Marcus Tullius Cicero—Concept of Justice founded on natural law

In Cicero, we find a great Roman statesman and an eminent political thinker whose De Republica (the Republic or the Commonwealth, the ideal state) combines the ideals of Plato’s Republic and Aristotle’s Politics and is comparable to both. His other book, De Legibus (The Laws) provided the type of legal system that his ideal state would require. Cicero wrote when the republican constitution of Rome was under threat and tension between monarchical (Caesar and consul) and aristocratic (senate) elements were on high. His times (106–43 BC) coincided with that of Caius Julius Caesar (101–44 BC). We can imagine Cicero speaking in the senate when Pompey, having provoked Julius Caesar who was camping in Gaul to cross the Rubicon with his army, was seeking the support of the Senate. Cicero must have been witness to the decline of the republican Rome, dictatorial rise of Caius Julius Caesar and Cleopatra being established as queen of Egypt under the Roman suzerainty.

Cicero’s ideal of justice is contained in his idea of the commonwealth, i.e., the political community and natural law. He treats the commonwealth as ‘people’s affair’, i.e., affair of the ‘whole community of citizens’ and not of king or aristocracy or of democratic leadership. Commonwealth, to be a people’s affair, is ‘coming together of a considerable number of men who are united by a common agreement about law and rights and by the desire to participate in mutual advantage.’¹² Agreement about law and rights implies justice as law involves natural law and natural law is founded on justice. While for Plato, a just state could be one which is based on rule of philosophy, for Cicero it is a just state when it is capable of preserving the commonwealth as a ‘people’s affair’. Like Plato’s philosopher king, Cicero would like his statesman to know the nature and principle of justice. Cicero’s statesman seeks justice based on natural law, which is rule of moral reason and establishes unchangeable principles of justice. Cicero forcefully argued that a true commonwealth must realize justice.