11 Sep Polybius on the Roman Constitution

Polybius admired the Roman Constitution of the second century BC. A republic, it turned out, was a matter of blending three preexisting regimes — Monarchy, Aristocracy, and Democracy — together and allowing each one to run its course, but do so in a way that brought out the best in the system and served the people of Rome. How did the Roman Constitution manage to improve that third and most dangerous regime, democracy? How did manage to avoid democracy’s worst vices as described by Plato? What were the weaknesses in the system that might eventually lead to the decline of the Roman Republic?

Marcus Tullius Cicero has a lot to say about why a good man should enter politics as a matter of justice toward his city. Certainly there are the usual concerns — defense, budgets, roads and bridges, law enforcement, etc.? But ordinary politicians can mange those things. What does a truly great leader do once in office, beyond the usual cares of government? What does he do for his fellow citizens by holding office, in contrast with the usual politician? In what sense is a statesman a populist, and in what sense is he not?

According to Marcus Tullius Cicero in his “Dream of Scipio,” a truly happy human soul has a double purpose: as a citizen, it lives here on earth, working for a living, raising a family, and engaging in politics in the city; at the same time, the soul is meant for eternal happiness contemplating the beauty of the heavens and the music of the spheres — a life that makes even the Roman Empire seem quite small and silly by comparison. So how does a person live such a life (in a pre-Christian sense, anyway)? How do we combine both qualities into ourselves, as Cicero says we should do — earth and the heavens, body and soul, time and eternity?