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The Importance of Marcus Tullius Cicero

February 25, 2013 By 4 Comments
Brad Birzer Cicero

Bradley J. Birzer

by Bradley J. Birzer

How do I define the Natural Law?  Taking my cue from Cicero–especially from On the Republic, On Duties, and On the Laws–I can state that Natural Law theory argues that there is a supreme being who holds everything together through his love or his force or his will or whatever it might be that moves him.  His will then radiates into time and creation, thus holding all things together in a brotherhood and sisterhood under his parentage.  He bestows dignity upon us by shining a part of his light into us.  We, though understanding through a glass darkly, perceive only very small parts of the infinite.  We perceive them by looking behind us, discerning what should be inherited and what should be discarded, and we look forward, deciding what should be promoted and what should be forsaken.  Through it all, we anchor our understanding to the transcendent, thus preventing any single one of us from proclaiming the status of law giver or law maker.  We are, instead, poetically, discoverers of Natural Law.  Never creators but always discoverers.  By definition, the natural law must already exist, but through our various gifts and perceptions, we see dimly and partially what has been forgotten or never been seen before. (See end note information on forum for this lecture.*) [Read more...]

Filed Under: Bradley J. Birzer, Cicero, Classical Learning, Forrest McDonald, Homer, Iliad, Liberal Learning, Natural Law, Plato, Russell Kirk February 25, 2013

The Necessity of Stories

December 26, 2012 By 1 Comment

by Bradley J. Birzer

Last week, two of my Twitter friends (and friends of TIC: @hencole and @Sir_Geechie) were happily discussing the 1965 Russell Kirk piece on Malcolm X; the one Winston graciously posted.

willsonAfter @henrole called it a birthday gift of sorts, @Sir_Geechie replied, “You know folks want narrative not knowledge.”

I have found each of these men to be founts of wisdom and friendship, even if we are limited to 140 characters per thought. Sadly, due to grading and other inconveniences of life, I didn’t have time to ask Sir Geechie to elaborate. I still hope I get the chance to do so. Regardless, his point intrigued me. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Aeneas, Anthony Esolen, Bradley J. Birzer, Cicero, Conservatism, George Washington, John Willson, Leviathan, Richard Nixon, Western Civilization, Western Tradition December 26, 2012

We Retain the word Republic; Long After We Have Lost the Reality

October 27, 2012 By 3 Comments
cicero republic

Cicero

Long before our own time, the customs of our ancestors moulded admirable men, and in turn these eminent men upheld the ways and institutions of their forebears. Our age, however, inherited the Republic like some beautiful painting of bygone days, its colors already fading through great age; and not only has our time neglected to freshen the colors of the picture, but we have failed to preserve its form and outlines. For what remains to us, nowadays, of the ancient ways on which the commonwealth, we are told, was founded? We see them so lost in oblivion that they are not merely neglected, but quite forgot. And what am I to say of the men? For our customs have perished for want of men to stand by them, and we are now called to an account, so that we stand impeached like men accused of capital crimes, compelled to plead our own cause. Through our vices, rather than from happenstance, we retain the word “republic” long after we have lost the reality.

–Cicero, De Re Publica [Read more...]

Filed Under: American Republic, Cicero, Quotes, Republicanism October 27, 2012

Cicero on Generosity

January 15, 2012 By 1 Comment
Cicero

Cicero

by Sean Busick

A few of Cicero’s thoughts on generosity.

“Whereas one’s purse must not be tightly closed against every generous inclination, it must also not be opened so wide that its contents are available to everybody and anybody.”

“Those who have got accustomed to being subsidized are bound to want more.”

“Nothing wins so much gratitude and enthusiasm as generosity (applied with discrimination.)”

From On the Good Life, translated by Michael Grant, Penguin Classics edition. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Cicero, Sean Busick January 15, 2012

Reading Cicero’s On Old Age; At Any and Every Age

December 7, 2011 By 3 Comments
cicero

Cicero

by Robert M. Woods

Among the many readings that Dr. James Schall recommends, he places special emphasis on the value of reading Cicero’s “On Old Age.” Schall suggests that this should be read “preferably before old age.” Starting this year, I am having my Great Books Honors students read this work and discuss it. We have already had a most enjoyable and fruitful conversation. Mind you that I am blessed to have fourteen, 18 year old Christian students who have actually read this work and genuinely desire to read such works and think through them together.

I asked them to consider the possible value of reading this work while being “so far from old age.” The response was instant and verified the students had not only read it, they were engaged with the rich truths present. Even when Cicero speaks of that out dated notion of “character” (319), the students seemed particularly engaged. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Cicero, Liberal Learning, Robert M. Woods December 7, 2011

A Conservatism of Hope: Response from the trenches

October 20, 2011 By 2 Comments

by John Barnes 

A response to “A Conservatism of Hope? Still?”

hope“The greatest is love,” we are told. “The most difficult is hope,” we could also say.

The view from the public policy world is increasingly grim, I confess.  Mark Steyn, commenting on the sad ensemble constituting the GOP presidential field, captured the problem recently:

“It’s very depressing that in the debates so far there’s no sense, from either the questions or the answers, of the urgency of the situation. On every meaningful indicator, this country is accelerating toward the cliff. If the multi-trillion debt pile-up is not halted and dramatically reversed within the next presidential term, America will slip too far too fast to recover within its present political arrangements. Were the nominating process to fail this time round (as it did in 2008) it would be not merely a disappointment but an existential threat. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Cicero, Conservatism, John Barnes, Politics, Russell Kirk October 20, 2011

A Conservatism of Hope?

October 19, 2011 By 3 Comments
cicero

Cicero

by Winston Elliott III

I am yearning for conservative voices offering great depth, thoughtfulness, and dare we say, grace. Is it possible to be strong in conservative principles and to present those principles in a manner which is attractive, persuasive and genuine? Where is our American Cicero? Is there hope for the American Republic? Perhaps. As Russell Kirk said: “A conservatism of instinct must be reinforced by a conservatism of thought and imagination.” The Imaginative Conservative will continue to present a conservatism of thought and imagination in the hope of preserving the best of the Western tradition and restoring the virtue of our Republic. Let us commence, and let us pray.


“Long before our own time, the customs of our ancestors moulded admirable men, and in turn these eminent men upheld the ways and instituions of their forebears.  Our age, however, inherited the Republic like some beautiful painting of bygone days, its colors already fading through great age; and not only has our time neglected to freshen the colors of the picture, but we have failed to preserve its form and outlines. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Cicero, Conservatism, Russell Kirk, Winston Elliott III October 19, 2011

Cicero on Customs and the Republic

March 3, 2011 By 3 Comments

 

cicero

Cicero

Long before our own time, the customs of our ancestors moulded admirable men, and in turn these eminent men upheld the ways and institutions of their forebears. Our age, however, inherited the Republic like some beautiful painting of bygone days, its colors already fading through great age; and not only has our time neglected to freshen the colors of the picture, but we have failed to preserve its form and outlines. For what remains to us, nowadays, of the ancient ways on which the commonwealth, we are told, was founded? We see them so lost in oblivion that they are not merely neglected, but quite forgot. And what am I to say of the men? For our customs have perished for want of men to stand by them, and we are now called to an account, so that we stand impeached like men accused of capital crimes, compelled to plead our own cause. Through our vices, rather than from happenstance, we retain the word “republic” long after we have lost the reality.

                –Cicero, De Re Publica [Read more...]

Filed Under: Cicero, Quotes March 3, 2011

The Old Republic, Part II

November 23, 2010 By Leave a Comment
republic

St. Paul

By Bradley J. Birzer

As Cicero watched his own republic descend into chaos and madness, he recorded as quickly as he could the most important aspects of the Roman Republic, preserved if not in temporal reality, than in poetry, history, and memory.

Famously, he wrote (quoted by our patron Winston often):

Ancestral morality provided outstanding men, and great men preserved the morality of old and the institutions of our ancestors. But our own time, having inherited the commonwealth like a wonderful picture that had faded over time, not only has failed to renew its original colors but has not even taken the trouble to preserve at least its shape and outlines. What remains of the morals of antiquity, upon which Ennius said that the Roman state stood? We see that they are so outworn in oblivion that they are not only not cherished but are now unknown. What am I sot say about the men? The morals themselves have passed away through a shortage of men; and we must not only render an account of such an evil, but in a sense we must defend ourselves like people being tried for a capital crime. It is because of our vices, not because of some bad luck, that we preserve the commonwealth in name alone but have long ago lost its substance. [Cicero, On the Commonwealth, Book 5; Cambridge Texts] [Read more...]

Filed Under: Bradley J. Birzer, Christendom, Cicero, Republicanism, St. Augustine, St. Paul November 23, 2010