Ciceronian Conservatism and the Rise of Caesarism
From the Postmodern Conservative blog at First Things:
"Cicero’s implicit warning was to watch what could become of the Republic. In thinking through Cicero as an inspiration for conservatism, what it means for an orator to serve ethically begins with the setting of an example. Cato’s prosecution was something like a “systematic philosophy” and a rigid, purified ethic to the demands of “reason.” By contrast, Cicero retorts that the Roman people inhabit a different, more comfortable ethical world where duties are understood in relation to a realistic assessment of occasions and situations. Such is a political ethic conveyed through tradition and connected to a living culture. Thus traditions are living and a means for change is a means for conservation. The means for change, however, are “Ciceronian” in the resistance of turning idealism to formula and ideology and in the long-lived embodiment of sentiment. Causes of public decay were directly related to a decline of moral virtue. Cicero was not principally concerned in his rhetorical writings with the ethical formation of the private individual. He was concerned with a civic ideal whose dynamic was reflective of the republican constitution."
Cicero is arguably the most famous orator in all of western civilization's history. This particular blog outlines an interesting case that Cicero's "conservatism" in the wake of the calamities befalling the Roman Republic in his lifetime could prove an inexact, yet useful example of what we could aspire to now in our own trying times.
Cicero trumpted the Roman Republic and tactfully criticized both radicalism and rigidity. In the case cited here, Cicero actually is on the opposite side of Cato. Indeed, Cicero was not for rigidity as exemplified by the aristocratic and anti-democratic Cato, but he was equally disillusioned by the rabble rousing demagoguery of Julius Caesar and Mark Anthony (who was a contestent along with Octavian to be the political heir of Caesar). As we all well know, his criticisms of Anthony led to his untimely demise.
Ulitimately, Cicero was a supporter of flexibility within the context of traditional bonds. Not content to sit still and remain tethered to outmoded ways of living, he also was wary of radical breaks with tradition that could cause permanent rupture within a society.
I am not so sure Cicero was quite as Burkean as this blog almost alludes to implicitly. However, if so, he, like Burke can be a model for responsible conservatism in an age that needs tradition once more to avoid cultural decay.
Make no mistake if moral virtue declines, public decay is inevitable and so is Caesarism. Cicero's fight to preserve the Roman Republic was ultimately a failure. Julius Caesar ended the Republic due to its inability to withstand internal political cleavages and respond realistically to the challenges it faced. Caesar's adopted son (and biological nephew) Octavian would cement that end by becoming Augustus and heralding the Roman Empire. The Empire was built on the foundations of a republic that lost its way, lost its voice, and lost its freedom not due so much to the machinations of political opportunists, but because it became a culture incapable of self government due to a loss of virtue. Julius Caesar and Augustus merely completed what was already a fait accompli.
Cicero's failure was Rome's failure. At that point it had nowhere to go but into the hands of skillful leaders that understood the imperatives of power and were unwilling to watch Rome completely dissolve.
That final dissolution would have to wait nearly half a millenia, but the seeds were sown long before.
I am not suggesting that our time is an exact analogy to this ancient history, too many have made that facile case. However, it does serve as both an inspiration and a warning on what fates can befall a decayed culture.
"Cicero’s implicit warning was to watch what could become of the Republic. In thinking through Cicero as an inspiration for conservatism, what it means for an orator to serve ethically begins with the setting of an example. Cato’s prosecution was something like a “systematic philosophy” and a rigid, purified ethic to the demands of “reason.” By contrast, Cicero retorts that the Roman people inhabit a different, more comfortable ethical world where duties are understood in relation to a realistic assessment of occasions and situations. Such is a political ethic conveyed through tradition and connected to a living culture. Thus traditions are living and a means for change is a means for conservation. The means for change, however, are “Ciceronian” in the resistance of turning idealism to formula and ideology and in the long-lived embodiment of sentiment. Causes of public decay were directly related to a decline of moral virtue. Cicero was not principally concerned in his rhetorical writings with the ethical formation of the private individual. He was concerned with a civic ideal whose dynamic was reflective of the republican constitution."
Cicero is arguably the most famous orator in all of western civilization's history. This particular blog outlines an interesting case that Cicero's "conservatism" in the wake of the calamities befalling the Roman Republic in his lifetime could prove an inexact, yet useful example of what we could aspire to now in our own trying times.
Cicero trumpted the Roman Republic and tactfully criticized both radicalism and rigidity. In the case cited here, Cicero actually is on the opposite side of Cato. Indeed, Cicero was not for rigidity as exemplified by the aristocratic and anti-democratic Cato, but he was equally disillusioned by the rabble rousing demagoguery of Julius Caesar and Mark Anthony (who was a contestent along with Octavian to be the political heir of Caesar). As we all well know, his criticisms of Anthony led to his untimely demise.
Ulitimately, Cicero was a supporter of flexibility within the context of traditional bonds. Not content to sit still and remain tethered to outmoded ways of living, he also was wary of radical breaks with tradition that could cause permanent rupture within a society.
I am not so sure Cicero was quite as Burkean as this blog almost alludes to implicitly. However, if so, he, like Burke can be a model for responsible conservatism in an age that needs tradition once more to avoid cultural decay.
Make no mistake if moral virtue declines, public decay is inevitable and so is Caesarism. Cicero's fight to preserve the Roman Republic was ultimately a failure. Julius Caesar ended the Republic due to its inability to withstand internal political cleavages and respond realistically to the challenges it faced. Caesar's adopted son (and biological nephew) Octavian would cement that end by becoming Augustus and heralding the Roman Empire. The Empire was built on the foundations of a republic that lost its way, lost its voice, and lost its freedom not due so much to the machinations of political opportunists, but because it became a culture incapable of self government due to a loss of virtue. Julius Caesar and Augustus merely completed what was already a fait accompli.
Cicero's failure was Rome's failure. At that point it had nowhere to go but into the hands of skillful leaders that understood the imperatives of power and were unwilling to watch Rome completely dissolve.
That final dissolution would have to wait nearly half a millenia, but the seeds were sown long before.
I am not suggesting that our time is an exact analogy to this ancient history, too many have made that facile case. However, it does serve as both an inspiration and a warning on what fates can befall a decayed culture.
Comments