How The Works of Cicero drew on The Republic
A documented line of influence: Marcus Tullius Cicero demonstrably engaged Plato’s work. The commentary below is Gröblé’s, verbatim from each work’s page.
The source
The Republic
Plato · c. 375 BCE
Ancient GreeceThe influenced
The Works of Cicero
Marcus Tullius Cicero · c. 50 BCE
Ancient RomeRelevance
9/10
On The Works of Cicero’s page
- Cicero's De Re Publica is built on the Republic by design — he borrowed its title, its six books, and its dialogue form to write Rome's answer to Plato
- The Dream of Scipio that crowns it is a direct remaking of the Republic's Myth of Er, Plato's afterlife vision recast for a Roman statesman
- Read Plato first and Cicero's frame snaps into focus — you can see exactly what he's adapting and what he changes to make it Roman
On The Republic’s page
- The blueprint for Cicero's De Re Publica — same title, same six-book span, same dialogue form, remade for Rome
- Cicero capped his version with the Dream of Scipio, a direct adaptation of the Republic's closing Myth of Er: where Plato sent a soul back from the afterlife with a vision of cosmic justice, Cicero sends Scipio
- One of the cleanest cases of a Roman taking a Greek masterwork as a template and rebuilding it in his own idiom