Roman Political Thought Essay ⋆ Political Science Essay Examples ⋆ EssayEmpire

Roman political thought is characterized by the influence of moral philosophy and individual ethics on theorizing political questions. This is due, in large part, to the centrality of Epicurean and Stoic philosophy, both of which primarily focus on individual well-being and on the moral status of the individual in the universe, more so than in the polis. The result is a separation of moral philosophy and political philosophy that were strongly linked in the ancient Greek tradition, which makes deeper connections between questions of the good person and the good citizen.

Epicureanism And Stoicism

Nevertheless, Epicureanism and Stoicism differ on the value of politics and whether the wise person should engage in politics and public life. Epicureanism advocates a rejection of the inherent dangers of public life and political participation for individual happiness, suggesting instead withdrawal, going unnoticed, and quietism. Rather than a condition of a moral life, politics in the Epicurean view is theorized instrumentally, as a means to achieve physical security, but will work against the happiness of those who chose to participate. As a result of advocating the private life, Epicureans are criticized for enjoying the advantages of political life, such as security, without contributing to it.

Roman Stoic philosophers, such as Cicero, Seneca, Epictetus, and Aurelius, while advancing a doctrine of individual well-being, argue against the private life of mind and withdrawal from political life, and hold instead that we have duties to serve others and that the wise person should participate politically. Humans are theorized as naturally social and thus drawn toward the performance of public duties. As social beings, we cannot be purely self-interested but have the capacity for altruism. Politics itself depends on such capacity because the moral standing of individuals is thought to be required for a stable and just social order, especially wise and virtuous leadership. Damaging self-interested motivation is due to the corrupting influence of improperly ordered institutions, suggesting interdependence between institutions and individual motivation.

Views Of The Roman Elite

Cicero argues that the primary threat to political stability is the moral corruption of political elites, especially personal ambition. Cicero was critical of the ruling classes getting involved in commerce, which he thought sets their self-interest against the common interest. The requirements of empire necessitated full commitment, patriotism, and public virtue as the source of personal status and reputation. The functional goal was to integrate personal ambition with patriotic virtue and to conflate the pursuit of common and personal goods. As such, Cicero’s diagnosis of the decay of the republic was blamed not on the limits of its institutions in adapting to changing political reality and scope, but on the decline of the virtue of its leadership.

Seneca, writing one hundred years after Cicero in the post-Republic era, suggests that political stability and social cohesion do not result from conventional matters of political theory, such as well-ordered constitutions and balanced, inclusive legislation, but on the individual ethics and virtues of rulers. According to Seneca, the gods select kings, and though not themselves divine, have similar powers over their nations. However, this status imposes significant obligations on leaders to act toward their subjects with justice and clemency. Good rulers must cultivate virtue in their subjects to strengthen society, by choosing clemency over cruelty, overlooking injuries to self, and ensuring that harms incurred by subjects are punished. Seneca is largely unconcerned with modes of selection, constitutional balance or legitimacy questions—the powers of king are not bound by the law, nor are they shared. The distinction between kings and tyrants is not found in constitutional types or their relationships to the constitution but in their behavior and their virtue. The power of kings is not externally constrained, but the role of the ruler itself demarcates duties, much like all social roles.

Attributes Of Roman Political Thought

A further prominent virtue required of political leadership in Roman political thought is rhetorical ability. According to Cicero, the best orator is a statesman, functioning in the assembly and the courts, and using the power of rhetoric to uphold the republic. The function of rhetoric is to win goodwill and move the emotions. Theorizing rhetoric as a political virtue raises potential conflict between philosophical discourse and political discourse. Whereas philosophical persuasion is directed at the intellect, oratory aims for the passions. This is thought to be justified and necessary because political leaders must persuade those who have underdeveloped intellects. Political stability is furthered by deliberation, debate, and persuasion, as Cicero theorized the function of the Roman Senate, compared with reliance on force, bribery, and patronage.

In addition to able and virtuous practitioners of politics, Roman political thinkers, particularly during the republic, emphasized the importance of a well-ordered constitution and institutions to political stability, and attributed Rome’s success to its republican constitution. Cicero thought the Roman constitution was perfect and the realization of Greek political ideals, particularly Aristotle’s polity. According to Cicero, all pure types of constitutions, including monarchies, aristocracies, and democracies, are inherently unstable because they exclude portions of society from political participation. Mixed or republican constitutions, however, are stable because they are based on equality and inclusion, giving social classes no reason to strive for constitutional change. Institutionalizing social conflict makes the constitutional regime the site of contestation rather that its object.

The Greek historian Polybius also attributes Rome’s stability and imperial success to its superior constitution and institutions. Mixed and inclusive government is more stable than pure forms because it acquires the consent and approval of the governed, rather than ruling out of fear. Republican constitutions also limit the security of rulers and their absolute control, which diminishes the likelihood of corruption. The interdependence that is created by constitutionally established cooperation promotes unity and equilibrium among social classes and protects the constitution from corrupted and ambitious individuals.

Roman Stoics also developed a cosmopolitan view of the universe as a polis, replete with obligations to humanity, equality grounded in rationality, and a natural law. While goodness requires serving other human beings, particular or local obligations to Rome are defended within the cosmic city as the best way to realize universal obligations. Despite the defense of local obligations, Cicero argues for a universal and natural conception of justice, against a conventional, relative, and thus open-ended view. Justice, like all virtues, is good in itself and should be pursued for its own sake.

Bibliography:

On Obligations. Translated by P. G.Walsh. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2001.
The Republic and the Laws. Translated by Niall Rudd. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2008.
Rise of the Roman Empire. Translated by Ian Scott-Kilvert. London: Penguin, 1980.
Rowe, Christopher, and Malcolm Schofield, eds. Greek and Roman Political Thought. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2005.
“On Clemency.” In Stoic Philosophy of Seneca: Essays and Letters. Translated by Moses Hadas. New York: Norton, 1981.

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