Recovering the ancient view of founding: A commentary on Cicero's 'De Legibus'

Cicero, as the first political philosopher to speak of natural law, offered a unique and important, if underappreciated, contribution to the history of political thought. Scholars have paid even less attention to De Legibaus , in which Cicero promulgates fundamental legislation for the best republic as outlined by Scipio in the better known De Re Publica. De Legibus, as the sequel to Cicero's work on the best republic, is the second part of his teaching about founding and therefore deserving of careful study. Political scientists in our own day rarely grapple with the theme of founding, because a founding by one virtuous man or small group of men seems incompatible with democracy or rule by the people. Thus, the ancient view of founding has been largely forgotten or dismissed by most students of politics in our own time. But if we are to take the quest for truth seriously---to understand the ancients as they understood themselves---we must attempt a recovery of their view. Understanding the ancient alternative is essential to achieving some perspective on our own view, if only to know what it is that we are rejecting. Cicero provides us with a unique way to access the older teaching about founding in his De Legibaus.;This dissertation consists of five chapters. The first chapter is introductory and includes a brief survey of recent literature on De Legibus. The second, third, and fourth chapters consist of commentaries on each of the three books of De Legibus. The topics addressed are, respectively, the universal, natural foundation of law; the laws of religion; and the laws of the magistracy. Each of the three commentary chapters highlights points of connection and comparison between De Legibus and De Re Publica, as well as between De Legibus and Plato's Laws. The fifth and final chapter concludes the dissertation with some general comments on Cicero's achievement in De Legibus.