Cícero, Homo Platonicus: a recepção do pensamento platônico no De Legibus

the reception of platonic thought in De Legibus

Abstract

The present investigation aims to develop an analysis of Cicero's De Legibus in light of Plato's political philosophy. Alongside adopting titles identical to those used by Plato in his two mature works (The Republic and The Laws), Cicero interacts with Platonic concepts, approaching some and distancing himself from others. Cicero adopts philosophical dialogue over an approach in the form of long treatises. Although inspired by the Hellenistic philosophical echoes that flooded the intellectual class of the late Roman Republic at the time, Cicero creates his own philosophy with his eyes turned to Roman reality. Following a trend that runs through all his work, Cicero seeks to integrate Roman tradition with Greek philosophy. Cicero draws on the philosophical basis of law 

derived from the right reason inherent in human nature to build a just and effective republic for his present and future. However, Cicero does not present himself as a mere repeater of the thinking developed by the Greek philosophical schools, but interacts directly with Plato by bringing into his dialogue on laws passages and conceptual insights provided by Plato's Laws. The idea that Roman laws could have the cosmic and rational dimension of the laws proposed by philosophers will be embraced and developed by Cicero. Many commentators on Cicero have identified in his work the adoption of Stoic thought, neglecting a more accurate reading to identify a greater conceptual proximity between the elements brought up in De Legibus and those defended by the foreign Athenians in Plato's Laws. This paper aims to make a comparative reading between both works from the maturity of Cicero and Plato. Although it has come down to us in an incomplete form, De Legibus represents a milestone in the formation of the Western legal tradition, and it is mistaken to read Cicero as a mere repeater of Greek Stoic philosophy.