An analysis of the concepts of res publica, populus and libertas in Cicero's deliberation of the political and legal system

The purpose of this study is to discover in what sense the concepts of res publica, populus, and libertas were used by Marcus Tullius Cicero in his deliberation of the political and legal system, and to afford a better understanding of them. In scrutinizing the concepts, his works De Re Publica and De Legibus were used as sources. Since the political and legal system that was held to be ideal by Cicero was used as a tool to be employed in criticizing the current corrupt state of the administration, beginning from the time of the reform movement initiated by the Gracchus brothers, the political and economic state of Rome was observed. It was thereby concluded that the administration was not suddenly impaired by corruption somehow but the deterioration had long been in force, and that Rome was already in an administrative crisis by the time Cicero expressed his criticism of the administration. His relationships with the two contenders of a vehement public dispute of the time, Julius Caesar and Gnaeus Pompeius, and how these connections might have affected him were also considered. Because the concepts were of utmost importance to understanding the social structure of ancient Rome, well-known social groups were included in the consideration as well. Likewise, the concepts being matters of interest principally to political philosophy, the meaning of the source of origin of the word politics, politeia, and what exactly this philosophical field concerns were touched upon in brief. Thereafter, to offer a thorough explanation on the underlying mindset of the concepts that both are reflected upon in Cicero's political philosophy and constitute the core of this study, an overview was provided of the ideas introduced by the prominent figures that are held to have been influential on his political philosophy. In the fourth and the last chapter of the thesis, following due reflection on Cicero's ideas on how the state and the rule of law should be realized, in what sense these concepts could have been employed by Cicero was elaborated upon. This work of analysis, describing the concepts under discussion by studying their sources of origin, concludes that they can be understood as close to Cicero's understanding of them as possible only when considered in connection with the circumstances of the time they were contrived and thought within certain contexts, and therefore argues that translations of such concepts as these, which are of inestimable value for many branches of intellectual labor, when done solely by heeding the approximate definitions made in reference to contemporary political and legal terminology may not lead the reader to the most accurate interpretations of them.