Marcus Tullius Cicero: The Laws
From Marcus Tullius Cicero, De legibus libri, ed. J. Vahlen (Berlin: F. Vahlenum, 1883; I, vi, 18–19, I, xi, 33; II, iv, 9–v, 13) trans. Henry A. Myers. Dialogue-personage names omitted.
Questions to think about:
· Why does Cicero consider Natural Law to have greater power than man-made law? Do you agree or disagree? Why?
· Why do you suppose that most twentieth-century lawyers prefer not to argue their cases in terms of Natural Law?
· Can you think of some ways that Cicero’s Natural Law (or his other ideas on law, justice, and liberty) might have influenced the Founding Fathers of the U.S.? (Think about the Constitution, Declaration of Independence, etc.)
· What Stoic ideas appear in this passage? (Underline specific sections.)
Those learned men appear to be right who say that law is the highest reason implanted in Nature, which commands what should be done and prohibits what should not be: when this same reason takes root and develops in the human mind it is law. Thus they consider law to be intelligence which has the power to command people to do what is right and to refrain from what is wrong.... The way Nature has made us lets us share the concept of justice with each other and pass it on to all men.... Those human beings to whom Nature gave reason were also give right reason in matters of command and prohibition....
From the time we were children, we have been calling rules that begin: "If a man makes a complaint in court" and similar things by the name "laws." It would be good now if we could establish that with commands to do things or refrain from doing them nations apply the power to steer people towards doing the right things and away from committing crimes; however, this power is not only older than peoples and governments but is of the same age as the God who protects and rules both Heaven and earth. You see, the divine mind cannot exist without reason, and divine reason must have the power to sanction what is right and wrong.
Nothing was ever written to say that one man alone on a bridge should face massed, armed forces of enemies and command the bridge behind him to be destroyed, but that fact should not mislead us into thinking that [Horatius] Cocles was not following to the utmost the law which summons us to deeds of bravery. If there has been no written law in Rome against rape back when Lucius Tarquin ruled as king, that would not mean that Sextus Tarquin was not breaking that eternal law when he took Lucretia by force.... The fact is that reason did exist, a gift of Nature, calling upon man to do right and abstain from wrong. It did not begin to be law when it first came into being, which it did at the same time as the divine mind.... The varied ordinances formulated for monetary needs of the peoples bear the name "laws" through being so favored by conventional usage rather than because they are really laws.... Men introduced such laws to insure the protection of citizens and states, as well as the peaceful and happy lot of mankind. Those who originated these sanctions persuaded their people that what they were writing down and putting into effect would—if the people lived by them—give them happiness and honor. When these sanctions were formulated and went into effect they were indeed called "laws."
How about all the pernicious and pestilential bits of legislation which nations have been known to enact? These no more deserve the name "laws" than the agreements that gangs of robbers might make among themselves. We know that if ignorant and inexperienced men should recommend poisons instead of medicines with the power to heal these would not be called "physicians’ prescriptions." In the same way, nothing causing injury should be called a "law," no matter how it may have been enacted by a state or how the people may accept it. Thus we find that law reflects justice, distinct from injustice, and comes from that most ancient and rightfully dominant of all things: Nature, which all human laws reflect when they punish evildoers while defending and protecting good people.
Some other Cicero quotations:
On Justice:
Justice is the crowning glory of the virtues.
Justice consists in doing no injury to men…
Justice is the set and constant purpose which gives every man his due.
The foundations of justice are that no one should suffer wrong; then, that the public good be promoted.
…justice must be observed even to the lowest.
Justice extorts no reward, no kind of price; she is sought…for her own sake.
Extreme justice is extreme injustice.
If our lives are endangered by plots or violence…any and every method of protecting ourselves is morally right.
On Law:
True law is right reason in agreement with nature; it is of universal application…
The welfare of the people is the ultimate law.
The precepts of the law are: to live honestly, to injure no one, and to give everyone else his due.
According to the law of nature it is only fair that no one should become richer through damages and injuries suffered by another.
The strictest law often causes the most serious wrong.
The more laws, the less justice.
…the arrogance of officialdom should be tempered and controlled…
When a government becomes powerful…it is an usurper which takes bread from innocent mouths and deprives honorable men of their substance for votes with which to perpetuate itself.
On Liberty:
We are in bondage to the law so that we might be free.
The essence of liberty is to live as you choose.
Freedom is a man’s natural power of doing what he pleases, so far as he is not prevented by force or law.
Freedom is a possession of inestimable value.
What is so beneficial to the people as liberty…to be preferred to all things.
Freedom suppressed again, and again regained, bites with keener fangs than freedom never endangered.
Only in states in which the power of the people is supreme has liberty any abode.
Peace is liberty in tranquility. Servitude is the worst of all evils, to be resisted not only by war, but even by death.