as a generic term;44 as intending Pompey to fulfil the role of princeps
(Meyer);45 as at any rate suggesting that the state needed one man either to set right its wrongs and then retire into private life (see Gage)46 or to exercise a permanent but not precisely explained influence on government (this is Magdelain's contention).47
The terms by which Cicero denotes political leadership are many —
princeps, moderator, rector, etc. — but the difficulty lies in deciding
how these terms, which may have a variety of meanings, are being used in any context. Yet it is important to note that the words frequently appearing in association do gain a certain stability of meaning in
similar contexts. Thus we find that
il termine princeps e presente in tutto lo sviluppo unitario del pensiero politico ciceroniano a partire da questo momento
(the composition of De Rep. 2.51) come perfetto equivalente degli altri termini con cui si designa l ’uomo politico.48
Princeps can nevertheless have two basic meanings, the one indicating
superiority of rank, the traditional epithet applied, for example, to a leading figure in the Senate, the other signifying priority of
initiative, and so appropriate to one who acts on his own, and not as 49
part of the government.
The earliest coherent accounts of the princeps appear in the De
Oratore, and have often been used to support the view that what Cicero
is referring to is an actual head of state, with a particular and
precise position in the government, but this is hard to substantiate, as the expression associated with it (auctor consili publici) is elsewhere combined with senator bonus (e.g. in De Orat. 1.215) and so Cicero is
44 R. Heinze, 'Ciceros "Staat" als politische Tendenzschrift', Hermes, 59 (1924), 73-94.
45 Eduard Meyer, Caesars Monarchie und das Principat des Pompe jus (3rd ed., Stuttgart-Berlin, 1922, reprinted Wissenschaftliche Buchgesell schaft, Darmstadt, 1963), esp. p.l89ff.
46 J. Gage, 'De Cesar ä Auguste', RH, 177 (1936), 279-342, esp. p.324.
47 Andre Magdelain, Auctoritas principis (Les Beiles Lettres, Paris,
1947), Chapter One.
48 Ettore Lepore, It princeps, p.34.
49 See Hendrik Wagenvoort, 'Princeps', P h, 91 (1936), 208-21 and 323-45, and note also Lepore, Il princeps, pp.35-6.
probably not hinting here at an outstanding individual acting on his own
authority.50 To accept that Cicero was not contemplating absolute rule
by an individual prinoeps either within the framework of the
constitution or outside it does not mean, however, also denying his concern to emphasize the importance that one respected citizen could have for affairs of state, even if simply by way of example.
When we come to the De Republica, we need to consider Cicero's intention in each section and in particular to distinguish between those places where the ideal civis is presented, especially with Scipio as model (e.g. in Book Six and the end of Book Two and what remains of Book
Five), and the so-called excursus on monarchy (Book One, 54-65). Pöschl
tends to discuss this section as if it were on the same basis as the other arguments given for one-man rule, or the preceding constitutional discussion, which approach Lepore rightly, it seems, rejects.51 He holds that here we have an account of a different order, which is not looking at the dictatorship for instance as the embodiment of the royal
qualities idealized in the abstract. The excursus on kingship might
seem to deal unambiguously with the rex whom the Romans knew only as the unmourned kings of their ancient history, but the influence here is probably from political theory, in particular from Academic and Old Stoic sources. Here 'non si fa ancora sentire prepotente l ’attrazione pratica delle monarchie ellenistiche e 1*influenza della loro
propaganda' .5 2
The figure of the princeps appears in the rest of the De Repvblica
with a number of associated terms and differing connotations, but though
L. Brutus, for example, auctor et princeps (2.46), and Plato, princeps
ille (2.21), are instances of men leading by priority in initiative,
50 As Lepore, 11 princeps, points out, p.49, and see as well pp.46-8 for his arguments against Wagenvoort on this.
51 ' In 1 , 60 la necessitä dell’ unum imperium ha, a nostro awiso, identico valore generale di necessitä di un fondamento unitario
teoretico principio dell’ ordinamento della res publica, senza ehe se ne possa ne debba ricercare 1* incarnazione istituzionale prammatica, sia essa la monarchia storica, la dictatura, o qualsiasi altra', Lepore, II princeps, p.91. Cf. Viktor Pöschl, Römischer Staat und griechisches Staatsdenken bei Cicero (Berlin, 1936, reprinted Wissenschaftliche Buch gesellschaft, Darmstadt, 1962), pp.30-35.
they are hardly helpful in showing what Cicero had in mind for his elusive 'statesman'. More useful are the titles which appear in discussions on the search for the leading man — tutor and procurator
(2.51), rector (2.51; 5.6; 6.1; 6.13), moderator (1.45; 5.8), gubemator (1.45, in gubernanda re publica; cf. 1.52 virtute vero gubernante r.p.), conservator (2.46, in conservanda libertate; 6.13, conservatores; 2.64 and 1.12, conservare) , paene divinus vir, summus vir, vir ingenio et virtute praestans53 (1.45, 54; 2.46) prudensSk (2.67). These terms occurring in a variety of texts can be more easily explained as the equivalent of the tcoAl t l m o s of Greek theory than as uniformly pointing to an absolute ruler.55 Scipio Africanus is told of the reward that
53 Lepore concludes on praestans vir: 'Vedremo ... che da questo