# On the Republic (Cicero, tr. Featherstonhaugh)

Publication title: "The Republic of Cicero". Other titles: "De re publica", "The Republic".
THE
REPUBLIC OF CICERO,
TRANSLATED FROM THE LATIN;
AND ACCOMPANIED WITH A
CRITICAL AND HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION,
BY
G. W. FEATHERSTONHAUGH, Esq. FELLOW OF THE GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF LONDON ; OF THE AMERICAN PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY ; OF THE LYCEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY OF NEW-YORK, &c. &c, &c.
NEW-YORK :
PUBLISHED BY G. & C. CARVILL, 108 BROADWAY. 1829.
SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW-YORK, ss.
Be it remembered, that on the 23d day of January, A. D. 1829, in the fifty-third year of the Independence of the United States of America, G. & C. Carvill, of the said district, hath deposited in this office the title of a book, the right whereof they claim as proprietors, in the words following, to wit:
“The Republic of Cicero, translated from the Latin; and accompanied with a Critical and Historical Introduction. By G. W. Featherstonhaugh, Esq., Fellow of the Geological Society of London; of the American Philosophical Society; of the Lyceum of Natural History of New-York, &c. &c. &c.”
In conformity to the Act of Congress of the United States, entitled, “An Act for the encouragement of learning, by securing the copies of maps, charts, and books, to the authors and proprietors of such copies, during the times therein mentioned;” and also, to an Act, entitled, “An Act, supplementary to an Act, entitled an Act for the encouragement of learning, by securing the copies of maps, charts, and books, to the authors and proprietors of such copies, during the times therein mentioned, and extending the benefits thereof to the arts of designing, engraving, and etching historical and other prints.”
FRED. I. BETTS,
Clerk of the Southern District of New-York.
ER­RATA.
In­tro­duc­tion, p. 22, line 12, dele “then.” Do. p. 27, line 16, for “re­quires,” read “re­quire.”
Sleight & George, Print­ers, Ja­maica, L. I.
TO
RODERICK IMPEY MURCHISON, Esq. F. R. S., F. G. S., &c. &c. &c.
I dedicate these pages to you, my dear Murchison, that you may have a renewed assurance of my great esteem and friendship for you. I should have had a livelier satisfaction in doing so, if the part I have had in the production of them, were more worthy of your refined taste. I hope to offer some compensation, however, in the assurance, that you will find in them many congenial opinions and principles.
G. W. Featherstonhaugh.
New-York, January 21, 1829.
PREFACE.
I AM not aware that any translation of the Republic of Cicero into the English tongue has been made.
Believing that it cannot but excite a deep interest with generous minds, as well on account of the high nature of the subject, the illustrious name of Cicero, as of the great motives which led him to compose this work, I venture to offer a translation of it to the public.
In this extensive republic, where every individual reads, it appears peculiarly proper, that an English dress should be given to a work, of which almost every page teaches that public happiness depends upon individual virtue.
​Cicero’s definition of a republic, that it is an association of the people for the defence and advancement of the common interest; will be understood here, which may be doubtingly said of any other republics now in existence.
A bare translation of the fragments of this mutilated work, unassisted by any commentary, could not but have been unsatisfactory. The deficiencies of the original are somewhat compensated to us, not alone in the grandeur of thought which pervades it, but in the majesty of diction, precise, elevated, as it frequently is, and always governed by the most refined taste. It would be a vain effort to attempt the dignity of the Latin tongue, when adorned with the elegancies of the Ciceronian style. Humbly as the translation may deserve to be considered, it will perhaps be deemed sufficiently faithful: and that the translator has not altogether ​failed in pointing out to grave and reflecting minds, the immediate cause of the ruin of a noble Republic.
He has therefore prefixed a brief historical introduction; the which, whether it will be thought too long, or not sufficiently detailed, will probably depend upon the reader’s historical recollections. The motive for drawing it up was to render the work more generally useful and acceptable.
CONTENTS
* Dedication................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................iii
* Preface................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................v
* Introduction................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................1
* The Republic of Cicero.
* Book I................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................33
* Book II................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................79
* Book III................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................115
* Book IV................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................131
* Book V................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................133
* Book VI................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................137