The Republic and The Laws (Oxford World's Classics) [Paperback]

Cicero (Author), Jonathan Powell (Editor), Niall Rudd (Translator)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0192832360 | ISBN-13: 978-0192832368 | Publication Date: October 1998

Cicero's The Republic is an impassioned plea for responsible government written just before the civil war that ended the Roman Republic in a dialogue following Plato. This is the first complete English translation of both works for over sixty years and features a lucid introduction, a table of dates, notes on the Roman constitution, and an index of names.

Editorial Reviews

Review

`In his translation G. achieves a consistent vitality both in narrative... and in argument.' Michael Coffey, The Classical Review Vol.XLIX No.2

Language Notes

Text: English (translation)
Original Language: Latin

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Product Details

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA (October 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0192832360
• ISBN-13: 978-0192832368
• Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 5 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #676,764 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

24 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars "The Statesman's Handbook", February 1, 2004

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Johannes Platonicus (South Bend, Indiana) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Republic and The Laws (Oxford World's Classics) (Paperback)

Niall Rudd's edition of Cicero's two works The Republic and The Laws is the ideal handbook for the aspiring statesman; the accomplished politician should also be referred to use these two dialogues as a sort of political guide to draw from. In these two texts, the reader will find Cicero in all his eloquence artfully dicating the principles of what it means to be a good man and what it takes to create and consolidate states. This book will leave a lasting impression upon anyone who pans through the pages of these two very important works of the great Marcus Tullius Cicero. Also found here are the always insightful explanatory notes contained in the excellent series of Oxford World Classics; and the concise, scholarly introductions will without a doubt throw significant light upon the principles addressed throughout these timeless texts.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Good translation of important works, October 27, 2009

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Christopher R. Travers "Einhverfr" (Chelan, WA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Republic and The Laws (Oxford World's Classics) (Paperback)

I enjoyed this translation and found it to be quite accessible. The two works go together to discuss the ideal state through a reasonably sophisticated approach though one which is quite trapped by views of Roman superiority. After all, Cicero begins by extolling the virtues of patriotism so we shouldn't be surprised if his ideal state looks exactly like his own state.

However, the approach taken by Cicero is rather interesting. Rather than emphasizing a specific structure, he seems to emphasize ongoing synthesis of elements of different structures, emphasizing the importance of what might later be thought to be a "social contract theory of government." Often I think in many areas of political discourse returning to this basic level would be helpful even in our modern age.

The second work builds upon this by offering a system of laws for the ideal republic. This helps to clarify Cicero's thinking a great deal by offering more concrete examples of how the Republic should be formed.

The introduction and end notes add a great deal to this edition. Anyone interested in theory of government, Roman studies, or Cicero in general, should read this book. Highly recommended.

15 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A different view of the ideal state, February 4, 2006

By 

wiredweird "wiredweird" (Earth, or somewhere nearby) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Republic and The Laws (Oxford World's Classics) (Paperback)

From Plato's Republic or before, people have written their ideas of what the ideal state would look like, and especially how it would be governed. Cicero, a citizen of classical Rome adds his thoughts in the first half of this volume. To him, the philosophically ideal state would be very much like Rome itself.

Cicero establishes early on (p.16) that, regarding the marvels of the physical world, "that kind of knowledge will not make us better or happier people." Only statecraft is worthy of serious study. That ideal state would be populated by "We Romans, paragons of justice as we are" (p.63-64), who forbid many industries in their outlying states "in order to enhance the value of our own products." He reinforces this idea of the predatory state by saying "No state is so stupid as not to prefer wicked domination to virtuous subjection" (p.67), as if domination and subjection are the only two roles that states may hold with respect to each other.

Cicero presents his thoughts in the form of Platonic dialogs, but without the clear direction of Plato's works. Instead, these little plays express Cicero's unfailingly high opinion of himself and of Rome, dismissing all others (both people and states) as unworthy of interest. His "Lasw" follow the same pattern, exploring the ideal by reciting the rules that Rome had in place, with only minor revisions.

Mixed in with his smug sense of superiority regarding self and state, Cicero makes a few points of interest. He compares monarchy, oligarchy, and democracy as forms of government. He notes that each has flaws, and each holds the seeds of its own collapse. Instead of any one, Cicero proposes an ideal government - i.e., Rome's own - that combines all three. I found it interesting that the US constitution creates much the same structure. We have the mono-archic presidency, oligarchic supreme court, and democratic Senate and Congress. Unfortunatley, I found Cicero's discussion too diffuse and too broken by losses through the centuries to get any clear idea of how he would have divided responsibility between the three, so I can not contrast his ideal to our current situation.

The translation is lively and modern. Profuse end notes fill in cultural background and ambiguities in translation, adding nicely to the main text. I could only ask for uniform numbering in the references - end notes are numbered by the page to which they refer, but cross reference by section numbers in the text. That, combined with numbers that apparently identify leaves of the original, creating an indexing scheme that fell short in clarity. Those minor problems seem not to interfere with Cicero's presentation, or with Cicero's sense of his own importance and Rome's.

//wiredweird