De re publica is a work by Cicero, written in six books 54-51 BC, in the "format" of a Socratic dialogue, that is to say: Scipio Africanus Minor (who had died a few decades before Cicero was born) takes the role of "wise old man", that is an obligatory part in the "Socratic dialogue" genre. This dialogue is imagined as taking place between Romans, several centuries after Socrates' death.

Choosing this "format" of a philosophical dialogue placed in a time before his own for this politically "hot" treatise, allowed Cicero to avoid to name his political adversaries directly, and also, while different opinions were expressed by the various speakers he made it more difficult for these adversaries to pin him down on what he had written.

Setting - dramatis personae

Setting

The dialogue is portrayed as taking place in Scipio's estate, during three consecutive days. Each day is described in two books, with an introduction by Cicero preceding the dialogue of each book. A large part of the last book is taken by Scipio telling a dream he had: this passage is known as Somnium Scipionis, or "Scipio's dream".

Participants

In alphabetical order:

• Fannius , C.: Consul in 122 BC. Follower of stoicism, historian and orator. Son-in-law to Laelius.
• Laelius (or: Lœlius), C.: Close friend and associate of Scipio, consul in 140 BC, promoter of the study of literature and philosophy.
• Manilius, M'.: Consul in 149 BC. Historian and legal scholar.
• Mucius Scaevola (or: Scævola), Q.: Legal scholar and patron of the young Cicero. Son-in-law to Laelius.
• Mummius , Sp.: Satirist and extreme defender of optimate interests.
• Philus , L. Furius: Consul 136 BC, orator
• Rutilius Rufus , P.: Politician admired for his honesty, dedicated to stoicism.
• Scipio Aemilianus Africanus, P. Cornelius, 195-129 BC: Famous military and political leader 149-129. Captured and destroyed Carthage in 146 BC. Restored order after assassination of Tiberius Gracchus in 133 BC and mediated between the political factions. Died suddenly and mysteriously in 129.
• Tubero , Q. Aelius: Scipio's nephew, tribune c. 129 BC. Legal scholar dedicated to stoicism.

What's in a title

While already the Latin version of the title of this work is given in two versions (De re publica and De republica), depending on source, the translation of the title of this work knows even more variants, often indicating the stance of the translator: since the expression "res publica" (appearing in a deflection in the title of this work) later evolved, with some shifts of meaning, to republic, or a similar term in many languages, there is no general consensus over the interpretation of the connotations implied by these expressions.

Cicero and Plato

Cicero himself is responsible for a part of these translation and interpretation issues: in De re publica he emulates a dialogue by Plato, which since has become known as The Republic. Plato himself did not use the word Republic in the title of his work: his Greek term (politeia) is certainly not a republic in a modern understanding of the word, and hence has sometimes been translated to "polity" (as in Xenophon's Polity of Athenians and Lacedaemonians ) or "politics" (as in Aristotle's Politics). Plato, Xenophon and Aristotle all used the same word politeia in the title of these respective works: only in the title of Plato's work politeia is most often translated to Republic, by Cicero's influence, while his De re publica, in the form of a dialogue, was closest to Plato's model.

English translations of the title of Cicero's De re publica

De re publica is referred to as...

• (The) Republic - that translation neglects the first word of the Latin title, which is the equivalent of On, so other translations of the title include On the republic or Treatise on the republic.
• Although "republic" can appear a neutral translation of "res publica", it is infected by the many interpretations given to the word republic afterwards, as mentioned above. So, the translation of "Res publica" (literally the "thing" of the people or the public cause) has many variants:
  • Sometimes "Res publica" is translated into Commonwealth, hence Treatise on the Commonwealth is a possible translation of the title too - this sounds quite British however.
  • On Government or On the State - Cicero's intention was however probably more specific, the type of government that had been established in Rome since the kings, and that was challenged by amongst others Julius Caesar, by the time Cicero wrote his De re publica (see: Roman Republic)

Content

Large parts of the text are missing: especially from the 4th and the 5th book only minor fragments survived. All other books have at least some passages missing. Scipio's dream, which is only a part from the 6th book, is nearly all that survives from that book. The largest part of the surviving text was uncovered as a palimpsest in 1822. The other fragments are mainly quotes found in the work of other authors (for example Augustine). Through these other authors, discussing Cicero's treatise, also the main topics of each book are known.

Apart from the Greek philosophers mentioned above, also Polybius was an important source of inspiration for Cicero's political views.

External links

• Project Gutenberg: On the Commonwealth is contained in C.D. Yonge's literal translation of three philosophical works by Cicero, with notes and some quotes in Latin
• Translation of De re publica by Francis Barham , with detailed introductions, from The Online Library of Liberty (available in HTML, PDF facsimile and PDF e-book): http://oll.libertyfund.org/Home3/BookToCPage.php?recordID=0044.01
• De re publica in Latin:
  • (separate books:) http://www.thelatinlibrary.com/cicero/repub.shtml
  • (complete on one page:) http://www.biblio-net.com/lett_cla/testi/de_re_pubblica.htm
• A summary of De re publica, with a full translation of "Scipio's dream"
• A (political) introduction to Cicero's De re publica.