The ancient Roman philosopher is often attributed to the phrase that the fate of the state can be predicted for the development of its legislation. We checked whether such an attribution is correct.
Although this quote can be found on several sites with collections of aphorisms (for example, "Pearls of thought" And Socratify.net), she gained particular popularity in social networks and on the blog platforms. Separate users and entire publics often lead to the allegedly the saying of Cicero in publications criticizing a particular legislative initiative. Similar examples can be easily found in "VKontakte", Facebook, "Classmates", Twitter And Instagram, on Pikabu, Livejournal And Reddit.
Judging by the search for Google, this “statement of Cicero” is known not so long ago. His earliest references can be found in 2017, and on resources that can hardly be called specializing in ancient philosophy. Probably for the first time, this phrase attributed The philosopher is a certain Gennady Bay in the essay "Inter -competitive knot" on the website Proza.ru. It was actively distributed next year, when numerous publications appeared in Facebook, "VKontakte" And Twitter.
IN Works We could not find Cicero a quote about the dependence between the quality of laws and the close destruction of the state. It is not mentioned by authoritative scientists engaged in antiquity, or authors of comments on the texts of the philosopher. When searching for similar phrases in English, mention in serious sources also could not be found - it is mainly found on sites with collections of quotes, forums and social networks.
It is possible that the phrase attributed to Ciceron is a distorted quote from the composition of another ancient author, the historian of Tacitus. In his Annals Found Expression Corruptissima Re Publica Plurimae Leges. His Translated differently, among the options: “Most of the laws were issued in the days of the greatest turmoil in the republic”, “In the most spoiled state, the most laws” and “The closer the state to the fall, the more laws are in it.”
Photo on the cover: C. McCari. Cicero makes a speech against Catilina (1888)
Incorrect attribution of quote
- Cicero. A collection of works
- Tacitus. Annals
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