The Treatises of Cicero Group

Question:

evemshepard
evemshepard
Student
College - Sophomore

How do Cicero's actions and values affect us and what influence do you think he had on the writing of the "Declaration of Independence"?

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Posted by evemshepard on Monday July 21, 2008 at 5:53 AM and tagged with actions, cicero, the treatises of cicero, values.

Answers:


  1. gbeatty Teacher
    College - Freshman

    eNotes Editor

    A great question with a sad answer, at least in part. Cicero's actions and values affect the vast majority of people today not at all. Why? Because they don't know anything about him. He's unknown to the average citizen. Should he be known? Absolutely. His own virtue, and his arguments for the need of a dedicated citizenship to devote themselves to their country, provide powerful models for virtuous action. He was an inspiration to the founding fathers, and could be to us. As far as the Declaration, Jefferson rejected Cicero's call for a state religion, but formed his ideas in opposition to it. His discussion of the erosion of the Roman Republic led the founding fathers to want to protect our emerging republic.

    Sources:
    http://blog.mises.org/archives/002917.asp
    http://books.google.com/books?id=3xVZfXfAPy8C&pg=PA16...

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    Posted by gbeatty on Sunday August 24, 2008 at 6:20 PM