Cicero - The Republic, and, the laws

OXFORD WORLDS CLASSICS

THE REPUBLIC AND THE LAWS

MARCUS TULLIUS CICERO (10643 BC) was the son of a Roman knight from Arpinum, some 70 miles (112 km.) south-east of Rome. He rose to prominence through his eloquence at the bar and in the Senate; but, without hereditary connections or military achievements, he lacked a solid power-base; and so, in spite of strenuous manoeuvres, he failed to reconcile Pompey and later Octavian (Augustus) to the Senate. He could have joined Caesar, but he refused and was eventually murdered at the insistence of Antony, whom he had castigated in his Philippics. But although Cicero was ultimately a political failure, he became for long periods of Europes history a symbol not only of constitutional government but also of literary style. More important still, he is recognized as the main vehicle for the transmission of Hellenistic philosophy to the West. As a historian of thought, his lack of personal commitment in the main served him well. But in his political theory, where he purported to be describing a constitution or framing laws, his conservatism tended to outweigh his intellectual open-mindedness. Hence, in his vision of political life, he remained above all an old-fashioned Roman.

JONATHAN POWELL is Professor of Latin, Royal Holloway, University of London. He has published commentaries on Ciceros De Senectute (1988) and De Amicitia and Somnium Scipionis (1990) and has edited a volume of papers on Ciceros philosophy (Cicero the Philosopher, Oxford University Press, 1995). He is preparing a new text of De Republica and De Legibus for the Oxford Classical Texts series.

NIALL RUDD is Emeritus Professor of Latin, Bristol University. His books include an edition of Horace, Epistles 2 and Ars Poetica (Cambridge, 1989), a verse translation of Juvenals Satires (Oxford, Worlds Classics 1992), and a study of certain English poems and their Latin forerunners, entitled The Classical Tradition in Operation (Toronto and London, 1994).

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OXFORD WORLDS CLASSICS

CICERO

Translated by
NIALL RUDD

With an Introduction and Notes by
JONATHAN POWELL and NIALL RUDD

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Translation Niall Rudd 1998
Editorial Matter Jonathan Powell and Niall Rudd 1998

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First published as an Oxford Worlds Classics paperback 1998

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British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data

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Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data

Cicero, Marcus Tullius.
[De republica. English]
The republic; and, The laws/Cicero; translated by Niall Rudd;
with an introduction and notes by Jonathan Powell and Niall Rudd.
(Oxford worlds classics)

Includes bibliographical references and index.
1. Political scienceEarly works to 1800. 2. State, TheEarly
works to 1800. 3. RomePolitics and government26530 B.C.
I. Rudd, Niall. II. Powell, J. G. E III. Cicero, Marcus Tullius,
De legibus, English. IV Title: Laws. V. Series.
JC81.C613 1998 320.1dc21 9723394
ISBN 0192832360 (pbk.: alk. paper)
5 7 9 10 8 6 4

Typeset by Best-set Typesetter Ltd., Hong Kong
Printed in Great Britain by
Cox & Wyman Ltd.
Reading, Berkshire

Although parts of the Republic have been translated fairly recently, and a full version has been published by Brguet in the Bud series, this is the first English translation of the whole work since that of Sabine and Smith (1929). It is also the first English translation of the Laws since Keyess Loeb edition (1928). Students of Latin have Zetzels commentary on selections from the Republic (1995) and the elementary edition of Laws 1 by Rudd and Wiedemann (1987). But most of the scholarship on these two works has come from the Continent, especially Germany, as may be seen from the bibliographies of Schmidt (1973) and Suerbaum (1978). A particularly relevant example is Bchners edition of the Republic.

This translation is based on an eclectic text, but special mention should be made of Zieglers text of the Republic (5th edn. 1960) and Ziegler and Grlers text of the Laws (1979). Where other readings have been adopted their sources can usually be found in the apparatus criticus supplied by those editors. In addition, several of Professor Watts conjectures have been gratefully accepted. Many of the decisions taken will be reflected in the Oxford Classical Text which Jonathan Powell is preparing. In the present work the division of labour has been roughly as follows: J.P. wrote the introduction to the Republic, the section on the text of both works, and the notes on the Republic. He also helped with the revision of the volume as a whole, including the translation. The rest of the work is by N.R.