of the subject in discussion  
being  agreed upon1 the meaning of the  
name shall be defined4 ,if this be found
  to be appropriate1 the matter can be  
entered upon at once2 for unless  this  
be perfectly understood at first1 we    
never can understand what we  are       
disputing about4 ,wherefore since it is 
of the republic we are  inquiring1 let  
us first examine what that is we are    
inquiring about40  ,llius having shown  
his acquiescence4 8,i do not intend1    
however10 said  ,africanus1 8in a matter
 so clear and familiar1 to begin with   
the very  origin of things2 the first   
conjunction of the sexes2 then their    
progeny  and descendants1 as some of our
 learned men are accustomed to do3 nor  
shall ,i go into continual definitions  
of terms--what they are--and how  many  
varieties of them4 ,when ,i address wise

 men1 who in war and in  peace1 have    
taken a glorious part in the affairs of 
a great republic1 ,i  shall not expose  
myself in such a manner1 that the very  
thing under  discussion shall be more   
intelligible1 than my own explanation of
 it4  ,neither do ,i take upon me to    
pursue the subject in every direction1  
as a  master would3 nor can ,i promise  
to do it so effectually1 that no        
omission whatever shall escape me40 8,it
 is exactly such a discourse as  you    
promise1 that ,i am in expectation of10 
said ,llius4    ,,xxv4 8,a republic or  
commonwealth then10 said ,scipio1 8is   
the wealth or  common interest of the   
people4 ,every assemblage of men        
however1 gathered  together without an  
object1 is not the people1 but only an  
assemblage of  the multitude associated 
by common consent1 for reciprocal       
rights1 and  reciprocal usefulness4 ,the
 leading cause of this congregating1 is 
not to  be ascribed so much to his      
weakness1 as to the social principle    

innate  with man4 ,our species is not a 
solitary and wandering one1 but is so   
created that even when enjoying the     
greatest affluence 99 99 99 99          
,two pages wanting4    ,,xxvi4 99 99 99 
99 rather intuitive2 for no original    
institution of the  social state has    
been found1 nor of the other moral      
virtues4 ,these  congregations therefore
 made for the purposes ,i have          
explained1  established their first seat
 in some particular place for a         
residence4  ,which after being fortified
 by their labours and by its position1  
and  fitted with temples and public     
squares1 the re-union of dwellings      
constructed after this manner1 they     
called a town or city4 ,every people    
therefore1 formed by the assemblage of  
such a multitude as ,i have  described1 
every city which is the settlement of a 
people1 every  commonwealth which as ,i 
have said1 is the wealth of the people1 
must in  order to be permanent1 be      
governed by some authority4 ,that       

authority  however must always have a   
strong relation to the causes from      
whence the  commonwealth derived its    
origin4 ,it may then be delegated to    
one1 or to  some selected persons2 or it
 may be borne by the whole multitude of 
the  people4 ,when therefore authority  
over all things1 is in the control of   
one man1 we call him king2 and a        
commonwealth so ordered1 his kingdom4   
,when the authority is exercised by     
selected persons1 then such a state  is 
said to be under the government of the  
better class4 ,but there is  also a     
popular form of government1 for so it is
 called1 where all things  are ruled by 
the people4 ,and of any of these three  
modes1 if the chain  is in any manner   
kept together1 which at first united men
 into the  social pact for the sake of  
the common interest1 ,i would not indeed
 call  the mode perfect1 nor say that in
 my opinion it was the best1 but that   
it was to be tolerated1 and that one    
might be preferable to another4 ,for    

whether under a just and wise king1 or  
chosen eminent citizens1 or the  people 
themselves1 although this last is least 
to be approved of1  setting aside the   
irregularities occasioned by the bad    
passions of some  men1 any one may see  
that a steady government might be       
preserved4    ,,xxvii4 ,in kingdoms     
however1 the governed are too much      
deprived of common  rights1 and of      
power4 ,under the better class1 the     
multitude can scarcely  be partakers of 
liberty1 as they are not admitted either
 to the public  councils or offices3 and
 when the government is conducted by the
 people1  although it be justly and     
moderately administered1 yet equality   
itself  becomes injustice1 seeing that  
it admits of no degrees of rank4        
,therefore1 although ,cyrus the         
,persian1 was a most just and wise king1
  yet such a commonwealth1 7for as ,i   
said before1 it is the common           
property17 governed by the nod of one   
man1 does not appear to me very         

desirable4 ,and although the ,massilians
 our clients are governed with  great   
justice1 by their chosen chief men1     
nevertheless in that condition  of a    
people1 there is something resembling   
slavery4 ,and the ,athenians at  a      
certain period having abolished the     
,areopagus1 conducted every thing  by   
ordinances1 and decrees of the people2  
yet as they had no  distinctions in     
dignity1 their state was without its    
ornament4    ,,xxviii4 ,and this ,i say 
of these three kinds of government1 not 
of the  agitations and disturbances     
incidental to them1 but of their        
tranquil  and regular state4 ,those     
varieties are principally remarkable for
 the  defects ,i have alluded to4 ,then 
they have other pernicious failings1 for
  every one of these governments is     
travelling a dangerous road1 bordering  
on a slippery and precipitous path4 ,to 
a king so commendable1 or if you        
choose1 since ,i especially name him2 to
 the amiable ,cyrus2 a parallel  springs

 up in the cruel ,phalaris1 with all his
 capricious tyranny2 into  whose        
similitude the government of one man so 
easily slides with a  downward course4  
,to the administration of the city of   
the ,massilians by  their select chiefs1
 may be opposed the plot and faction of 
the ,thirty1  which took place at a     
certain period among the ,athenians4    
,nor need we  look farther2 the very    
,athenian people having assumed the     
power over all  things1 and giving      
license to the fury of the multitude 99 
99 99 99 99 99                          
,two pages wanting4    ,,xxix4 99 99 99 
99 99 99 and this great mischief arises 
whether under the rule  of the better   
class1 or under a tyrannical faction1 or
 under the regal  government2 and even  
frequently under the popular form4 ,at  
the same time  from the various forms of
 government of which ,i have spoken1    
something  excellent is wont to emanate4
 ,for the changes and vicissitudes in   
public  affairs1 appear to move in a    

circle of revolutions2 which when       
recognized by a wise man1 as soon as he 
beholds them impending1 if he  can      
moderate their course in the            
administration of affairs1 and restrain 
them under his control2 he acts truly   
the part of a great citizen1 and  almost
 of a divine man4 ,therefore ,i think a 
fourth kind of government1  moderated   
and mixed from those three of which ,i  
first spoke1 is most to  be approved40  
,,xxx4 8,i know0 said ,llius1 8that such
 is your opinion ,africanus1 for ,i     
have often heard you say so4            
,nevertheless1 unless it is troublesome 
to  you1 ,i should be glad to learn     
which you judge best of these three     
kinds  of government4 ,for either it    
will throw some light upon 99 99 99 99  
99 99                              ,two 
pages wanting4    ,,xxxi4 99 99 99 99 99
 99 every government partakes of the    
nature and will of  him who administers 
it4 ,so that in no other state1 save    
where the power  of the people          

predominates1 has liberty any home4     
,liberty the sweetest  of all blessings1
 and which if it is not equal for all1  
is not liberty4  ,for what equality can 
there be1 ,i do not mean in kingdoms    
where slavery  has no doubtful          
character3 but in those states where all
 are nominally  free3 there indeed they 
give their votes1 confer commands1      
magistracies  and are solicited and     
intreated4 ,but in truth they only part 
with that1  however repugnant it may be 
to them1 which must be conferred3 things
  which they cannot retain1 which is the
 reason why others seek to possess      
them4 ,for they are invested with no    
command1 have no public authority1  nor 
are called to be judges in the          
tribunals3 privileges which belong      
either to ancient families1 or are      
purchased by money4 ,among a free       
people however1 as at ,rhodes or        
,athens1 there is no citizen  who 99 99 
99 99 99                                
,two pages wanting4    ,,xxxii4 ,some   

assert1 that when one or more in a state
 becomes conspicuous  by his opulence or
 riches1 disdain and pride soon break   
out3 and the  weak and indolent yield   
and bend under the arrogance of riches4 
,but if  the people are able to preserve
 their rights1 they think no condition  
of  things could be more excellent1 more
 free1 or more happy4 ,for in their     
hands would be the laws1 the tribunals1 
war1 peace1 treaties1 and the           
properties and lives of all the         
citizens4 ,this sort of government they 
think is properly called one republic1  
that is the common interest of  the     
people4 ,wherefore it is1 that the      
people are wont to restore              
commonwealths to liberty from the       
domination of kings1 and patricians2    
not that kings are believed to be       
necessary to a free people1 or that  the
 better class are the source of power   
and wealth4 ,and they deny that  these  
advantages should not be conceded to a  
free people on account of  the excesses 

of uncivilized nations3 for where the   
people are unanimous1  and every thing  
tends to the public safety and liberty1 
nothing can be  more unchangeable1      
nothing more firm4 ,unanimity in such a 
commonwealth  is very easy1 where the   
common effort is for the public good4   
,but from  opposing interests1 where one
 man clashes with another1 discord      
arises4  ,wherefore when the senate had 
possession of the government1 the       
condition of the state was never sound4 
,in kingdoms the disadvantages  are     
still greater2 of them ,ennius said     
8,no holy confidence or fellowship      
reigns there40    ,wherefore as the law 
is the bond of civil society1 and equal 
rights form  that of the law1 by what   
power can a community of citizens be    
maintained1 where their condition is not
 an equal one8 ,if therefore it  is not 
expedient to equalize fortunes2 if the  
powers of mind cannot be  equalized in  
all1 certainly then an equality of      
rights ought to exist1  among those who 

are citizens of the same republic4 ,for 
what is a state  but a community of     
rights8 99 99 99 99 99                  
,two pages wanting4    ,,xxxiii4 99 99  
other governments however are deemed by 
them not to deserve  those names1 which 
they have chosen to arrogate to         
themselves4 ,for why  should ,i call a  
man who is greedy of rule1 or of the    
sole command1 and  who is trampling upon
 an oppressed people1 king1 which is the
 title of  the good ,jupiter1 rather    
than tyrant8 ,a tyrant may be clement as
 well as  a king may be oppressive2 the 
matter really interesting to the people 
is1 whether they are to serve under a   
gentle or a severe master3 for as  to   
being any thing but servants1 that is   
not to be avoided4 ,how could           
,lacedemon1 when she was thought to     
excel in the science of government1     
possess only good and just kings1 when  
she was obliged to take any king  who   
was sprung from the royal blood8 ,and   
the better class1 who can  endure them1 

who have arrogated to themselves in     
their own assemblies1 a  name not       
conceded to them by the people8 ,for who
 is the man to be  pronounced best1 in  
learning1 in the arts1 in studies8 99 99
 99 99 99                               
,four pages wanting4    ,,xxxiv4 99 99  
99 99 ,if it was done by lot1 the       
government would be  overthrown2 like a 
ship1 at whose helm1 some passenger     
taken at hazard  was placed4 ,a nation  
can entrust its affairs to whom it may  
choose2 and  if it wishes to remain     
free1 it will choose from among the     
best4 ,for  certainly the security of   
states is found in the counsels of the  
best  citizens2 especially as nature has
 not only ordained that they should     
preserve an influence over the weak by  
their conspicuous virtue and  courage1  
but also that the weak should resign    
themselves to the  government of great  
minds4 ,this most desirable state of    
things1 they  say1 is prevented by the  
erroneous opinions of men who1 through  

ignorance of that virtue1 which belongs 
to but few1 and is seen and  appreciated
 only by few1 deem those who are sprung 
from a noble race1 or  who are opulent  
and wealthy1 to be the best men4 ,under 
this vulgar  error1 when the power1 not 
the virtues of a few1 have got          
possession of  the government2 those    
chiefs tenaciously preserve the title of
 better  class2 a name however to which 
the substance is wanting4 ,for riches1  
titles1 and power1 devoid of wisdom1 of 
the knowledge of  self-government1 and  
that of the government of others1       
exhibit nothing  but insolent and       
disgraceful pride4 ,nor can the         
condition of any city be  more          
deplorable1 than where the richest men  
pass for the best4 ,but what  can be    
more delightful than a state virtuously 
governed8 ,what more  illustrious than  
the man1 who while he governs others1 is
 himself the  slave of no bad passions8 
,who1 while he calls upon the citizens  
to  observe the regulations he has      

formed1 lives up to them all himself8   
,nor  imposes any laws upon the people1 
which he himself obeys not1 but who     
presents his whole life to his fellow   
citizens as one unbroken law4 ,if  one  
man could suffice to all things1 there  
would be no need of many2 and  if all   
men could perceive what is best1 and    
consent to it1 no one would  require any
 chiefs to be elected4 ,the difficulty  
of coming to wise  determinations1 has  
transferred the rule from one king to   
many persons2  and the error and        
rashness of the people1 from the        
multitude to a few4  ,thus between the  
obstinacy of one1 and the temerity of   
many1 the better  class have possessed  
themselves of the middle and least      
turbulent of all  the situations3 by    
whom if the commonwealth is well        
administered1 the  people relieved from 
all care and thought1 must necessarily  
be happy3  enjoying their independence  
through the labours of those1 whose duty
 it  is to preserve it to them2 and who 

ought never to permit the people to     
think that their interests are neglected
 by their rulers4 ,as to that  exact    
equality of rights1 which is held so    
dear by a free people2 it  cannot be    
preserved3 for the people themselves1   
however free and  unrestrained they may 
be1 are remarkable for their deference  
to many  persons2 and exercise a great  
preference as it respects men and       
dignities4 ,that which is called        
equality also1 is a most unjust thing in
  itself3 for when the same honour is   
enjoyed by the high and by the low1     
through a whole people1 that very       
equality must be unjust2 and in those   
states which are governed by the better 
class1 it can never happen4  ,these1    
,llius1 and some other reasons          
resembling them1 are wont to be  urged  
by those who chiefly praise that form of
 government4    ,,xxxv4 8,but which1    
,scipio1 among those three1 do you      
chiefly approve of80  said ,llius4      
,scipio4 8,you do well to ask1 which    

chiefly of the three1 since  separately 
,i do not approve of any of them2 but   
should prefer to every  one of them1 a  
government constituted out of all three4
 ,but if one of  them for its simplicity
 may be admired1 ,i should approve of   
the kingly  form1 and give it the       
highest praise4 ,for the name of king   
calls up at  once the idea of a father1 
consulting with his citizens as if they 
were  his own children2 and more anxious
 to preserve them1 than to reduce them  
to slavery3 it being a great advantage  
to the weak to be sustained by  the     
exertions and by the foresight of one   
pre-eminent and good man4 ,here  however
 the better class profess to do the same
 thing to more advantage1  and say there
 is more wisdom with numbers than with  
one1 and at the same  time equal justice
 and faith4 ,but the people call out    
with a loud voice1  that they choose    
neither to obey one nor many2 that      
nothing is sweeter  to the beasts of the
 field than liberty1 which is wanting to

 all who  serve either under the better 
class or under a king4 ,thus on the     
score  of personal attachment1 kings    
attract us4 ,the better class by their  
wisdom2 and liberty on the side of the  
people4 ,so that in making the          
comparison1 it is difficult to say which
 is preferable40    ,l4 8,i believe it10
 said he1 8but if you leave this point  
unfinished1 the  other parts of the     
subject can scarcely be cleared up40    
,,xxxvi4 ,s4 8,let us imitate therefore 
,aratus1 who in his introduction to a   
discourse upon high matters1 thought it 
best to begin with ,jupiter40    ,l4    
8,why with ,jupiter8 and what has this  
discussion to do with the verses  of    
,aratus80    ,s4 8,insomuch1 that the   
opening of our debate may be honoured   
with the  name of him1 whom all1 learned
 and unlearned1 consent with one voice1 
to  be the one king of all the gods and 
men40 8,what then60 said ,llius4  8,what
 do you believe in but the things which 
are before your eyes80  replied he4     

8,this opinion has been established for 
the conduct of life1  by those who have 
had the direction of public affairs2    
that the belief  might prevail1 that one
 king ruled in heaven1 who with his nod1
 as ,homer  says1 could tumble down     
,olympus2 and that he should be         
considered as the  ,king and ,father of 
all4 ,great is the authority for it1 and
 many the  witnesses1 inasmuch as all   
have concurred in it4 ,nations too have 
agreed1 as we find in the decrees of    
princes1 that the regal form of         
government was most excellent1 since    
they imagine the gods themselves to  be 
under the government of one king4 ,and  
if we have been told that this  and     
similar opinions have sprung from fables
 and the errors of the  ignorant1 let us
 listen to those who may be considered  
almost the common  teachers of erudite  
men2 who as it were1 saw these very     
things with  their eyes1 which we       
scarcely are acquainted with1 when we   
hear of  them40 8,and who are they80    

said ,llius4 8,they10 replied he1 who in
 their  investigations of the nature of 
all things1 have perceived a design in  
the universal structure of this world 99
 99 99 99 99 99                         
,four pages wanting4    ,,xxxvii4 99 99 
99 99 99 99 8,but if you desire it      
,llius1 ,i can give you  authorities in 
no wise barbarous1 nor of too remote an 
antiquity40    ,l4 ,i should be glad to 
have them4    ,s4 ,you are aware that it
 is now somewhat less than four hundred 
years  since this city has been governed
 without kings4    ,l4 ,that is true2   
rather less4    ,s4 ,what then are four 
hundred years1 for the age of a city or 
state2 is  it such a long period8    ,l4
 ,it can hardly be called an adult age4 
,s4 ,then there was a king in ,rome four
 hundred years ago8    ,l4 ,and a very  
superb one4    ,s4 ,who before him8     
,l4 ,a most just one2 and from that     
period up to ,romulus1 who reigned six  
hundred years from the present time4    
,s4 ,then he is not so very remote4     

,l4 ,not at all4 ,the institutions of   
,greece were already on the wane4    ,s4
 ,i submit to you now1 whether ,romulus 
was the king of a barbarous  people8    
,l4 ,if as the ,greeks say1 all men were
 either ,greeks or ,barbarians2 then  ,i
 am afraid he must be esteemed a king of
 a barbarous people4 ,but if  that      
epithet is appropriate to a difference  
of manners1 rather than to  languages1  
,i think the ,greeks not less barbarians
 than the ,romans40 8,in  relation to   
the matter of which we speak10 said     
,scipio1 8it is  intelligence we are    
looking for1 rather than men4 ,if a     
discreet people  therefore1 not of a    
very ancient period1 have preferred the 
government  of kings1 ,i am availing    
myself of testimony which cannot be     
deemed  savage1 uncivilized1 or of a    
barbarous antiquity40    ,,xxxviii4 8,i 
perceive ,scipio10 said ,llius1 8that   
you are sufficiently  provided with     
testimony4 ,but with me1 as with good   
judges1 sound  argument prevails more   

than witnesses40 8,make use of an       
argument then10  replied ,scipio1 8which
 your knowledge of yourself can suggest 
to you40  8,what knowledge10 said he4   
,s4 ,why as when by chance it happens to
 you to be angry with some one4    ,l4  
,that occurs oftener than ,i could wish4
    ,s4 ,what6 when you are in anger1 do
 you suffer your mind to fall under  the
 domination of that passion8    ,l4 ,no1
 so help me ,hercules4 ,i rather imitate
 ,archytas1 the ,tarentine2  who on     
arriving at his country house1 and being
 greatly offended at  perceiving his    
orders had been disobeyed1 8,you are a  
miserable wretch10  said he to his      
farmer1 8and ,i would have you flogged  
to death if ,i were  not angry40        
8,excellent10 said ,scipio4 8,archytas  
wished to calm his anger  by reflection1
 considering that degree of it which was
 not under the  control of reason1 to be
 leading on to a sort of sedition of the
 mind4  ,to it add avarice1 ambition1   
the passion for glory1 and for sensual  

pleasures2 and it will appear that there
 exists in the minds of men1 a  sort of 
regal controlling power1 to wit1        
reflection4 ,for that is the  best part 
of the mind1 and where its authority    
prevails1 there is no  room for         
sensuality1 for anger1 or for rashness4 
,l4 ,so it is4    ,s4 ,do you approve   
therefore of a mind so disposed8    ,l4 
,there is nothing ,i admire more4    ,s4
 ,then you really do not think1         
reflection being driven away2 that      
voluptuousness or the angry passions1   
which are without end1 should have  the 
mastery in all things4    ,l4 ,indeed ,i
 can conceive of nothing more wretched1 
than such a state of  mind2 nor of a man
 more debased than when under such      
government4    ,s4 ,you prefer then all 
parts of the mind1 to be under some     
government1  the government of          
reflection8    ,l4 ,i certainly prefer  
it4    ,s4 ,why therefore do you        
hesitate in your opinion about public   
affairs2  where if the administration is

 transferred to many1 there will be no  
one1 as ,i now understand it1 to take   
the command4 ,and it seems that if      
authority is not one thing1 it is       
nothing at all4    ,,xxxix4 8,i would   
ask10 said ,llius1 8of what consequence 
it is to us1  whether one or many1 if   
justice is dispensed by the latter40    
8,since ,i  find ,llius10 said ,scipio1 
8that my witnesses have made no great   
impression on you1 ,i shall not desist  
from making use of yourself as a        
witness to prove what ,i say40 8,me10   
said he1 8in what way80    ,s4 ,why     
adverting to the directions you so      
earnestly gave to your family1  when we 
were lately at ,formianum2 to obey only 
the orders of one person4    ,l4 ,oh6 my
 farmer6    ,s4 ,well1 at home1 ,i      
suppose1 several are entrusted with the 
management  of your affairs8    ,l4 ,no1
 only one4    ,s4 ,what1 your whole     
establishment6 does no one but yourself 
manage it8    ,l4 ,just so4    ,s4 ,do  
not you therefore accede to the same    

conclusion in public affairs3  that the 
government of a single person1 if it is 
a just one1 is the  best8    ,l4 ,i am  
brought to the conclusion1 and must     
almost assent to it4    ,,xl4 ,you will 
be more inclined to that opinion1 said  
,scipio1 when  omitting the analogies of
 one pilot1 one physician1 who if they  
are any  way skilled in their arts1     
ought one to have the control of the    
ship2  the other of the patient1 in     
preference to many2 ,i come to the      
consideration of greater matters4    ,l4
 ,what are they8    ,s4 ,are you not    
aware that the name of king became      
odious to this people1  on account of   
the oppression and pride of one man1    
,tarquin8    ,l4 ,yes1 ,i am aware4     
,s4 ,then you are aware of what haply in
 the course of this discussion1 ,i  may 
find occasion to speak4 ,tarquin being  
driven out1 the people exulted  with a  
marvellous sort of insolence of freedom4
 ,at one time driving  innocent people  
into exile2 at another1 confiscating the

 property of  many4 ,next came annual   
consuls4 ,then the fasces prostrated    
before the  people--appeals in all      
cases4 ,then the mutiny of the          
plebeians--then a  complete revolution  
in every thing1 placing all things in   
the power of  the people4    ,l4 ,it is 
as you say4 8,it is true10 said         
,scipio--8in peace and  tranquillity1   
some license may be permitted when there
 is nothing to  fear1 as at sea         
sometimes1 or in a slight fever3 but    
like him who is at  sea1 when suddenly  
the ocean puts on its terrors1 or the   
sick man1 when  his complaint oppresses 
him1 and the assistance of one is       
implored3 so  our people in time of     
peace1 interfere in internal affairs1   
threaten the  magistrates1 refuse       
submission to them1 denounce them and   
provoke them2  yet in war obey them as  
they would a king1 preferring their     
safety to  the indulgence of their      
passions4 ,also in our more important   
wars1 our  countrymen have constantly   

preferred the command to be in the hands
 of  one1 without any colleague2 the    
extent of whose power is indicated by   
his name4 ,for a dictator is so called  
on account of every thing being         
dictated by him4 ,but in our books1     
,llius1 you see also that he is  called 
master of the people40    ,l4 ,it is so4
 8,wisely therefore did those ancients10
 said ,scipio 99 99 99 99               
,two pages wanting4    ,,xli4 99 99 99  
,when a people is deprived of a just    
king1 as ,ennius says1  after the death 
of one of the best of kings1            
8,long were their bosoms moved with deep
 regret2              ,oft they together
 call upon his manes4              ,oh1 
godlike ,romulus6 the bounteous gods    
,what a protector did they give in thee8
              ,oh father1 parent1 blood 
derived from heaven60    ,those whom the
 laws enjoined them to obey1 they did   
not call lords or  masters2 finally1 not
 even kings1 but guardians of the       
country1 fathers  and gods4 ,nor without

 cause1 for what is added1              
8,thou broughtest us into the realms of 
light60    ,they thought that life1     
honour1 and every comfort was given to  
them by  the justice of a king4 ,and the
 same inclinations would have remained  
with their posterity1 if the character  
of their kings had not changed4  ,but   
you perceive that kind of government was
 ruined by the injustice of  one man4   
,l4 ,i do perceive it1 and ,i am        
desirous of knowing the course of these 
changes1 not only in our own country1   
but in all governments4    ,,xlii4 8,it 
will be for you10 said ,scipio1 8when ,i
 shall have given my  opinion of that   
kind of government which ,i prefer1 to  
give a more  accurate account of the    
mutations in governments2 although ,i do
 not  think them much to be apprehended 
in the form ,i am inclined to4 ,but a   
regal form of government is particularly
 and most certainly exposed to  change4 
,when a king begins to be unjust1 that  
form of government  perishes at once4   

,the tyrant is1 at the same time1 the   
worst of all  conditions of government1 
and the nearest to the best4 ,whom1 if  
the  better class have overturned1 which
 for the most part happens1 the         
commonwealth possesses that second class
 of the three4 ,and this is a  sort of  
royalty2 a paternal government of the   
principal people1 for the  benefit of   
the rest4 ,but if the people cast out or
 slay the tyrant2  rejoicing in their   
own deed1 they are more moderate1 as    
long as they  know and feel the value of
 being so1 in their endeavour to protect
 the  commonwealth constituted by       
themselves4 ,but when the populace have 
bent  their force against a just king1  
and have stripped him of his kingdom2   
or even1 as it happens very often1 have 
tasted the blood of the better  class1  
and have prostrated the whole republic  
in their madness2 think  not that the   
vexed ocean or the wildest              
conflagration1 can be more  easily kept 
down1 than the unbridled insolence of   

the multitude4    ,,xliii4 ,then is     
produced what in ,plato is so clearly   
described1 if ,i can  in any manner     
express it in ,latin1 a thing difficult 
to be done1 but ,i  will endeavour4 8,it
 is then10 he says1 8when the insatiable
 throats of  the people1 parched with   
the thirst of liberty1 and led on by    
rash  demagogues1 have greedily drank1  
not temperate but too unalloyed         
draughts of freedom4 ,then the          
magistrates and chiefs1 unless they are 
too lenient and indulgent1 permitting   
them every excess of liberty2 are       
pursued1 impeached1 insulted1 and called
 oppressors1 kings1 and  tyrants40 ,i   
think this part of his works is known to
 you4    ,l4 ,i am well acquainted with 
it4    ,s4 ,then follows1 8,those who   
pay obedience to the magistrates1 are   
tormented by the people1 are called     
voluntary slaves4 ,but those            
magistrates who affect to be on an      
equality with the lowest2 and other     
individuals who strive to abolish all   

distinction between citizens and        
magistrates1 are exalted with praises1  
and overwhelmed with honours4 ,and  in  
this condition of things1 it follows1 of
 course1 that there is an  unrestrained 
license in a government of this kind2 so
 that every private  family is without  
any government3 and this evil extends   
even to the  beasts4 ,at length the     
father fears the son--the son disregards
 the  father3 every sort of decency is  
extinguished1 that an open license may  
prevail4 ,nothing distinguishes the     
citizen from the stranger4 ,the master  
pays court to his scholars1 that he may 
be flattered by them4 ,teachers  are    
despised by their disciples4 ,young     
persons take upon themselves the        
authority of aged ones1 who abase       
themselves to mingle in their games1    
lest they become odious and burdensome  
to them4 ,at last slaves give           
themselves all sorts of liberties4      
,wives assume the privileges of their   
husbands4 ,nay the dogs1 the horses1 the

 asses at length are so infected  with  
liberty1 and run kicking about so1 that 
it is absolutely necessary  to get out  
of their way4 ,wherefore from this      
infinite license these  things result1  
that the minds of the citizens become so
 scornful and  impatient1 that if the   
least power of government is exercised1 
they  become exasperated and will not   
endure it2 whence they come to despise  
every kind of law1 that they may be     
without the least restraint  whatever40 
,,xliv4 8,you have10 said ,llius1       
8precisely expressed ,plato's           
sentiments40    ,s4 ,returning therefore
 to the subject of my discourse4 8,it is
 from this  very license10 he says1     
8which they deem to be liberty itself1  
that a  tyrant springs up as a sapling  
from a root4 ,for as the destruction of 
the better class arises from their      
overweening power1 so this excess of    
liberty1 effects the slavery of this    
free people4 ,thus all extremes of  an  
agreeable nature1 whether in the        

seasons1 or in the fertility of the     
fields1 or in our natural feelings1 are 
often converted into their  opposites4  
,especially it occurs in public affairs1
 where excess of  liberty degenerates   
into public and individual slavery4 ,out
 of such  licentious freedom a tyrant   
arises1 and the most unjust and severe  
bondage4 ,for by a people so untameable1
 or rather so outrageous1 some  leader  
is chosen out of the multitude1 in      
opposition to the better  class1 now    
persecuted and driven from their        
offices3 bold and dishonest1  perversely
 persecuting those who have frequently  
deserved well of their  country1 and    
gratifying the people from his own means
 and from those of  others4 ,to whom1   
that he may be freed from all           
apprehensions on account  of his private
 condition1 authority is given and      
continued to him4  ,surrounded too by   
guards1 as was the case with            
,pisistratus at ,athens1 at  length he  
becomes the tyrant of the very citizens 

who brought him  forward4 ,who1 if he is
 subdued by the good1 as often happens1 
the state  is regenerated4 ,if by the   
bad1 then a faction is established1     
another  kind of tyranny4 ,the same     
state of things too frequently occurs in
 that  goodly form of government of the 
better class1 when the vices of the     
chiefs have caused them to deviate from 
their integrity4 ,thus do they  snatch  
the government of the commonwealth from 
each other like a  ball--tyrants from   
kings--chiefs or the people from        
tyrants2 and factions  or tyrants from  
them1 nor does the same mode of         
government ever last a  long time4      
,,xlv4 ,these things being so1 the regal
 form of government is in my  opinion   
much to be preferred of those three     
kinds4 ,nevertheless one  which shall be
 well tempered and balanced out of all  
those three kinds  of government1 is    
better than that2 yet there should be   
always something  royal and pre-eminent 
in a government1 at the same time that  

some power  should be placed in the     
hands of the better class1 and other    
things  reserved for the judgment and   
will of the multitude4 ,now we are      
struck  first with the great equability 
of such a constitution1 without which a 
people cannot be free long2 next with   
its stability4 ,the three other  kinds  
of government easily fall into the      
contrary extremes3 as a master  grows   
out of a king2 factions from the better 
class2 and mobs and  confusion from the 
people4 ,the changes too are perpetual  
which are  taking place4 ,this cannot   
well happen in such a combined and      
moderately  balanced government1 unless 
by the great vices of the chief persons4
 ,for  there is no cause for change1    
where every one is firmly placed in his 
proper station1 and never gives way1    
whatever may fall down or be  displaced4
    ,,xlvi4 ,but ,i am afraid1 ,llius1  
and you too my very discreet and        
respected friends1 if ,i continue long  
in this strain1 my discourse will       

appear more like that of a master or    
teacher to you1 than as a  conversation 
with you4 ,wherefore ,i will speak of   
matters known to us  all1 and which we  
have all inquired into long ago4 ,for ,i
 am convinced1  and believe1 and        
declare1 that no kind of government1    
either in the  constitution1 the        
planning1 or the practice1 is to be     
compared with that  which our fathers   
have left to us1 and which was adopted  
by our  ancestors4 ,which if you please1
 since you have been desirous that ,i   
should repeat things known to           
yourselves1 ,i will shew not only what  
it  is1 but that it is the best4 ,and   
with our own government in view1 ,i will
  if ,i can1 have a reference to it1 in 
whatever ,i may say respecting the  best
 form of government4 ,the which if ,i   
can follow up and effect1 ,i  shall1 as 
,i think1 amply fulfil the task which   
,llius has imposed on me4    ,,xlvii4   
8,it is your task indeed1 ,scipio10 said
 ,llius1 8most truly yours4  ,for who in

 preference to yourself may speak of the
 institutions of our  forefathers2 you  
being sprung from such illustrious      
ancestors2 or of the  best form of      
government4 ,the which if we now possess
 it1 would hardly be  so1 if any one    
stood in a more conspicuous situation   
than yourself4 ,or  who may venture to  
advise measures for posterity1 when     
thou1 having  delivered the city from   
its greatest terrors1 hast foreseen for 
the  latest times80                     
,,cicero',s ,,republic4                 
,illustration                           
,,book ,,ii4      ,i4 ,perceiving them  
all now eager to listen to him1 ,scipio 
thus began to  speak4 8,it was old      
,cato1 to whom as you know ,i was       
singularly attached1  and whom ,i       
admired in the highest degree3 to whom1 
either through the  advice of both my   
parents1 or from my own prepossession1  
,i devoted  myself entirely from my     
youth2 whose conversation never could   
satiate  me4 ,such was the experience of

 the man in public affairs1 which he had
  for a long time successfully conducted
 in peace and war4 ,his manner of       
speaking too1 a facetiousness mixed with
 gravity3 his constant desire  also to  
improve himself and others2 indeed his  
whole life in harmony  with his maxims4 
,he was wont to say1 that the condition 
of our country  was pre-eminent above   
all others for this cause4 ,that among  
other  people1 individuals generally had
 respectively constituted the           
government by their laws and by their   
institutes1 as ,minos in ,crete1        
,lycurgus in ,lacedemon4 ,at ,athens1   
where the changes were frequent1 at     
first ,theseus1 then ,draco1 then       
,solon1 then ,clisthenes2 afterwards    
many  others4 ,finally exhausted and    
prostrated1 it had been upheld by that  
learned man ,demetrius1 of ,phalera4    
,but that the constitution of our       
republic was not the work of one1 but of
 many2 and had not been  established in 
the life of one man1 but during several 

generations and  ages4 ,for he said so  
powerful a mind had never existed2 from 
which  nothing had escaped2 nor that all
 minds collected into one1 could        
foresee so much at one time1 as to      
comprehend all things without the aid   
of practice and time4 ,for which reason1
 as he was wont1 so shall my  discourse 
now repeat the origin of the people2 for
 ,i have a pleasure in  using the very  
words of ,cato4 ,but ,i shall more      
easily follow up my  proposition in     
describing our own republic to you1 in  
its infancy1 its  growth1 in its adult1 
and its present firm and robust state2  
than if ,i  were to create an imaginary 
one1 as ,socrates is made to do in      
,plato4    ,,ii4 ,when all had approved 
of this1 he proceeded4 8,what beginning1
  therefore1 have we of the             
establishment of a republic so          
illustrious and  so known to you all1 as
 the origin of the building of this city
 by  ,romulus1 born of his father ,mars8
 ,for let us concede to the common      

opinion of men1 especially as it is not 
only well established1 but also  wisely 
recorded by our ancestors1 that those   
who have deserved well of  us on account
 of our common interest1 be deemed not  
only to have  possessed a divine genius1
 but also a divine origin4 ,he therefore
 after  his birth1 with ,remus his      
brother1 is said to have been ordered to
 be  exposed on the ,tiber1 by the      
,alban king1 ,amulius1 apprehensive lest
 his  kingdom should be shaken4 ,in     
which place1 having been sustained by   
the  teats of a wild beast1 the         
shepherds took him1 and brought him up  
in the  labour and cultivation of the   
fields4 ,it is said1 that when he had   
grown  up1 he was distinguished above   
the rest by his corporeal strength1 and 
the daringness of his mind4 ,so that all
 who then inhabited the fields1  where  
at this day stands the city1 obeyed him 
willingly and without  dissent4 ,and    
being constituted their leader1 that we 
may now come from  fables to facts1 with

 a strong force he took ,alba-longa1 a  
powerful and  well constructed city in  
those times1 and put the king ,amulius  
to death4    ,,iii4 ,having acquired    
which glory1 he is said first to have   
auspiciously  thought of building a     
city1 and of establishing a government4 
,in regard  to the situation of the     
city1 a circumstance which is most      
carefully to  be considered by him1 who 
endeavours to establish a permanent     
government2 he chose it with incredible 
skill4 ,for neither did he remove  to   
the sea1 although it was a very easy    
thing for him with his forces1  to march
 through the territory of the ,rutulians
 and ,aborigines2 neither  would he     
build a city at the mouth of the ,tiber1
 to which place the king  ,ancus led a  
colony many years after4 ,for he        
perceived1 with an admirable  foresight1
 that maritime situations were not      
proper for those cities  which were     
founded in the hope of continuance1 or  
with a view to empire4  ,first1 because 

maritime towns were not only exposed to 
many dangers1 but  to unseen ones4 ,for 
the ground over which an expected enemy 
moves1 as  well as an unexpected one1   
announces his approach beforehand by    
many  indications3 by sound itself of a 
peculiarly tumultuous kind4 ,no enemy   
can make a march1 however forced1       
without our not only knowing him to be  
there1 but even who he is1 and whence he
 comes4 ,but a maritime enemy and  a    
naval force may be before you1 ere any  
one can suspect him to be come4  ,nor   
even when he does come1 does he carry   
before him any indication of  who he is1
 or from whence he comes1 or even what  
he wants4 ,finally by no  kind of sign  
can it be discerned or determined       
whether he is a friend or  an enemy4    
,,iv4 ,in maritime cities1 too1 a sort  
of debasing and changeable manners      
prevail4 ,new languages and new customs 
are mingled together1 and not  only     
productions but manners are imported    
from abroad2 so that nothing  remains   

entire of the pristine institutions4    
,even they who inhabit those  cities are
 not faithful to their homes1 but with  
capricious inclinations  and longings   
are carried far from them2 and although 
their persons  remain1 their minds are  
rambling and wandering abroad4 ,nor did 
,carthage  or ,corinth1 long before     
shaken1 owe their ruin to any thing more
 than to  the unsettled scattering of   
the citizens1 who abandoned the study of
  agriculture and arms through their    
cupidity of gain and love of roaming4   
,many pernicious excitements too to     
luxury1 are brought over the sea to     
cities by commercial importation or by  
conquest4 ,even the very amenity  of the
 situation suggests many costly and     
enervating allurements4 ,what ,i  have  
said of ,corinth1 ,i know not if ,i may 
as truly say of all ,greece2  for almost
 all ,peloponnessus lies on the sea1 and
 except the  ,phliuntians1 there are    
none whose lands do not extend to the   
coast4  ,beyond ,peloponnessus1 the     

,enianes1 the ,dorians1 and the         
,dolopians are  the only people in the  
interior4 ,what shall ,i say of the     
islands of  ,greece8 which surrounded   
with billows1 float about as it were    
with the  institutions and manners of   
their cities4 ,these things as ,i said  
before1  relate to ancient ,greece2 but 
of the colonies brought by the ,greeks  
into  ,asia1 ,thrace1 ,italy1 ,sicily1  
and ,africa1 except ,magnesia alone1    
which of  them is not washed by the     
ocean8 ,thus a part of the ,grecian     
shores  seemed to be joined to the lands
 of the barbarians4 ,for among the      
barbarians themselves1 none were a      
maritime people1 except the ,etruscans  
and the ,carthagenians2 the one for the 
sake of commerce1 the other for  the    
sake of piracy4 ,a most obvious cause of
 the evils and revolutions of  ,greece1 
arising from the vices of these maritime
 cities1 which awhile  ago ,i slightly  
touched upon4 ,nevertheless among these 
evils there is a  great convenience4    

,the products of every distant nation   
can be wafted to  the city you inhabit2 
and in return the productions of your   
own lands  can be sent or carried into  
whatever countries you choose4    ,v4   
,who then more inspiredly than ,romulus 
could secure all the maritime           
conveniences1 and avoid all the defects8
 placing the city on the banks  of a    
perennial river1 broadly flowing with an
 equal course to the sea4  ,by which the
 city might receive what it wanted from 
the ocean1 and  return whatever was     
superfluous4 ,receiving by the same     
channel all  things essential to the    
wants and the refinements of life1 not  
only from  the sea1 but likewise from   
the interior4 ,so that it appears to me1
 he  had foreseen this city1 at some    
period1 would be the seat and capital of
  a mighty empire3 for a city placed in 
any other part of ,italy would not      
easily have been able to acquire such a 
powerful influence4    ,,vi4 ,as to the 
native defences of the city1 who is so  

unobservant as not  to have them marked 
and fixed in his mind8 ,such is the     
alignment and  direction of the wall1   
which by the wisdom of ,romulus1 as well
 of  succeeding kings1 was bounded on   
every part by lofty and craggy hills3   
so that the only entrance1 which was    
between the ,esquiline and the          
,quirinal hills1 was defended by a huge 
mound1 and a very wide ditch4 ,the      
citadel1 surrounded by this craggy and  
seemingly hewn rock1 had such a  gallant
 position1 that in that furious invasion
 of the terrible ,gauls1  it remained   
safe and intact4 ,he choose also a place
 abounding in  springs1 and salubrious  
even in a pestilent region4 ,for there  
are hills  which while they enjoy the   
breezes1 at the same time throw a cool  
shade  upon the vallies4    ,,vii4      
,these things were done too with great  
celerity4 ,for he not only  founded a   
city1 which he ordered to be called     
,rome1 from his own name2  but to       
establish it1 and strengthen the power  

of the people and his  kingdom1 he      
adopted a strange and somewhat clownish 
plan1 but worthy of  a great man1 whose 
providence extended far into futurity4  
,when the  ,sabine virgins1 descended   
from respectable families1 were come to 
,rome  to see the games1 whose first    
anniversary he had then ordered to be   
celebrated in the circus1 he ordered    
them to be seized during the  sports1   
and gave them in marriage to the most   
honourable families4 ,for  which cause1 
when the ,sabines had made war upon the 
,romans1 and when the  success of the   
battle was various and doubtful1 he     
struck a league with  ,tatius1 king of  
the ,sabines1 at the entreaty of the    
very matrons who had  been seized3 in   
consequence of which he admitted the    
,sabines into the  city3 and mutually   
having embraced each others sacred      
rites1 he  associated their king with   
him in the government4    ,,viii4 ,after
 the death however of ,tatius1 all the  
power came back into  his hands3        

although he had admitted some chiefs    
into the royal council  with ,tatius1   
who were called fathers1 on account of  
the affection borne  to them4 ,he also  
divided the people into three tribes1   
named after  himself1 after ,tatius1 and
 after ,lucumon1 a companion of         
,romulus1 who  had been slain in the    
,sabine war3 and into thirty curia1     
which curia he  called by the names of  
those from among the ,sabine virgins    
seized1 at  whose entreaties the peace  
and league had been formed4 ,but        
although  these things were done before 
the death of ,tatius1 yet after that    
event1  his government became much      
better established1 aided by the        
authority  and counsel of the fathers4  
,,ix4 ,in the which he saw and judged as
 ,lycurgus at ,sparta had done1 a       
little while before him3 that states    
were better governed by individual      
command and royal power1 if the         
authority of some of the better class   
were added to the energy of that kind of

 government4 ,thus sustained1 and  as it
 were propped up by the senatorial      
authority1 he carried on many  wars very
 successfully with his neighbours2 and  
appropriating to himself  no part of the
 spoil1 he never ceased to enrich the   
citizens4 ,at that  time ,romulus paid  
in most things attention to auspices1 a 
custom we  still retain1 and greatly    
advantageous to the republic4 ,for he   
built the  city under the observance of 
auspices at the very beginning of the   
republic2 and in the establishment of   
all public affairs1 he chose an  augur  
from each of the tribes to assist him in
 the auspices4 ,he also had  the common 
people assigned as clients to the       
principal men1 the utility  of which    
measure ,i will afterwards consider4    
,fines were paid in sheep  and cattle3  
for then all property consisted in      
flocks1 and in  possessions of lands1   
whence the terms pecuniary#ab and       
landholders#ac  were derived4 ,he did   
not attempt to govern by severity or the

 infliction  of punishments4    ,x4     
,when ,romulus had reigned thirty-seven 
years1 and had established  those two   
excellent foundations of the state1 the 
auspices and the  senate1 he obtained   
this great meed3 for when he had        
disappeared upon a  sudden obscuration  
of the sun1 he was deemed to have been  
placed among  the number of the gods4 ,a
 belief which no mortal had ever        
inspired  without the greatest          
pre-eminence in virtue4 ,and this is    
most to be  admired in ,romulus1 that   
others who are said to have been deified
 out of  the mortal state1 lived in the 
less civilized ages of man1 when the    
proneness to fiction was great1 and the 
unenlightened were easily led to        
believe in it4 ,but during the period of
 ,romulus1 not quite six hundred  years 
ago1 we know that learning and          
literature existed1 and that the        
ancient errors peculiar to the          
uncultivated ages of mankind were       
removed4 ,for if ,rome1 according to an 

investigation of the annals of the      
,greeks1 was built in the second year of
 the seventh olympiad2 the reign  of    
,romulus occurred at that period when   
,greece was full of poets and           
musicians2 and when but little faith    
would be given to fabulous stories1     
unless they were concerning very ancient
 things4 ,for one hundred and  eight    
years after ,lycurgus ordained laws to  
be written1 the first  olympiad was     
established3 which through a mistake in 
the name1 some have  thought to be      
founded by ,lycurgus4 ,homer1 however1  
by those who take the  lowest period1 is
 made to precede ,lycurgus about thirty 
years4 ,from  which it may be gathered  
that ,homer flourished many years before
  ,romulus4 ,so that there was scarce   
room in so intelligent an age1 and  amid
 so many learned men1 for any one to    
establish fictions4 ,antiquity          
sometimes has received fables crudely   
devised1 but that age already  refined1 
and especially deriding improbable      

events1 has rejected 99 99 99           
,about #bcj letters wanting4    99 99 99
 99 ,simonides was born in the          
fifty-sixth olympiad1 by which the      
credit given to the immortality of      
,romulus may be more easily  understood1
 seeing that the institutions of society
 were then so well  established1        
organized1 and known4 ,but really so    
great was the force of  his genius and  
virtue1 that what men would have given  
no credit to for  many ages in favour of
 any other man1 was believed of ,romulus
 upon the  evidence of ,proculus        
,julius1 a countryman1 who at the       
instigation of the  fathers1 in order to
 repel from themselves every suspicion  
of the death  of ,romulus1 is said to   
have declared in the assembly1 that he  
had seen  ,romulus on that mount which  
is now called ,quirinal2 and that he had
  commanded him to request the people to
 erect a temple for him upon that  hill2
 that he was a god1 and was called      
,quirinus4    ,,xi4 8,do not you        

perceive therefore a new people not only
 sprung from the  wisdom of one man1 and
 not left crying in leading strings1 but
 already  grown up1 and almost an       
adult80 8,indeed we perceive it10 said  
,llius1  8and that you have entered upon
 a new method of discussion1 which is no
  where to be found in the writings of  
the ,greeks4 ,for that pre-eminent      
person1#ad whom no one has excelled in  
writing1 has imagined to himself  a     
situation1 in which he might construct  
his city after his own  pleasure3       
admirable enough perhaps1 but foreign to
 the conduct and the  manners of men4   
,others have discussed the subject in   
relation to the  kinds and causes of    
governments1 but not under any          
particular example of  a form of        
government4 ,you seem to me to be about 
to do both1 for  according to your      
method1 you appear to prefer to         
attribute to others  what you yourself  
have observed1 than to imagine a state  
of things1 as  ,socrates is made to do  

in ,plato4 ,and these matters respecting
 the  foundation of the city1 you       
suppose to be part of a system1 which   
were  only adopted by ,romulus through  
necessity or chance4 ,and your discourse
  is not of a desultory kind1 but       
concerning a particular commonwealth4   
,wherefore proceed as you have begun1   
for already ,i perceive you are  about  
to follow on with the other kings1 as   
perfecting the government40    ,,xii4   
8,wherefore10 said ,scipio1 8when the   
senate1 which ,romulus had  instituted  
out of the better class1 and which had  
been so much favoured  by the king1 as  
to cause them to be called fathers1 and 
their children  patricians2 endeavoured 
after the death of ,romulus1 to carry on
 the  government itself without any     
king2 the people would not endure it1   
and  in their regret for ,romulus did   
not cease to demand a king4 ,upon which 
the leading men prudently imagined a    
mode of interregnum1 new and  unknown to
 other nations4 ,so that until a regular

 king was proclaimed1  neither the city 
should be without a king1 nor with one  
too long a  period4 ,fearing lest from  
too long an enjoyment of the government1
 the  interrex should be reluctant to   
lay it down1 or strong enough to        
maintain himself in it4 ,even in these  
times1 this new people perceived  what  
had escaped the ,lacedemonian ,lycurgus2
 who esteemed it best not to  choose a  
king1 if this were indeed in the power  
of ,lycurgus to do1 but  rather to be   
governed by any one whatever descended  
from the race of  ,hercules4 ,but our   
ancestors1 rude as they appear to have  
been1 thought  it behoved them rather to
 look to royal wisdom and virtue1 than  
to  descent4    ,,xiii4 ,when the great 
fame of ,numa ,pompilius had reached    
them1 the  people1 leaving aside their  
own citizens1 called in by the authority
 of  the fathers1 a king not born among 
them1 and sent to the ,curians for a    
,sabine to reign over ,rome4 ,when he   
arrived1 although the people had        

decided that he should be king in the   
conventions of the curia1  nevertheless 
he himself had a law passed in the curia
 concerning his own  power2 and as he   
saw the ,romans through the institutions
 of ,romulus were  eager after warlike  
pursuits1 he deemed it proper to wean   
them somewhat  from that propensity4    
,,xiv4 ,and first1 the lands which      
,romulus had acquired in war1 he divided
  equally among the citizens2 and       
pointed out to them1 that without       
depopulating and pillaging1 they might  
possess all the necessaries of  life1 by
 the cultivation of their lands4 ,he    
inspired them also with the  love of    
peace and repose1 under which justice   
and good faith most kindly  flourish2   
and under the protection of which1 the  
cultivation of the  fields1 and the     
gathering of the harvest are most       
secure4 ,the same  ,pompilius having    
established auspices of a superior kind1
 added two  augurs to the ancient       
number1 and placed five priests over    

sacred things  from the class of the    
chief men4 ,and having established those
 laws which  we possess in our          
monuments1 he softened1 by the          
ceremonies of religion1  minds which    
were inflamed by the habit and          
inclination of making war4 ,he  added   
also ,flamens1 ,salii1 and ,vestal      
,virgins2 and established with  great   
solemnity all the branches of religion3 
ordaining many ceremonies  to be learnt 
and observed1 but without any expense4  
,thus he increased  the duty of         
religious observances and diminished the
 cost of them4 ,in  like manner he      
established markets1 games1 and all the 
stated occasions  of assembling the     
people together4 ,under which           
institutions1 he recalled  the minds of 
men become fierce and wild in warlike   
pursuits1 to humanity  and gentleness4  
,when he had reigned thirty-nine years  
in the most  perfect peace and concord1 
7in this we follow principally our      
friend  ,polybius1 than whom no one was 

more accurate in ascertaining periods17 
he departed from life2 having           
strengthened every thing for the        
endurance  of the government1 by those  
two conspicuous virtues1 religion and   
clemency4    ,,xv4 ,when ,scipio had    
spoken these words4 8,is it true1       
,africanus10 said  ,manilius1 8what     
tradition has brought down to us1 that  
this king ,numa  was a disciple of      
,pythagoras1 or is it certain he was a  
,pythagorean8 ,for  often we have heard 
this1 as having been declared by old    
people1 and  understand it also to be   
the common opinion2 yet we do not see it
  sufficiently proved by the authority  
of the public annals40 8,it is  false10 
replied ,scipio1 8entirely so ,manilius6
 ,not false alone1 but  ignorantly and  
absurdly false2 for the mendacity of    
those assertions is  not to be endured1 
which we not only see are not true1 but 
which could  never have been so4 ,it was
 in the fourth year of the reign of     
,lucius  ,tarquinius ,superbus1 that    

,pythagoras is ascertained to have come 
to  ,sybaris and ,crotona1 and those    
parts of ,italy4 ,for the sixty-second  
,olympiad announces that very arrival of
 ,pythagoras1 and the beginning of  the 
reign of ,superbus4 ,from which it may  
be understood by a calculation  of the  
reigns1 that ,pythagoras touched first  
at ,italy about a hundred  and forty    
years after the death of ,numa4 ,nor has
 this fact1 by those who  have very     
diligently investigated the annals of   
the times1 ever been  thrown into any   
doubt40 8,immortal gods10 said          
,manilius1 8how inveterate  and great is
 the error of men6 ,nevertheless1 ,i can
 be very well pleased  in the belief1   
that our intelligence has not been      
derived from abroad1  and through       
foreign arts1 but from natural and      
domestic virtues40    ,,xvi4 8,you will 
distinguish that more clearly10 said    
,africanus1 8when you  perceive how the 
commonwealth advances and comes to the  
greatest  perfection by a straight      

forward and natural course4 ,for in this
 also  the wisdom of our ancestors is to
 be praised2 that many things derived   
from abroad1 have been rendered much    
more perfect by us1 than they were  from
 whence they were brought1 and where    
they first had existence4 ,you  will see
 also that the greatness of the ,roman  
people has not been  confirmed by       
chance1 but by wisdom and discipline4   
,fortune indeed being  propitious to us4
    ,,xvii4 ,king ,pompilius being dead1
 the people upon the proposition of an  
interrex1 created ,tullus ,hostilius    
king1 in the conventions of the  curia2 
and he1 after the example of ,pompilius1
 consulted the people in  the curia1    
concerning his power4 ,his military     
glory was great1 and  important warlike 
affairs took place4 ,he constructed     
edifices for the  senate and the curia1 
and surrounded them with military       
trophies4 ,he  established a law also   
for the declaration of war1 which most  
justly  decreed by him1 he made more    

sacred by the solemnity of ,heralds3 so 
that  every war which was not proclaimed
 and declared1 was deemed to be  impious
 and unjust4 ,and observe how wisely our
 kings saw that some sort  of deference 
must be paid to the people4 ,i might say
 many things on that  head4 ,tullus     
indeed did not venture to appear with   
royal insignia unless  at the command of
 the people4 ,for in order that it might
 be lawful for  him to be preceded by   
twelve lictors with their fasces 99 99  
,two pages wanting4    ,,xviii4 99 99 99
 99 99 8,the government which your      
discourse is establishing1  does not    
creep1 but rather flies towards         
perfection40 ,s4 8,after him1  ,ancus   
,martius1 grandson to ,numa ,pompilius  
by his daughter1 was made king  by the  
people1 who had his elevation sanctioned
 by a law of the curia4  ,who having    
conquered the ,latins in a war1         
incorporated them into the  state4 ,he  
also added the ,aventine and ,clian     
,mounts to the city4 ,the  lands too    

which he had conquered he distributed1  
and made a public  domain of all the    
forests he had taken on the sea coast4  
,he built a city  at the mouth of the   
,tiber1 and planted a colony there4     
,when he had thus  reigned twenty-three 
years1 he died4 8,this king also is to  
be praised10  said ,llius1 8but the     
,roman history is obscure3 for although 
we know who  was the mother of this     
king1 we do not know who was his        
father40 ,s4 8,so  it is0 said he1 8but 
generally the names of the kings only of
 those  times are conspicuous40         
,,xix4 8,but it is here that we first   
perceive the city to have become more   
intelligent by extrinsic information4   
,for not a gentle stream flowed  from   
,greece into this city1 but an abundant 
flood of arts and knowledge4  ,it is    
stated that one ,demaratus1 a           
,corinthian1 a principal man1 and of    
much honour and authority in his own    
city1 and of an easy fortune1 not  being
 able to endure ,cypselus1 the tyrant of

 the ,corinthians1 fled with  a great   
deal of money1 and betook himself to a  
flourishing city of  ,etruria1 among the
 ,tarquinians4 ,when he had heard that  
the domination of  ,cypselus was        
confirmed1 being an independent and     
powerful man1 he  renounced his country1
 and was received a citizen by the      
,tarquinians3  and in that city he fixed
 his home and establishment4 ,where when
 he had  begotten two sons from one of  
the ,tarquinian matrons1 he instructed  
them  in all the arts after the manner  
of the ,greeks 99 99 99 99              
,two pages wanting4    ,,xx4 99 99 99 99
 99 ,he was well received in the city1  
and became intimate with  king ,ancus on
 account of his learning and liberal    
knowledge4 ,so much so  that he shared  
all his counsels1 and might be deemed   
even a partner in  his kingdom4 ,for    
there was a great affability in him1 and
 an extreme  readiness in aiding1       
protecting1 and doing liberal acts to   
every  citizen4 ,martius therefore being

 dead1 ,l4 ,tarquinius was created king 
by  the united suffrages of the people2 
for thus he had changed his name  from  
his ,grecian one1 that in every thing he
 might be seen to imitate  the manners  
of the people4 ,having caused his       
accession to be confirmed  by a law1 he 
doubled the pristine number of the      
fathers2 calling those  whose opinions  
he first asked1 ancient fathers of the  
greater families2  and those whom he had
 admitted1 he called the lesser         
families4 ,then he  established the     
knights2 after the manner that has      
obtained unto our  day4 ,he could not   
change the names of the ,titienses1 of  
the  ,rhamnensians1 or the ,luceres1    
when he wished to do so2 because ,attus 
,nvius being then ,augur in great       
reputation1 would not consent to it4 ,we
  see the ,corinthians chose formerly to
 assign cavalry for the public  service1
 and to have their expenses defrayed by 
taxes on orphans and  widows4 ,but to   
the old troops of horse he added others1

 and made twelve  hundred knights4 ,he  
doubled this number after he had subdued
 the ,equi in  war1 a powerful and      
ferocious race1 which threatened the    
affairs of the  ,roman people4 ,and when
 he had driven the ,sabines from the    
walls of the  city1 he scattered them   
with his horse and conquered them4 ,it  
is he whom  we understand to have       
instituted the great games1 which we    
call ,roman1  and to have made a vow    
during the ,sabine war1 while in battle1
 that he  would raise a temple on the   
capitol to the great and good ,jupiter4 
,he  died when he had reigned           
thirty-eight years4    ,,xxi4 8,now10   
said ,llius1 8is that saying of ,cato   
very certain1 that the  constitution of 
the state is not the work of one moment 
or one man3 for  it is evident how great
 an accession of good and useful        
institutions  occurred under each reign4
 ,but he comes next1 who appears to me  
to have  looked farther than them all   
into the nature of government40 8,so it 

is10  said ,scipio1 8for after him      
,servius ,sulpicius is stated first to  
have  reigned without the command of the
 people4 ,he is said to have been born  
of a ,tarquinian slave3 she having      
conceived him by some client of the     
king4 ,brought up among the number of   
the servants1 when he attended at  the  
royal table1 he did not suppress those  
sparks of genius1 which even  then shone
 forth in the boy3 so shrewd was he in  
every thing1 whether in  business or    
conversation4 ,wherefore ,tarquin1 who  
at that time had only  young children1  
became so attached to ,servius1 that he 
was generally  thought to be his son2   
and with great pains instructed him in  
all those  arts1 which he himself had   
been taught1 after the very superior    
manner  of the ,greeks4 ,but when       
,tarquin had perished by the plots of   
the sons of  ,ancus1 ,servius1 as ,i    
before said1 began to reign1 not by the 
command1  but by the assent and         
sufferance of the people4 ,for when     

,tarquin was  falsely said to be alive1 
and sick from the effects of his wound2 
he  declared the law in royal pomp1 and 
discharged debtors with his own  money4 
,conducting himself with much courtesy1 
he declared that he  pronounced the law 
at the command of ,tarquin4 ,he did not 
commit himself  to the fathers1 but     
,tarquin being buried1 he conferred with
 the people  about himself1 and being   
authorised to reign1 he had his         
accession  confirmed by a law of the    
curia4 ,and first he avenged himself by 
war1  for injuries received from the    
,etruscans1 99 99 99 99 99 99           
,two pages wanting4    ,,xxii4 99 99 he 
inscribed eighteen centuries of horse in
 the great  register4 ,afterwards having
 set apart a great number of equestrians
  from the mass of the whole people1 he 
distributed the rest of the  citizens   
into five classes1 and divided the old  
from the young3 and  classed them in    
such a manner1 that the suffrages were  
not in the  power of the multitude1 but 

of the landed proprietors4 ,he was      
careful  of what ought always to be     
observed in government2 that numbers    
alone  should not have the ascendency4  
,which classification if it were        
unknown to you1 should be explained by  
me4 ,you will perceive the plan  was    
such1 that the centuries of horse with  
six suffrages1 7a century  being added  
from the carpenters on account of their 
great utility to  the city17 and the    
first class1 make eighty-nine centuries3
 to which  from the one hundred and four
 centuries1 for so many remain2 if only 
eight are added1 the whole power of the 
people is obtained3 and the  much       
greater multitude comprehended in the   
ninety-six centuries  remaining1 is     
neither excluded from voting1 lest it   
should seem  disdainful2 nor is it made 
too effective1 lest it should be        
dangerous4  ,in the which matter he was 
very circumspect even as to terms and   
names4 ,those from among the wealthy he 
called 8assiduos0#ae from  paying their 

taxes in money4 ,those who possessed no 
more than one  thousand five hundred    
pieces of brass1 or those who were      
polled in the  register without any     
possessions whatever1 he called         
proletaries2 as  if progeny only2 that  
is1 as if nothing but population might  
be  expected from them4 ,but of those   
ninety six centuries1 more were         
enumerated in one century1 than almost  
in the whole first class4 ,thus  the    
right of suffrage was not prohibited to 
any one by law1 and that  class had a   
greater weight of suffrage1 which had   
most at stake in the  preservation of   
good government4 ,as to public criers1  
men hired for  parade1 clarion players1 
horn players1 and proletaries1 99 99 99 
99                             ,four    
pages wanting4    ,,xxiii4 99 99 99 99  
99 ,was#af sixty-five years more        
ancient1 being built  thirty-nine years 
before the first olympiad4 ,and the very
 ancient  ,lycurgus had the same thing  
in view4 ,this equality therefore1 and  

this  triple nature of public affairs   
appears to me to have been common to us 
and to those people4 ,but what is       
peculiar in our republic1 and than      
which nothing can be more admirable1 ,i 
will look very critically into if  ,i am
 able2 as nothing similar is to be found
 in any government4 ,for  these things  
which ,i have adverted to1 were so      
mingled in this state1  and among the   
,lacedemonians1 and the ,carthagenians1 
that they were not  properly balanced4  
,for in whatever government any one man 
enjoys  perpetual power1 especially     
royalty1 although even a ,senate may    
exist in  it1 as was the case at ,rome  
under the kings1 and in the laws of     
,lycurgus  at ,sparta2 and even granting
 the people some share in the           
government1 as  was the fact under our  
kings3 still that royal name will stand 
pre-eminent1 nor can a government of    
that kind be any thing but a  kingdom1  
or be called otherwise4 ,but such a form
 of government is  especially subject to

 change for this reason2 that it easily 
falls into  the most unprofitable       
courses1 precipitated thereunto by the  
vices of  one man4 ,for the royal form  
of government itself1 not only is not to
 be  condemned1 but ,i know not whether 
it is not greatly to be preferred to    
the other simple forms1 if ,i could     
approve of any simple form of           
government4 ,but only as long as it     
preserves its proper character1 which   
is that the safety1 the equality1 and   
tranquillity of the citizens1 are  to be
 preserved by the justice1 the wisdom1  
and the perpetual power of  one man4    
,many things however are altogether     
wanting to a people subject  to a king4 
,liberty among the first3 which is not  
that we may live under  a just master1  
but under none at all4 99 99 99         
,two pages wanting4    ,,xxiv4 ,for some
 time fortune prosperously accompanied  
this unjust and  cruel master in the    
administration of affairs4 ,he subdued  
all ,latium in  war1 and took ,suessa1  

an opulent and well stored ,pometian    
city4 ,enriched  with great spoils of   
gold and silver1 he accomplished the vow
 of his  ancestor in the building of the
 capitol4 ,he established colonies1 and 
according to the institutions of those  
from whom he had derived his  origin1 he
 sent magnificent gifts1 as offerings of
 his spoils1 to ,apollo  at ,delphos4   
,,xxv4 ,here the very circle is set in  
motion1 whose natural movement and      
revolution you learn to distinguish from
 the beginning4 ,for the very  head of  
discretion in civil matters1 upon which 
all our discourse turns1  is to observe 
the ways and bendings of public affairs2
 so that when you  perceive what way any
 thing inclines1 you may either keep it 
back1 or  meet it by opposing other     
things to it4 ,for the king of whom ,i  
speak1  having stained himself first    
with the murder of a good king1 no      
longer  preserved his integrity of mind1
 and wished to inspire fear himself1    
because he dreaded every sort of        

punishment for his wickedness4          
,afterwards borne up with his victories 
and riches1 he exulted with  insolence1 
and imposed no restraint on his own     
conduct1 or the  licentiousness of his  
followers4 ,wherefore when his eldest   
son had used  violence with ,lucretia1  
the wife of ,collatinus1 and daughter of
  ,tricipitinus1 and the noble and      
chaste woman had inflicted death upon   
herself on account of that injury2 ,l4  
,brutus1 a man pre-eminent in mind  and 
courage1 released his fellow citizens   
from that unjust yoke of a  cruel       
slavery3 who1 although he was a private 
citizen1 sustained the  whole           
government1 and was the first who taught
 in this city1 that no man  was to be   
considered insignificant1 when the      
public liberties were to be  preserved4 
,under which leader and head1 the whole 
city being in  commotion1 as well with  
the recent complaints of the family and 
kindred  of ,lucretia1 as with the      
remembrance of the many wrongs done by  

the  haughtiness of ,tarquin himself1   
and his sons2 the banishment of the     
king1 his children1 and his whole race  
was pronounced4    ,,xxvi4 ,do not you  
perceive then how a master may spring   
out of a king1  and how a form of       
government from being good1 may become  
the very worst1  through the vice of one
 man4 ,this is that master over the     
people1 whom  the ,greeks call tyrant2  
him only they esteem a king1 who        
consults like a  parent with the people1
 and preserves those over whom he is    
placed1 in  the most prosperous         
condition of life4 ,a sort of government
 very good as  ,i have said1 but        
bordering upon and inclining to a very  
pernicious one4  ,for when this king    
deviates into unjust rule1 at once he   
becomes a  tyrant1 and an animal more   
hideous1 more destructive1 and more     
odious1  in the eyes of gods and men    
cannot be conceived3 surpassing1        
although in  the human form1 the most   
monstrous wild beasts in cruelty4 ,how  

can he be  rightly called a man1 who    
observes no fellowship of humanity with 
his  fellow citizens1 no communion of   
law with the whole race of man8 ,but a  
more proper place to speak of this will 
occur1 when circumstances will  suggest 
to us to speak of those1 who have sought
 to usurp the ,government  over free    
cities4    ,,xxvii4 ,you have here then 
the origin of a tyrant1 for the ,greeks 
would  have this to be the name of an   
unjust king4 ,our ancestors indeed have 
called all who have had an exclusive and
 perpetual dominion over the  people1   
kings4 ,thus ,spurius ,cassius1 ,m4     
,manilius1 and ,spurius ,mlius1  are    
said to have wished to establish a      
kingdom1 and even 99 99 99 99 99 99     
,two pages wanting4    ,,xxviii4        
,lycurgus gave the name of ancients#ag  
at ,lacedemon1 to that too  small number
 of twenty-eight1 to whom he wished the 
whole authority of  counsel to be       
confided1 while the sole command should 
be held by the  king4 ,wherefore our    

ancestors translating and adopting that 
term1 those  whom he called ancients1   
they called a senate3 as we have already
 stated  ,romulus to have done with the 
select fathers4 ,nevertheless1 the royal
  title1 and its strength and power were
 always pre-eminent4 ,impart too        
something of power to the people1 as was
 done by ,lycurgus and ,romulus1  and   
you will not satisfy them with freedom1 
but you will inflame them  with the     
passion of liberty1 when you have only  
permitted them to taste  of power4 ,the 
fear indeed will always hang over them1 
lest they should  have an unjust king1  
which generally happens4 ,the fortune   
therefore of a  people is1 as ,i said   
before1 very uncertain1 which is placed 
in the will  or conduct of one man4     
,,xxix4 ,wherefore this first form1     
example1 and origin of a tyrant1 is     
found by us in that very government     
which ,romulus instituted with          
auspices1 and not in that1 which ,plato 
says ,socrates imagined to himself  in  

that peripatetic discourse4 ,and as     
,tarquin subverted the whole fabric  of 
royalty1 not because he grasped a new   
sort of authority1 but because  he made 
a bad use of it2 so let us oppose to him
 another2 a good man1  wise and expert  
in every thing useful and dignified in  
civil life3 a  tutor and steward as it  
were of the commonwealth1 for so may be 
called  whoever is the ruler and        
governor of a state4 ,imagine to        
yourselves that  you recognise such a   
man2 one who can protect the state1 both
 by his  counsel and conduct4 ,and since
 the name of such a man has not been    
alluded to in this discourse1 and that a
 character of this kind will be         
frequently treated of in what remains to
 be said 99 99 99 99 99 99              
,twelve pages wanting4    ,,xxx4 99 99  
99 99 99 99 ,plato described a state    
more to be desired1 than to be  hoped   
for upon the smallest scale4 ,he did not
 constitute things as they  might exist1
 but in such a manner as the nature of  

civil affairs might  be considered4 ,as 
to myself1 if in any way ,i am able to  
accomplish it1  with the same principles
 which he had in view1 ,i will look1 not
 into the  picture and shadow of a      
state1 but into a most powerful         
republic2 that ,i  may appear to touch1 
as it were1 the true cause of every     
public good and  evil4 ,after these two 
hundred and forty years of regal        
government1 and  indeed a little more1  
including the interregnums1 ,tarquin    
being  banished1 the royal title was as 
odious to the ,roman people1 as it had  
been regretted after the death1 or      
rather the disappearance of ,romulus1   
and as much as they wanted a king then1 
in like manner1 after the  expulsion of 
,tarquin1 they could not endure the name
 of one4    ,,xxxi4 ,under this feeling 
our ancestors then expelled ,collatinus1
 who was  innocent1 through apprehension
 of his family connexions1 and the other
  ,tarquins from disgust at their names4
 ,from the same cause too ,p4  ,valerius

 ordered the fasces to be lowered when  
he began to speak before  the people2   
and had his building materials taken to 
the foot of the  ,velia1 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 ,velia1 the very place     
where ,king ,tullus had dwelt4 ,he also1
 in the  which he greatly deserved the  
name of ,publicola1 had that law passed 
for  the people1 which was first carried
 in the meetings of the centuries1  that
 no unfriendly magistrate should put to 
death1 or flog any ,roman  citizen for  
appealing4 ,the pontifical books however
 declare appeals to  have existed under 
the kings2 the augural records show it  
also4 ,the  twelve tables too in many   
laws indicate that it was lawful to     
appeal  from every judgment and         
punishment4 ,what is brought down to us 
by  tradition1 of the ,decemvirs who    
wrote the laws1 being created without   
any appeal1 sufficiently shows that the 

other magistrates had not the  power of 
judging without appeal4 ,the law1 too1  
which for the sake of  concord passed in
 the consulate of ,lucius ,valerius     
,potitus1 and ,m4  ,horatius ,barbatus1 
men very justly popular2 sanctioned the 
principle1  that no magistrate should be
 created without appeal4 ,nor did the   
,portian  laws1 which are three as you  
know of the three ,portii1 contain any  
thing  new except the confirmation of   
it4 ,publicola therefore1 upon the law  
in  favour of appeal being published1   
immediately ordered the axes to be      
taken from off the fasces1 and the next 
day had ,sp4 ,lucretius appointed  to   
him as his colleague3 being his superior
 in age1 he ordered his own  lictors to 
go to him2 and first established the    
custom that lictors  should precede each
 of the consuls1 alternate months1 lest 
the ensigns  of command among a free    
people1 should be as numerous as in a   
kingdom4  ,there was something more than
 mediocrity in this man1 as ,i consider 

him3  who having given a moderate       
liberty to the people1 preserved more   
easily  the authority of the chiefs4    
,nor do ,i repeat these things1 now so  
old  and obsolete to you1 without cause4
 ,i select examples of men and things   
drawn from illustrious persons and      
times1 to which the remainder of my     
discourse shall be applied4    ,,xxxii4 
,in such a manner the senate governed   
the commonwealth in those  days1 that   
though the people were free1 still they 
interfered in but few  things4 ,public  
affairs were principally managed under  
the authority1 and  by the rules and    
customs of the senate4 ,and although the
 consuls  possessed their power only for
 a year1 it was royal in its nature and 
effect4 ,and this was strenuously       
preserved1 as necessary to the          
preservation of the influence of the    
nobles and principal chiefs1 that       
nothing should be established in the    
meetings of the people1 which was  not  
sanctioned by the authority of the      

fathers4 ,in these very times too1  ,t4 
,larcius was appointed dictator1 about  
ten years after the first  consuls4 ,a  
new kind of authority1 very much        
resembling1 as we perceive1  the royal  
power4 ,but all great matters were      
conducted by the authority  of the      
principal men1 the people submitting to 
it4 ,and great events took  place in    
those times in war1 under renowned men  
in the supreme command1  from among     
those very dictators and consuls4       
,,xxxiii4 ,but what belongs to the very 
nature of things1 as that a people      
emancipated from kings1 should take a   
little more power to themselves2  was   
brought about not long after1 about the 
sixteenth year1 in the  consulate of    
,postumus ,cominus1 and ,sp4 ,cassius4  
,not in the right way  perhaps1 but it  
is of the nature of public affairs      
frequently to deviate  from what is     
right4 ,for observe what ,i said in the 
beginning1 that  unless an equable      
compensation prevails in a state1 in the

 laws1 in  offices1 in emoluments2 so   
that the magistrates enjoy their proper 
degree of power2 the chief men their    
authority in council1 and the  people   
their liberties1 such a state of the    
government cannot remain  unchanged4    
,for when the city was in commotion on  
account of the pressure  of their debts1
 the people first occupied the ,sacred  
,mount1 then the  ,aventine4 ,nor could 
the discipline even of ,lycurgus keep   
the ,greeks  within those restraints4   
,in the reign of ,theopompus1 at        
,sparta1 those  five whom they call     
,ephori2 the ten too in ,crete1 who are 
called ,cosmoi2  arose against the royal
 power1 as the tribunes of the people   
did against  the consular authority4    
,,xxxiv4 ,perhaps there was a mode by   
which our ancestors might have  relieved
 the pressure of the law of debt1 which 
had not escaped ,solon1  the ,athenian1 
some short time before1 and which our   
senate adopted not  long after1 when on 
account of the infamous conduct of a    

creditor1 the  citizens were liberated  
from the general oppression1 and        
voluntary  bondage on account of debt   
abolished in future4#ah ,and always at  
such  periods1 when the common people   
are exhausted by contributions in times 
of public calamity1 some relief and     
remedy is to be devised for the  common 
safety4 ,which the senate having        
neglected to do1 sufficient cause  was  
given to the people to create two       
tribunes during a sedition of the       
plebeians1 with intent to weaken the    
power and authority of the senate2      
which nevertheless remained a grave and 
great body1 bringing forward in  the    
service of the state the wisest and     
bravest men1 and strengthening  it by   
arms and counsel4 ,and their authority  
was the greater1 because far  excelling 
all others in honour1 they were less    
conspicuous for  voluptuousness1 and not
 much signalized by their wealth4 ,their
 high  worth also was the more esteemed 
in the state1 because in private life   

they diligently assisted individuals by 
their advice1 and by substantial        
services4    ,,xxxv4 ,in which situation
 of the republic1 the qustor accused    
,sp4  ,cassius1 who enjoyed the highest 
degree of favour with the people1 and   
was contriving a usurpation of the      
government2 and as you have heard1  when
 his own father stated himself to be    
satisfied of his guilt1 the  people     
assenting to it1 he put him to death4   
,it was a grateful thing  also to the   
people1 when ,sp4 ,tarpeius1 and ,a4    
,aternius1 consuls1 about  fifty-four   
years after the first consuls1 carried a
 law in the meetings  of the centuries  
concerning fines4 ,twenty years         
afterwards when ,l4  ,papirius1 and ,p4 
,pinarius1 censors1 by pronouncing      
fines1 converted the  strength of the   
flocks of many private individuals to   
the public use2 a  light valuation of   
cattle was ordained in the law on fines1
 during the  consulate of ,c4 ,julius   
and ,p4 ,papirius4    ,,xxxvi4 ,but some

 years before1 when the senate enjoyed  
the greatest  authority1 the people     
being very patient and obedient1 a new  
plan was  instituted4 ,the consuls and  
the tribunes of the people abdicated the
  magistracy1 and ten men were created  
with the greatest authority1 and        
without appeal1 who were to possess the 
supreme power1 and to inscribe  the     
laws4 ,who when they with great equity  
and prudence1 had written ten  tables of
 laws1 appointed ten other decemvirs for
 the following year1  whose faith and   
justice are not in like manner praised4 
,from which  college1 however1 comes    
that praiseworthy act of ,c4 ,julius1   
who stated  that in his presence a body 
had been dug out of the chamber of a    
patrician1 ,l4 ,sestius4 ,although he   
had supreme power1 and as decemvir  was 
without appeal1 he admitted him to bail1
 refusing to lose sight of  that most   
excellent law1 which forbids sentence to
 be pronounced on the  head of a ,roman 
citizen1 unless in the meetings of the  

centuries4    ,,xxxvii4 ,a third        
decemviral year followed under the same 
men1 they being  unwilling to appoint   
others4 ,in this condition of the       
commonwealth1  which ,i have often      
already stated not to be lasting1       
because it is not  equable to all the   
orders of the state1 the chief men had  
the whole  government in their hands2   
the most noble decemvirs being always   
preferred4 ,no tribunes of plebeians    
opposed to them1 no other  magistrates  
associated with them1 and no appeal left
 to the people  against death and       
stripes4 ,wherefore on account of the   
injustice of  these men1 a great        
disturbance suddenly arose1 and a       
revolution took  place in the whole     
commonwealth4 ,they added two tables of 
iniquitous  laws1 in which the very     
marriages which were even permitted to  
strangers1 were forbidden by an inhuman 
law1 lest the plebeians should  connect 
themselves with the fathers2 which law  
was afterwards abrogated  by the        

plebicist ,canuleius4 ,in all things    
they conducted themselves  libidinously1
 cruelly1 and avariciously towards the  
people4 ,upon that  celebrated and well 
known affair contained in many literary 
records1 in  which one ,decimus         
,virginius on account of the outrage of 
one of the  decemvirs1 slew his virgin  
daughter with his own hand in the       
,forum1 and  fled lamenting to the army 
which was then on ,mount ,algide2 the   
soldiers  abandoned the war they were   
then engaged in1 and as was before done 
for  a similar cause1 first came to the 
sacred mount1 and next to the  ,aventine
 99 99 99 99 99                         
,eight pages wanting4    ,,xxxviii4     
,when ,scipio had spoken these things1  
and all by their silence  were expecting
 the remainder4--8,since my seniors     
here1 ,africanus10 said  ,tubero1 8ask  
you no questions1 hear from me what ,i  
still find wanting in  your discourse40 
8,most cheerfully10 replied ,scipio4    
8,you appear to me10  said he 8to have  

been pronouncing the eulogium of our    
republic1 when  ,llius was inquiring not
 respecting ours1 but of government in  
general4  ,nor have ,i learnt from your 
discourse1 by what discipline1 or by    
what  customs or laws1 a republic like  
the one you praise1 can be constituted  
or preserved40    ,,xxxix4 8,i think10  
said ,africanus1 8we shall by and by    
have a more  appropriate occasion1      
,tubero1 of discussing the establishment
 and  preservation of states4 ,in       
respect to the best kind of government1 
,i  deem myself to have sufficiently    
answered the inquiries which ,llius     
made4 ,first ,i pointed out three kinds 
of government that might be  endured1   
and to these three their very pernicious
 opposites3 that no one  among them was 
the best1 but that one moderately       
balanced from all  three1 was preferable
 to either of them4 ,that ,i have       
availed myself of  our state for an     
example1 was not with a view to define  
the best form of  government1 for that  

could be done without an example4 ,but  
in truth1  that a great state might     
present the very picture1 such as reason
 and  language might describe it to be4 
,but if without going to the example of 
any people1 you are desirous of finding 
that perfect condition of  government1  
then look at the image which nature     
presents to us 99 99 99                 
,a great number of pages wanting here4  
,,xl4 ,s4 99 99 99 a character ,i have  
been looking for1 and have been desirous
  of arriving at4    ,l4 ,the discreet  
statesman1 perhaps8    ,s4 ,the very    
same4    ,l4 ,you have all those present
 who are so numerous3 or you can begin  
with  yourself4 8,i wish10 said ,scipio1
 8it was proportionally so in the whole 
senate4 ,however1 he is a discreet man1 
who as we have frequently seen in       
,africa1 seated on a monstrous wild and 
ferocious animal1 governs and  directs  
him2 making him kneel down1 not with    
blows1 but with a slight  sign40    ,l4 
,i know1 and have often seen it when ,i 

was ,lieutenant to you4    ,s4 ,so the  
,indian or ,carthagenian governs a wild 
beast1 and renders it  docile and gentle
 with humane conduct4 ,but that         
intellectual principle  which is hidden 
in the souls of men1 and which is called
 a part of the  soul1 does not bridle or
 tame one easily subdued1 whenever it   
accomplishes it1 which rarely happens4  
,for that ferocious animal must be      
restrained#ai 99 99 99 99               
,either four or eight pages are wanting 
here4    ,,xlii4 8,already10 said       
,llius1 8,i see the man ,i expected1 so 
greatly  endowed1 and charged with such 
duties40 8,with this duty only10 replied
  ,africanus1 8for in this one almost   
all the rest are included4 ,that in  his
 thoughts and actions he never deviate  
from himself1 so that he may  call upon 
others to imitate him1 and that he may  
offer himself in the  purity of his mind
 and his life1 as a mirror to his fellow
 citizens4 ,for  as in stringed         
instruments or pipes1 as well as in     

singing with voices1  a certain harmony 
is to be formed with distinct sounds1 an
 interruption  to which cannot be borne 
by refined ears2 this kindred and       
harmonious  concert being produced by   
the modification of dissimilar voices4  
,so a  government temperately organized 
from the upper1 the lower and middle    
orders blended together1 harmonizes like
 music by the agreement of  dissimilar  
sounds4 ,and that which in song is      
called by musicians1  harmony1 is       
concord in a state2 the strongest and   
best bond of safety in  every republic2 
yet which without justice cannot be     
preserved4#bj                           
,many pages wanting4    ,,xliv4 8,i     
assent entirely to it10 said ,scipio1   
8and declare freely to  you1 that we    
must esteem in nothing all that we have 
said upon  government1 or that may      
remain farther to be said1 unless it be 
established1 not only that it is false1 
that injustice is necessary1 but  that  
this is most true2 that without the most

 perfect justice1 no  government can    
prosper in any manner4 ,but if you      
please1 thus far for to  day4 ,the      
remainder1 for many things remain yet to
 be said1 we will defer  until          
to-morrow40 ,when this was approved1 an 
end was put to the  discussion for that 
day4    -----    ,footnote #ab3         
,pecuniosi4    ,footnote #ac3           
,locupletes4    ,footnote #ad3          
,plato4    ,footnote #ae3      ,asses   
dare4    ,footnote #af3      ,carthage4 
,footnote #ag3       in the ,,mss4      
,footnote #ah3      ,this passage       
appears to deserve a note4 ,the words   
8nexa0 and 8nectier0    are used in the 
original4 ,and at the first glance1 the 
passage1    connecting it with the well 
known custom of keeping debtors in      
chains1    as well as the memorable     
occasion which produced this            
insurrectionary    movement1 would      
appear to declare1 that all kinds of    
bondage for debt    were abolished in   
future4 ,in early periods1 whoever was  

unable to pay    his debts1 was adjudged
 by a decree of the prtor1 to discharge 
them    in personal services3 for which 
purpose his person was delivered to     
his creditor2 whose slave in every sense
 of the word he thus became1    until   
the debt was discharged4 ,a debtor thus 
situated was termed    8addictus0 or    
sentenced4 ,livy1 vi4 #cf41 relates     
8that those against    whom judgments   
had been given1 7addictos7 were led out 
daily in herds    from the ,forum1 to   
the mansions of the patricians1 which   
were filled    with enchained debtors3  
and that wherever a patrician dwelt1    
there was    a private prison40 ,that   
all debtors were subject to actual      
bonds1    appears from every indebted   
person under voluntary judgment1 being  
called 8nexus10 meaning linked or       
chained2 and probably when judgment     
was passed1 debtors were delivered in   
that condition to the creditors4    ,but
 8nexus0 changed its meaning1 as the    
word 8bond0 has done in our    language1

 where we bind ourselves only with      
forms4 ,the urgent    necessity of the  
plebeians1 arising out of the exactions 
of the    patricians1 obliged them to   
borrow money at usury2 and upon such    
occasions1 for money weighed out to him 
8per s et libram10 before    witnesses1 
the borrower pledged his person and     
liberty to the lender    as security for
 the debt4 ,this voluntary act1 which   
was equivalent to    a modern confession
 of judgment1 constituted the debtor a  
8nexus20    before the period of payment
 had expired1 at which time only he was 
liable to fetters4 ,upon the occasion of
 the insurrection mentioned in    the   
passage2 a young man of respectable     
plebeian family1 ,c4 ,publilius1        
surrendered himself to ,papirius1 a     
patrician usurer1 in the place of    his
 father who had failed to redeem himself
 from his 8nexus40    ,rejecting the    
infamous propositions made to him1      
,papirius caused him    to be cruelly   
scourged4 ,this transaction having      

roused the people1 the    senate was    
obliged to consent to the liberation of 
all persons who had    become 8nexi0 by 
their voluntary act1 and to order the   
practice to be    discontinued in       
future4      ,i have translated the     
passage in accordance with this view of 
the    subject4 ,niebuhr1 vol4 i4 #ejf4 
,livy1 vi4 #cf4 viii4 #bh4 c4           
,footnote #ai3      ,the continuation of
 this passage is1 perhaps1 found in     
,nonius ,voc4    ,exsultare1 8which     
nourishes itself with blood1 and which  
so delights    in every kind of cruelty1
 that it scarcely can be satiated with  
the    sad destruction of human beings40
    ,footnote #bj3      ,professor ,mai 
quotes the following passage from ,st4  
,augustin1 ,de4 ,civ4    ,dei1 as       
containing a summary of that part of the
 discussion    interrupted here4 8,and  
when ,scipio had in a more comprehensive
 and    diffuse way1 shown how          
advantageous justice was to a state1 and
 how    injurious the absence of it was3

 ,philus1 who was one of those present  
at the discussion1 took it up1 and      
proposed that that subject should    be 
very carefully investigated1 on account 
of the opinion which was    obtaining1  
that governments could not be           
administered without    injustice40     
,,cicero',s ,,republic4                 
,illustration                           
,,book ,,iii4                           
,four or eight pages wanting4    ,,ii4  
99 99 99 99 ,the intelligent principle  
having found man endowed with the       
faculty of uttering rude and imperfect  
sounds1 enabled him to separate  and    
distinguish them into articulations4    
,thus words were affixed to  things as  
signs of them1 and man1 once solitary1  
became united to man1  by the sweet bond
 of conversation4 ,by the same          
intelligence1 the  inflexions of the    
voice1 which we find to be infinite in  
number1 are all  distinguished and      
expressed1 by the invention of a few    
marks1 which  enable us to hold a       

correspondence with the absent1 to      
indicate our  inclinations1 and to      
preserve a record of things past4 ,to   
this the  knowledge of numbers was      
added1 a thing not only necessary to    
life1 but  at once immutable and        
eternal4 ,which first led us to consider
 the  heavens1 to look upon the motion  
of the planets with interest1 and the   
numbering of the nights and days 99 99  
99 99                         ,eight or 
ten pages wanting4    ,,iii4 99 99 99 99
 ,whose minds rose to a loftier pitch as
 ,i before said1 that  they might       
execute or discover something worthy of 
the gift they had  received from the    
gods4 ,wherefore let those who have     
treated upon the  moral conduct of life1
 be deemed by us1 great men1 as they    
are2 learned  men2 masters of truth and 
virtue4 ,yet let it be admitted that    
civil  rights1 and the government of a  
people1 whether they are the fruits of  
men experienced in the management of    
public affairs1 or1 as the fact has     

been1 the result of their literary      
leisure1 be least despised2 causing  as 
they do to spring up in great minds1 as 
we have often seen1 an  incredible and  
divine virtue4 ,for if any one to those 
faculties which  the mind has from      
nature1 and to those talents which civil
 institutions  produce1 hath added also 
the learning1 and the more various      
knowledge of  things1 in which men      
engaged in the discussion of those books
 are  versed1 there is no one who ought 
not to prefer such a man to all  others4
 ,for what can be more excellent1 than  
when the practice and habit  of great   
affairs is joined to a perfect knowledge
 of the theory of the  science of them8 
,or what more perfect can be imagined   
than ,p4 ,scipio1 ,c4  ,llius1 and ,l4  
,philus2 who that they might omit       
nothing appertaining to  the high       
character of enlightened men1 to the    
knowledge of our domestic  and ancient  
customs1 united the learning received   
from ,socrates8  ,wherefore he who      

determined and effected both1 that is1  
instructed  himself as well in the      
institutions1 as in the philosophy of   
the  ancients1 ,i think has accomplished
 every thing with praise4 ,but if a     
choice must be made between those two   
paths to excellence1 and if to any  one1
 that tranquil way of life passed in the
 best studies and sciences  may appear  
happier1 still certainly an active1     
civil life is more  illustrious and more
 laudable4 ,the greatest men derive     
their glory from  such a life1 as ,m4   
,curius 99 99 99 99                     
8,whom none could overcome with arms or 
gold40                              ,six
 pages wanting4    ,,iv4 99 99 99       
,nevertheless this difference existed in
 their two different  modes3 the one    
unfolded the principles of nature by    
their studies and by  their eloquence2  
the others by their institutions and by 
their laws4  ,this commonwealth alone   
has produced many1 if not altogether to 
be  deemed sages1 since that title is so

 cautiously bestowed1 yet worthy of  the
 greatest praise2 for they cultivated   
the precepts and discoveries of  sages4 
,wherefore civil governments are to be  
extolled and ever will be1  since in the
 nature of things1 to constitute a      
commonwealth which shall  be lasting1 is
 one of the greatest efforts of mind3   
and thus if we only  enumerate one for  
every country1 what a multitude of      
excellent men do we  find4 ,for if we   
permit our minds to take a survey of    
that famous ,greece1  of ,italy1        
,latium1 or the ,sabine and ,volscian   
people2 the ,samnites1 the  ,etrurians2 
next the ,assyrians1 the ,persians1 the 
,carthagenians4 ,if  these 99 99 99     
,twelve pages wanting4    ,v4 99 99 99  
8,truly10 said ,philus1 8you have       
imposed a fine task upon me1  wishing me
 to undertake the justification of what 
is wrong40 8,surely10  said ,llius1 8you
 are afraid lest in using the same      
arguments which are  wont to be brought 
forward against justice1 you may appear 

to hold such  opinions yourself2 you who
 are almost the only example left of    
ancient  probity and faith4 ,but your   
habit of discussing both sides of the   
question1 in order more easily to get at
 the truth1 is very well known40        
8,well1 well10 said ,philus1 8,i will do
 as you wish1 and defile myself  with my
 eyes open3 for since those who search  
for gold do not refuse to  do it2 we who
 are looking for what is right1 a thing 
much more precious  than gold1 assuredly
 ought not to avoid any thing that is   
disagreeable4  ,and ,i wish1 since ,i am
 about to make use of another man's     
opinions1 it  was possible for me to    
make use of his tongue also4 ,now1      
however1 ,l4  ,furius ,philus1 must say 
what ,carneades1 a ,greek in the habit  
of saying  whatever he pleased 99 99 99 
,four pages wanting4    ,,viii4 99 99 99
 ,but the other has filled four pretty  
large books with the  subject of        
justice4 ,from ,chrysippus ,i have never
 looked for any thing  very great or    

magnificent2 since he reasons in a      
particular way of his  own1 and examines
 things rather by the force of words1   
than the weight  of facts4 ,it was for  
those distinguished men1 to raise up    
that prostrate  virtue1 and elevate it  
to the divine heights of wisdom4 ,a     
virtue which  stands alone as it were1  
greatly munificent and liberal2 which   
loves  every thing better than itself1  
and is born more for others1 than for   
its own interests4 ,nor was the         
inclination wanting to them3 for what   
other cause had they for writing1 or    
what motive soever8 ,in genius they     
excelled all4 ,but the cause was greater
 even than their inclination and        
strength4 ,the right indeed concerning  
which we inquire1 is something  civil1  
not natural3 if it were1 justice and    
injustice would be the same  things to  
all men1 as hot and cold1 bitter and    
sweet things are4    ,,ix4 ,now however1
 if any one borne upon the chariot with 
winged serpents1  of which ,pacuvius    

speaks1 could survey with his eyes1 and 
look down upon  the many and various    
nations and cities2 he might see chiefly
 among that  unchanging race of the     
,egyptians1 which preserves in its      
records the  memory of so many events   
and ages1 an ox esteemed as a god1 which
 the  ,egyptians call ,apis2 and many   
other strange things among them1 among  
which wild beasts consecrated into the  
number of the gods4 ,then in  ,greece1  
where as with us1 magnificent temples   
are consecrated containing  human       
images1 which the ,persians considered  
impious4 ,for which cause  alone1       
,xerxes is said to have ordered the     
temples of the ,athenians to be  burnt2 
considering it to be wicked to shut the 
gods up within walls1  whose residence  
was the whole universe4 ,afterwards     
,philip who had it in  contemplation1   
and ,alexander who carried it into      
effect1 gave as reasons  for making war 
against the ,persians1 that they avenged
 the temples of  ,greece2 which the     

,greeks did not think of repairing1 that
 the  devastation might be an eternal   
monument to posterity of the infamy of  
the ,persians4 ,how many1 as the        
,taurians in ,axinum1 as ,busiris the   
king  of ,egypt1 as the ,gauls1 the     
,carthagenians1 have thought it a       
grateful  and pious duty to the gods1 to
 immolate men4 ,but the institutions of 
life differ so much1 that the ,cretans  
and ,etolians esteem it honourable  to  
steal3 the ,lacedemonians used to say   
that all lands were theirs which  they  
could reach with a shaft4 ,the          
,athenians were wont to swear even      
publicly1 that every soil was theirs1   
which produced oil and corn4 ,the       
,gauls consider it shameful to produce  
grain by labour1 and therefore go  armed
 to harvest other people's lands4 ,but  
we1 the most just of men1 to  make our  
own olive and vineyards more valuable1  
do not permit the  transalpine nations  
to plant them3 in doing which we are    
said to act  prudently2 it is not called

 acting justly4 ,by which you may       
understand  there is a wide distance    
between prudence and equity4 ,lycurgus1 
the  founder of the best laws1 and the  
most equal rights1 gave the lands of    
the wealthy to be cultivated by the     
lower class in the state of  servitude4 
,x4 ,but if ,i were to describe the     
various kinds of laws1 of institutions1 
of customs and manners1 not only so     
different among such divers nations1    
but even in a single city1 or in this1  
,i could demonstrate them to have  been 
changed a thousand times4 ,our friend   
,manilius here1 an interpreter  of laws1
 will tell you that other laws exist now
 concerning the legacies  and           
inheritances of women1 than those he was
 wont to speak of in his  youth1 before 
the ,voconian law was passed2 which very
 law1 indeed  proposed for the advantage
 of the men1 is full of injustice       
towards the  women4 ,for why should a   
woman not have possessions8 ,why should 
a vestal  appoint an heir1 and her      

mother not8 ,why if limits were to be   
put to the  possessions of women1 should
 the daughter of ,crassus1 if she were  
an  only daughter1 possess thousands    
legally1 when mine could not possess    
two or three hundred 99 99 99 99 99 99  
,two pages wanting4    ,,xi4 99 99 99 99
 99 99 ,if these rights were thus       
sanctioned in us1 all men  would have   
the same rights1 and would not have     
different rights at  different periods4 
,but if it is the duty of a just and    
good man to obey  the laws1 ,i would ask
 which are they to be8 ,or shall he obey
 all  indiscriminately8 ,but virtue does
 not admit of uncertainty1 nor nature   
endure inconstancy4 ,the strength of law
 consists in punishment1 not in  our    
natural justice4 ,natural right         
therefore does not exist4 ,whence it    
follows1 that men are not made just by  
nature4 ,but it is said1 although  there
 are various laws1 still good men1 by   
natural inclination1 pursue  what is    
just in itself1 and not what is assumed 

to be so2 because it is  the part of a  
good and just man1 to render that       
justice to every one  which he is       
deserving of4 ,now1 first1 are we in any
 wise just to the  dumb beasts8 ,for    
men1 not of mediocrity1 but great and   
learned2  ,pythagoras and ,empedocles1  
declare that all animals possess the    
same  degree of right1 and denounce     
unatoning punishments to hang over those
  by whom any animal is outraged4 ,it is
 wicked therefore to injure the  brutes4
 99 99 99 99 99 99                      
,eight pages wanting4    ,,xii4 99 99 99
 99 99 99 what we call wisdom1 urges us 
to increase our wealth1  our riches1 and
 to extend our possessions4 ,how could  
that great  commander#ba who formerly   
carried the limits of his empire into   
,asia2  how could he govern1 bear sway1 
reign1 have dominion1 and the full      
enjoyment of voluptuousness1 unless he  
took something from others8 ,but        
justice orders us to spare all1 to      
consult the welfare of mankind1 to  give

 to every one his own1 and to abstain   
from every thing that is  sacred1 every 
thing that is public1 every thing which 
is not our own4  ,what therefore is to  
be done8 ,if wisdom is consulted1       
riches1 power1  wealth1 honours1        
authority1 empire1 are open to          
individuals and nations4  ,but since it 
is the public interest we are           
discussing1 instances of a  public      
nature will illustrate better2 and as   
the same degree of right is  in both1 ,i
 shall advert to the wisdom of a nation1
 and ,i shall omit the  rest4 ,our own  
nation1 which ,africanus in his         
discourse yesterday1 traced  to its     
origin1 whose empire already extends    
over the earth1 has it1 once  least of  
them all1 become so by justice or       
wisdom8 99 99 99 99 99 99               
,four or eight pages wanting4    ,,xiv4 
,for all who possess the power of life  
and death over a people are  tyrants1   
yet they prefer to be called kings by   
the name of the good  ,jupiter4 ,when   

certain persons through the influence of
 their riches1  their class1 or other   
circumstances1 possess themselves of the
  government1 it is a faction4 ,yet they
 call themselves1 the better class4  ,if
 the people however are uppermost and   
rule every thing at their own  pleasure1
 that is called liberty2 nevertheless it
 is licentiousness4 ,but  when one fears
 another1 man mistrusting man1 and one  
class another1 then  because no one     
confides1 a sort of pact is made between
 the people and  the great1 from whence 
that combined form of government        
springs1 which  ,scipio has praised4 ,so
 that neither nature1 or the will is the
 mother of  justice1 but weakness4 ,for 
when one thing is to be chosen out of   
three1  either to do injustice without  
permitting it to be done to you2 or to  
do  it and permit it also2 or neither   
one or the other3 the best is to do it  
with impunity#bb if you can2 the second 
best is neither to do it1 nor  suffer it
 to be done to you3 the worst of all is 

to be eternally  fighting now on account
 of your own aggressions1 now on account
 of those  of others 99 99 99 99 99     
,an unknown number of pages wanting4    
99 99 99 ,except the ,arcadians and the 
,athenians1 who1 ,i suppose1 fearing    
lest at some period this decree#bc of   
justice might appear1 have  feigned     
themselves to be sprung from the earth1 
like the little mice we  see in the     
fields4    ,,xvi4 ,to these things1     
others are wont to be added principally 
by those1  distinguished for their      
honesty in discussion1 and having more  
weight  for that reason4 ,who when      
engaged in the inquiry of what          
constitutes a  good man1 frank and plain
 as we wish to find him1 are not        
themselves  crafty1 hardened1 and       
malicious in argument4 ,they deny that  
the wise man  is good only because      
goodness and justice are pleasing to him
 from their  nature2 but because the    
lives of good men are free from         
apprehension1  care1 solicitude and     

danger4 ,whereas bad men have always a  
sting goading  their souls1 and judgment
 and punishment are always present to   
their  eyes4 ,that there is no          
emolument1 no advantage arising from    
injustice1  so great as to compensate   
the fear1 and the constant thought that 
some  punishment is impending 99 99 99  
99 99                         ,four or  
eight pages wanting4    ,,xvii4 ,i ask  
if there be two men1 one of them of the 
very best kind2  equitable1 perfectly   
just1 of exemplary faith3 the other     
singular for  his wickedness and        
audacity3 and suppose the community in  
such an error1  that the good man passes
 for a wicked and dishonest one2 while  
the bad  one has the reputation of      
perfect probity and good faith4 ,and    
through  this general delusion of the   
citizens1 the good man is harassed1     
arrested1 bound1 his eyes put out1      
condemned1 thrown in chains1 tortured   
in the fire1 banished4 ,wanting every   
thing1 at last he appears to all to  be 

deservedly the most wretched of men4 ,on
 the other hand1 the bad man  is        
praised1 sought after1 caressed by all4 
,honours of every kind1  authority1     
power1 and every advantage conferred    
upon him from all sides4  ,a man1       
finally1 in the estimation of all deemed
 the very best1 and  worthy of the      
highest gifts of fortune4 ,who would be 
so insane as to  hesitate which of these
 two he would choose to be8    ,,xviii4 
,as it is with individuals1 so it is    
with nations4 ,no community is  so      
stupid1 as not to prefer commanding by  
injustice1 to serving  according to     
justice4 ,i shall not go far back for   
examples4 ,being  consul1 you assisting 
me in council2 ,i had to examine the    
,numantine  treaty4 ,who is ignorant    
that ,pompey made that treaty1 and that 
,mancinus  was concerned in the same    
affair8 ,this last most excellent man   
supported  the proposition ,i carried   
from the consultation in the senate2 the
 other  most earnestly opposed it4      

,those who valued modesty1 integrity1   
and good  faith preferred ,mancinus3 yet
 for his reasoning1 counsel1 and policy1
  ,pompey took the lead of him 99 99 99 
99                     ,an unknown      
number of pages wanting4    ,,xxix4 99  
99 99 99 99 ,ti4 ,gracchus was vigilant 
for the interests of the  people1 but   
neglected the rights of the ,latins and 
the treaties with the  allies4 ,if such 
customs and license should spread       
themselves wider1 and  our empire be    
changed from right to force1 so that    
those who until now  voluntarily obey   
us1 should be ruled only by terror2     
although it has  been vigilantly        
preserved for us1 who are of the present
 age2 yet ,i  should be very solicitous 
about our posterity1 and about the      
immortality  of the republic1 which     
might be perpetual1 if the institutions 
and  manners of our forefathers were    
preserved4    ,,xxx4 ,when ,llius had   
thus spoken1 all present expressed      
themselves to  have been very much      

delighted by him1 but ,scipio1 among the
 rest1 as if  quite elated with         
pleasure1 8many causes10 said he1       
8indeed ,llius1 hast  thou often        
defended1 in such a manner that ,i can  
by no means compare our  colleague      
,servius ,galba to thee2 whom when he   
lived thou preferredest to  all2 nor in 
truth any of the attic orators 99 99 99 
,twelve pages wanting4    ,,xxxi4 99 99 
99 99 99 ,therefore that common         
interest1 that is the  commonwealth1 who
 can recognize it when all are oppressed
 by the cruelty  of one2 when no bond of
 ,law exists1 nor that consent of       
congregated  society1 which constitutes 
a people4 ,and this very condition of   
the  ,syracusans3 a celebrated city1 as 
,timus says1 the first among the        
,greeks1 and the most beautiful of them 
all3 its harbour embosomed within  the  
walls1 its canals running through the   
city3 its broad streets1 its  porticoes1
 temples1 fortifications1 all these did 
not help to constitute  a commonwealth1 

while ,dionysius reigned4 ,the people   
had no part in them1  for the very      
people belonged to one man4 ,therefore  
where there is a  tyrant1 it is not a   
vitiated commonwealth1 as ,i said       
yesterday1 but  reason compels us to    
declare plainly that no commonwealth at 
all exists4    ,,xxxii4 8,indeed0 said  
,llius1 8you speak very clearly1 and ,i 
already  perceive the drift of your     
discourse4    ,s4 ,you see therefore1   
that when every thing is in the power of
 a  faction1 neither can that be        
properly called a commonwealth4    ,l4  
,i judge it plainly so4    ,s4 ,and most
 rightly do you judge1 for what was the 
condition of the  ,athenians1 when after
 that great ,pelopponesian war1 thirty  
men were most  unjustly placed in the   
command of that city8 ,did the ancient  
glory of  the city1 the admirable nature
 of its buildings1 its theatre1         
gymnasia1  its noble porticoes1 its     
citadel1 or the admirable works of      
,phidias1 or  the magnificent port of   

,pirus1 did they constitute a           
commonwealth8 8,not  in the least0 said 
,llius1 8because indeed the common      
interest was not  thought of40    ,s4   
,how was it at ,rome1 when the          
,decemvirs existed without appeal1 in   
that third year1 when liberty itself had
 parted with its privileges8    ,l4     
,nothing was left to the people1 and    
truly it was necessary to bring  them to
 that point1 that they might recover    
their rights4    ,,xxxiii4 ,s4 ,i come  
now to the third kind1 that in which    
some  inconsistency will perhaps be     
perceived1 where all things are said to 
be  done by the people1 and to be in the
 power of the people4 ,when the         
multitude orders punishments to be      
inflicted in any manner that it         
pleases1 ordering1 seizing1 keeping1    
dissipating every thing whatever  they  
choose1 can you then ,llius1 deny that  
to be a republic1 where all  things     
belong to the people1 and when indeed we
 define a republic to be  a             

commonwealth80 8,there is nothing10 said
 ,llius1 8,i would sooner deny  to be a 
republic1 than where all things are in  
the power of the  multitude4 ,we did not
 consider that they had a republic among
 the  ,syracusans1 or at ,agrigentum1 or
 at ,athens when they were under        
tyrants1  or at ,rome when under the    
decemvirs4 ,nor do ,i see how the name  
of  republic is appropriate when the    
multitude rules4 ,because first1 as you 
have happily defined it to me1 ,scipio1 
a people does not exist1 but  where it  
is held together by consent of law2 and 
this sort of mob1 is as  much a tyrant  
as if it were one man4 ,indeed it is    
more mischievous1 for  nothing is more  
ferocious than the wild beast which     
assumes the name and  form of the       
people4 ,nor is it right1 when the      
property of maniacs is  placed by law   
under the guardianship of kindred1 that 
99 99 99                                
,eight pages wanting4    ,,xxxiv4 99 99 
99 of it1#bd it may with as much        

propriety be said that it is  a republic
 and a commonwealth1 as it may be said  
of a kingdom4 8,and much  more10 said   
,mummius1 8for a king being one1 is more
 like a master2 but  where many good men
 are at the head of affairs in a        
republic1 nothing  can be more happily  
constituted4 ,but ,i certainly prefer a 
kingdom to the  sway of a democracy2    
which third and most vicious kind of    
government  remains for you to explain40
    ,,xxxv4 ,to this ,scipio replied1   
8,i recognize well ,spurius1 your steady
  aversion to the popular mode1 and     
although it might be treated with less  
aversion than you are wont to do1       
nevertheless ,i agree1 that of all      
these three kinds1 no one is less to be 
approved of4 ,i do not however  agree   
with you that the better class are to be
 preferred to a king2 for  if it is     
wisdom which governs a state1 of what   
consequence is it1  whether it resides  
in one1 or in many8 ,but in our         
discussion we are led  into a sort of   

error4 ,when we call them the better    
class1 nothing can be  conceived more   
excellent1 for what can be imagined more
 desirable than  the best8 ,when however
 a king is mentioned1 an unjust king    
occurs to our  minds4 ,we do not        
nevertheless intend to speak of an      
unjust king1 in our  examination of this
 royal kind of government4 ,think of    
,romulus1  ,pompilius1 and ,tullus as   
kings1 and perhaps you will not be so   
displeased with that kind of government4
    ,m4 ,what sort of praise then is    
left for a democratic government8    ,s4
 ,what did you think1 ,spurius1 of the  
,rhodians1 with whom we were  together2 
did you see nothing like a commonwealth 
there8    ,m4 ,indeed ,i did1 and least 
of all to be blamed4    ,s4 ,you say    
well4 ,but if you remember all were     
alike2 sometimes  plebeians1 sometimes  
senators2 and by turns discharging      
during certain  months their functions  
as senators2 the other months they      
remained in  the ranks of the people4   

,in both capacities however they had the
  privilege of being present at the     
meetings for deliberation1 and equally  
in the theatres and in the courts1 great
 matters and all others were  judged2 so
 numerous was the multitude and so great
 its power  that 99 99 99 99 99    -----
    ,footnote #ba3      ,alexander4     
,footnote #bb3      ,these are sophisms 
brought forward in favour of injustice4 
,vide ,lact4 ,inst4 #e4    ,footnote    
#bc3      ,to restore things unjustly   
acquired4    ,footnote #bd3      ,the   
better class4                           
,,cicero',s ,,republic4                 
,illustration                           
,,book ,,iv4      ,,ii4 99 99 99 99 99  
99 ,how conveniently the orders are set 
down2 the ages1 the  classes4 ,the      
equestrian order where the senate votes4
 ,too many foolishly  seek to abolish   
that useful institution1 hoping that    
through some  ,plebecists procuring the 
sale of the horses1 they may get a      
largess4    ,,iii4 ,look now at the     

other provisions so wisely made1 that   
the citizens  may enjoy a happy and     
honest state of society1 for that is the
 very  motive for their union2 and which
 government ought to secure to men1 by  
institutions and laws4 ,in the first    
place1 as to puerile discipline for     
free-born young men1 respecting which   
the ,greeks have laboured so much  in   
vain2 and the only matter about which   
our guest ,polybius reproaches  the     
negligence of our institutions4 ,no     
defined system1 or of a public  nature1 
or uniform for all1 was decreed by the  
laws4                         ,four or  
eight pages wanting4    ,,iv4 99 99 99  
99 99 99 nor naked when at an age of    
puberty4 ,so deep did they  seek as it  
were to lay the foundations of modesty4 
,but how absurd the  exercises of youth 
in the ,grecian ,gymnasia2 how trifling 
that drilling  of young boys3 what loose
 and unrestrained manners permitted to  
them4 ,i  say nothing of the ,eleans and
 ,thebans1 among whom free license and  

permission was given to the young people
 to indulge in sensuality4 ,the         
,lacedemonians too1 when they allowed   
every sensual indulgence short of       
violence1 among their youth1 were       
destroying what they were granting  such
 a slight protection to4 8,i clearly    
understand1 ,scipio10 said  ,llius1     
8that in these practices of the ,greeks1
 which you reprehend1 you  had rather   
attack the most illustrious people1 than
 your favourite  ,plato1 whom you do not
 assail at all1 especially 99 99 99 99  
99                                      
,,cicero',s ,,republic4                 
,illustration                           
,,book ,v4      ,,ii4 99 99 99 99 99 99 
,no prerogative more royal than the     
administration of  justice1 in which was
 comprehended the expounding of rights1 
for  individuals were accustomed to seek
 justice from kings4 ,on which account  
the lands1 the fields1 the groves1 the  
extensive and rich grazing  districts   
were defined1 which belonged to the     

sovereign1 and were all  managed without
 any care or labour on his part2 that   
none of the cares  of private business1 
might abstract him from the affairs of  
the public4  ,nor was any man an umpire 
or arbitrator of any legal contention1  
but all  things were decided by royal   
judgments4 ,and it seems to me1 that our
  ,numa chiefly adopted this ancient    
custom from the kings of ,greece4 ,for  
the others1 although they also          
discharged this function1 yet a great   
many of them waged wars1 and occupied   
themselves in establishing the  rules of
 war4 ,but that long peace of ,numa1 was
 the parent of law and  religion to this
 city4 ,he also was the writer of those 
laws which you  know to be extant3 all  
which is appropriate to the very citizen
 whose  character we are drawing 99 99  
99 99 99 99                     ,an     
unknown number of pages wanting4        
,,iii4 ,s4 ,do you think there is any   
harm in his being acquainted with the   
nature of roots and seeds8    ,m4 ,none1

 if only his work is not neglected4     
,s4 ,but do you think it to be properly 
the study of a farmer8    ,m4 ,not in   
the least2 for the cultivation of the   
land would often be  unattended to4     
,s4 ,therefore1 as a farmer is          
acquainted with the nature of his soil1 
a  steward with the nature of letters1  
and each can turn from the amusement  of
 theory to the greater utility of       
practice2 so this our ruler may be      
thoroughly conversant with the knowledge
 of rights and of laws2 he may  have    
looked even into the very fountains of  
them3 but let not his  consultations1   
his constant readings1 and his writings 
occupy him too  much2 but let him be as 
it were both steward and farmer to the  
commonwealth4 ,let him be skilled in the
 principles of law without which  no man
 can be just2 let him not be ignorant of
 civil law3 but let it be  as the pilot 
who studies the stars2 the physician who
 studies the nature  of plants and      
minerals2 each turning his knowledge to 

the benefit of his  art1 without        
permitting it to impede the practical   
use of his  vocation 99 99 99           
,an unknown number of pages wanting4    
,,iv4 99 99 99 99 ,in those states where
 the good look for praise and honour1   
and fly from ignominy and disgrace4 ,not
 so much restrained by  apprehension of 
the penalties established by law1 but by
 a sentiment of  self-respect1 which    
nature has planted in man1 a sort of    
dread of  deserved censure4 ,this       
sentiment the ruler of a state          
strengthens by  public opinion1 and     
confirms by education1 and by           
institutions1 that  shame may deter the 
citizen from crime as much as fear4 ,but
 these  considerations properly belong  
to renown1 and shall be more abundantly 
considered4    ,v4 ,life1 however1 and  
the comfortable enjoyment of it1 are    
constituted  by legal marriages1 lawful 
children2 the keeping hallowed the seats
 of  the penate gods1 and the domestic  
lares2 that all may enjoy public and    

private comforts4 ,without good         
government1 private life cannot be      
agreeable1 nor can any one be more happy
 than in a well regulated  state 99 99  
99 99                                   
----------------------------------------
--------------------------------        
,,transcriber',s ,,notes       #a4      
,corrected items noted in the ,errata4  
#b4 ,silently corrected typographical   
errors in the ,preface1                 
,introduction1 and footnotes4   #c4     
,retained anachronistic and non-standard
 spellings as printed in the            
,preface1 ,introduction1 and footnotes4 
#d4 ,did not alter punctuation or       
spellings in the ,translation with the  
exception of joining words split by     
pages4   #e4 ,enclosed italics font in  
underscores4