Evaluation
Does Cicero have a consistent position on humanitas? He earns that credential reasonably well with respect to the punishment and legal themes, but not with respect to universalism.
I think however that a distinction should be drawn between different Ciceronian genres. He is a model universalist in his philosophical and epistolary works. Witness Off. 1.50-52, Ad Q.fr. I 1. But in his court speeches he tunes in to his audience. Public opinion was not quite sure where it stood with reference to non-Romans. As will be demonstrated in our next chapter, second-century brutality towards subjects eventually forced people to think about the responsibilities of empire. But backsliding in individual cases was never eliminated. As a court practitioner—and a politician using the courts as his media—Cicero could not refuse to capitalise on ambivalence.
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- CONTENTS
- The Measure of Recovery
- Dworkin’s Reply to the Sceptic Considered
- Introduction