Abstract
The Roman philosopher and statesman Cicero was the most eminent pagan whose work on political ideas was available and known to the Latin Middle Ages. His ideas about the natural foundations of society and politics, natural law, and the best regime were widely debated and interpreted. Among the authors who read and interpreted his thought were John of Salisbury, Brunetto Latini, Thomas Aquinas, John of Paris, Ptolemy of Lucca, and Marsiglio of Padua. Even after the reception of Aristotle’s political philosophy in the middle of the thirteenth century, Cicero continued to be an influential figure.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Similar content being viewed by others
Bibliography
Primary Sources
Cicero. (1913). De officiis (trans: Miller, W.). Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Cicero. (1928). De re publica and De legibus (trans: Keyes, C. W.). Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Cicero. (1949). De inventione (trans: Hubbell, H. M.). Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
John of Paris. (1974). On royal and papal power (trans: Monahan, A.). New York: Columbia University Press.
John of Salisbury. (1957). Metalogicon (trans: McGarry, D. D.). Berkeley: University of California Press.
John of Salisbury. (1992). Policraticus (trans: Nederman, C. J.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Latini, B. (1993). The book of the treasure (trans: Barrette, P. & Baldwin, S.). New York: Garland.
Marsilius of Padua. (2000). The defender of peace (trans: Gewirth, A.). New York: Columbia University Press.
Ptolemy of Lucca. (1997). On the rule of Princes (trans: Blythe, J.). Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.
Secondary Sources
Baron, H. In search of Florentine civic humanism (2 vols). Princeton: Princeton University Press.
Colish, M. (1990). The stoic tradition from antiquity to the early Middle Ages (2nd ed., 2 vols). Leiden: Brill.
Hankins, J. (Ed.). (2000). Renaissance civic humanism. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Kempshall, M. S. (2001). De re publica I.39 in Medieval and renaissance political thought. In J. G. F. Powell & J. A. North (Eds.), Cicero’s republic (pp. 99–135). London: Institute of Classical Studies.
Lachaud, F. (2010). L’Éthique du pouvoir au Moyen Âge. Paris: Classiques Garnier.
Nederman, C. J. (1997). Medieval Aristotelianism and its limits. London: Ashgate/Variorum.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2020 Springer Nature B.V.
About this entry
Cite this entry
Nederman, C.J. (2020). Cicero in Political Philosophy. In: Lagerlund, H. (eds) Encyclopedia of Medieval Philosophy. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-024-1665-7_126
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-024-1665-7_126
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-94-024-1663-3
Online ISBN: 978-94-024-1665-7
eBook Packages: Religion and PhilosophyReference Module Humanities and Social SciencesReference Module Humanities