De legibus

Title: De legibus
Work type: Cicero - I - Works
Description:

The De legibus fits into the Ciceronian productions as a philosophical-political work in the form of dialogue. We have received it incomplete: the first three books of it have survived with lacunae.

The dialogue has Cicero himself, his brother, Quintus, and his friend, Atticus, as interlocuters, and is set in the villa at Arpinum, near the Liri River. Of particular interest in the work on the philosophical level is Cicero’s discussion of the concept of ” law of nature and natural law” to support his proposals for legislation and, on the legal-historical level, his examination and comments on numerous Roman laws that make the work a rich witness to the history of institutions and of public law, civil and religious, at Rome, with many references to Cicero’s contemporary political context.
[Fausto Pagnotta – translation Tom Frazel]


Keywords: Droit - Diritto - Law, Histoire - Storia - History, Politique - Politica - Politics, Religion - Religione - Religion
Historical references:

The date is uncertain, however today it is a widely accepted hypothesis that the composition of the De legibus falls to the years 53-51 BC: Cicero would have interrupted its composition due to his departure for the proconsulship in Cilicia (on the problem of date of the work see, for a complete and
updated bibliography, Ephemerides Tullianae. edited by E. Malaspina).
[Fausto Pagnotta – transl. Tom Frazel]


Bibliography: