FRAGMENTS.
I. Ennius has told us--
Of men and customs mighty Rome consists;
which verse, both for its precision and its verity, appears to me as if
it had issued from an oracle; for neither the men, unless the State had
adopted a certain system of manners--nor the manners, unless they had
been illustrated by the men--could ever have established or maintained
for so many ages so vast a republic, or one of such righteous and
extensive sway.
Thus, long before our own times, the force of hereditary manners of
itself moulded most eminent men; and admirable citizens, in return,
gave new weight to the ancient customs and institutions of our
ancestors. But our age, on the contrary, having received the
Commonwealth as a finished picture of another century, but one already
beginning to fade through the lapse of years, has not only neglected to
renew the colors of the original painting, but has not even cared to
preserve its general form and prominent lineaments.
For what now remains of those antique manners, of which the poet said
that our Commonwealth consisted? They have now become so obsolete and
forgotten that they are not only not cultivated, but they are not even
known. And as to the men, what shall I say? For the manners themselves
have only perished through a scarcity of men; of which great misfortune
we are not only called to give an account, but even, as men accused of
capital offences, to a certain degree to plead our own cause in
connection with it. For it is owing to our vices, rather than to any
accident, that we have retained the name of republic when we have long
since lost the reality.
II. * * * There is no employment so essentially royal as the exposition
of equity, which comprises the true interpretation of all laws. This
justice subjects used generally to expect from their kings. For this
reason, lands, fields, woods, and pastures were reserved as the
property of kings, and cultivated for them, without any labor on their
part, in order that no anxiety on account of their personal interests
might distract their attention from the welfare of the State. Nor was
any private man allowed to be the judge or arbitrator in any suit; but
all disputes were terminated by the royal sentence.
And of all our Roman monarchs, Numa appears to me to have best
preserved this ancient custom of the kings of Greece. For the others,
though they also discharged this duty, were for the main part employed
in conducting military enterprises, and in attending to those rights
which belonged to war. But the long peace of Numa's reign was the
mother of law and religion in this city. And he was himself the author
of those admirable laws which, as you are aware, are still extant. And
this character is precisely what belongs to the man of whom we are
speaking. * * *
III. [_Scipio._ Ought not a farmer] to be acquainted with the nature of
plants and seeds?
_Manilius._ Certainly, provided he attends to his practical business
also.
_Scipio._ Do you think that knowledge only fit for a steward?
_Manilius._ Certainly not, inasmuch as the cultivation of land often
fails for want of agricultural labor.
_Scipio._ Therefore, as the steward knows the nature of a field, and
the scribe knows penmanship, and as both of them seek, in their
respective sciences, not mere amusement only, but practical utility, so
this statesman of ours should have studied the science of jurisprudence
and legislation; he should have investigated their original sources;
but he should not embarrass himself in debating and arguing, reading
and scribbling. He should rather employ himself in the actual
administration of government, and become a sort of steward of it, being
perfectly conversant with the principles of universal law and equity,
without which no man can be just: not unfamiliar with the civil laws of
states; but he will use them for practical purposes, even as a pilot
uses astronomy, and a physician natural philosophy. For both these men
bring their theoretical science to bear on the practice of their arts;
and our statesman [should do the same with the science of politics, and
make it subservient to the actual interests of philanthropy and
patriotism]. * * *
IV. * * * In states in which good men desire glory and approbation, and
shun disgrace and ignominy. Nor are such men so much alarmed by the
threats and penalties of the law as by that sentiment of shame with
which nature has endowed man, which is nothing else than a certain fear
of deserved censure. The wise director of a government strengthens this
natural instinct by the force of public opinion, and perfects it by
education and manners. And thus the citizens are preserved from vice
and corruption rather by honor and shame than by fear of punishment.
But this argument will be better illustrated when we treat of the love
of glory and praise, which we shall discuss on another occasion.
V. As respects the private life and the manners of the citizens, they
are intimately connected with the laws that constitute just marriages
and legitimate offspring, under the protection of the guardian deities
around the domestic hearths. By these laws, all men should be
maintained in their rights of public and private property. It is only
under a good government like this that men can live happily--for
nothing can be more delightful than a well-constituted state.
On which account it appears to me a very strange thing what this * * *
VI. I therefore consume all my time in considering what is
the power of that man, whom, as you think, we have described
carefully enough in our books. Do you, then, admit our idea
of that governor of a commonwealth to whom we wish to refer
everything? For thus, I imagine, does Scipio speak in the
fifth book: "For as a fair voyage is the object of the master
of a ship, the health of his patient the aim of a physician,
and victory that of a general, so the happiness of his
fellow-citizens is the proper study of the ruler of a
commonwealth; that they may be stable in power, rich in
resources, widely known in reputation, and honorable through
their virtue. For a ruler ought to be one who can perfect
this, which is the best and most important employment among
mankind."
And works in your literature rightly praise that ruler of a
country who consults the welfare of his people more than
their inclinations.
VII. Tully, in those books which he wrote upon the
Commonwealth, could not conceal his opinions, when he speaks
of appointing a chief of the State, who, he says, must be
maintained by glory; and afterward he relates that his
ancestors did many admirable and noble actions from a desire
of glory.
Tully, in his treatise on the Commonwealth, wrote that the
chief of a state must be maintained by glory, and that a
commonwealth would last as long as honor was paid by every
one to the chief.
[_The next paragraph is unintelligible._]
Which virtue is called fortitude, which consists of
magnanimity, and a great contempt of death and pain.
VIII. As Marcellus was fierce, and eager to fight, Maximus
prudent and cautious.
Who discovered his violence and unbridled ferocity.
Which has often happened not only to individuals, but also to
most powerful nations.
In the whole world.
Because he inflicted the annoyances of his old age on your
families.
IX. Cicero, in his treatise on the Commonwealth, says, "As
Menelaus of Lacedæmon had a certain agreeable sweetness of
eloquence." And in another place he says, "Let him cultivate
brevity in speaking."
By the evidence of which arts, as Tully says, it is a shame
for the conscience of the judge to be misled. For he says,
"And as nothing in a commonwealth ought to be so uncorrupt as
a suffrage and a sentence, I do not see why the man who
perverts them by money is worthy of punishment, while he who
does so by eloquence is even praised. Indeed, I myself think
that he who corrupts the judge by his speech does more harm
than he who does so by money, because no one can corrupt a
sensible man by money, though he may by speaking."
And when Scipio had said this, Mummius praised him greatly,
for he was extravagantly imbued with a hatred of orators.
* * * * *
INTRODUCTION TO THE SIXTH BOOK.
In this last book of his Commonwealth, Cicero labors to show
that truly pious philanthropical and patriotic statesmen will
not only be rewarded on earth by the approval of conscience
and the applause of all good citizens, but that they may
expect hereafter immortal glory in new forms of being. To
illustrate this, he introduces the "Dream of Scipio," in
which he explains the resplendent doctrines of Plato
respecting the immortality of the soul with inimitable
dignity and elegance. This Somnium Scipionis, for which we
are indebted to the citation of Macrobius, is the most
beautiful thing of the kind ever written. It has been
intensely admired by all European scholars, and will be still
more so. There are two translations of it in our language;
one attached to Oliver's edition of Cicero's Thoughts, the
other by Mr. Danby, published in 1829. Of these we have
freely availed ourselves, and as freely we express our
acknowledgments.