Abstract

This paper argues that Cicero develops a new view of the state as a partnership in his work De republica. Like any other partnership, the Roman state is upheld by the agreement of its members and an allocation of rewards that is proportionate to the contributions. Cicero sketches an outline of this view in his definition of this state. By focusing on how Cicero uses the definition in the construction of his argument, the paper attempts to uncover a detailed view of the state as a partnership. The ancestral Roman constitution, Cicero argues, surpasses all other constitutions in offering the best division of contributions and rewards. Although the state is held together by the agreement of the whole people, there is an enormous disparity in the assessment of contributions and rewards among different social groups