Historical Context

Gaius Julius Caesar Octavian Augustus is a titanic figure in Roman history, the first emperor who modestly preferred to call himself "princeps" (first among equals), the chief architect of the principate regime, and the creator of the Roman Empire. In public consciousness, Octavian's main patron and mentor is considered to be his adoptive father, Gaius Julius Caesar, the dictator of the Roman Republic and "Father of the Fatherland." However, another "Father of the Fatherland," Marcus Tullius Cicero, also had a significant influence on the young Octavian. It was Cicero who first used the word "princeps" to denote the head of state. To fully understand the extent of Cicero's influence on Octavian, it is necessary to reveal the historical context of that era.

In 146 BC, the Roman Republic finally defeated Carthage, completely destroying the city and turning its territory into the province of Africa. The Republic was left without serious rivals in the Mediterranean, which exposed an internal threat of social conflict. The dominant position in Rome was held by the nobility class, which included the most influential and wealthy families of the Eternal City.

The Roman nobility was a closed social group formed from the patrician class and the wealthy part of the plebeian class, enriched through the ownership of large land holdings, exploitation of slaves, and plundering of provinces. The nobility sought to keep all the reins of power in their hands, thereby ensuring a monopoly on political power. Profits flowed abundantly, their people were in power, and there were no serious external opponents left—it seemed like a true idyll for the Roman ruling class.

The first to disturb the peace of the Roman nobility were its own representatives, the brothers Tiberius and Gaius Sempronius Gracchus, who were tribunes of the people in 134 and 121 BC, respectively. The brothers proposed agrarian reform projects that involved limiting the nobility's right to use "ager publicus" (public land), which potentially threatened the dominance of the Roman aristocracy and eased the plight of small landowners. Failing to find understanding in the Senate, the brothers turned to the popular assembly, finding support among, let's say, the common people of Rome. A serious civil conflict erupted in the city, escalating into street fights and the murder of Tiberius in 133 BC, followed by Gaius in 121 BC. This conflict defined two opposing camps—politicians representing the nobility and politicians representing the middle and lower classes, named optimates and populares by Theodor Mommsen, respectively—thus began the era of civil wars in Rome.

Over the following decades, the Republic was shaken by conflicts between these two parties, the most influential of which on the young Cicero were the wars between the optimate Sulla and the popular Marius (88–87 and 83–82 BC). Sulla then prevailed, appointed himself perpetual dictator, and organized bloody proscriptions—repressions against those who disagreed with the new power.

Youth and Rise of the Orator

The future great orator was born in 106 BC in the city of Arpinum, located in the modern region of Lazio, not far from Rome itself. Cicero, being a provincial, was by no means a commoner—his father belonged to the equestrian order and spared no expense on education and a good life for his children. When the boy turned 15, his father moved the family to Rome, where the future "Father of the Fatherland" was inspired to become a forensic orator—and achieved great success in this field. Cicero personally witnessed how republican institutions were perverted under Sulla, how blood flowed in the streets of the Eternal City, and how individuals seized more and more power—this could not but affect the political views of the young man, who possessed a sharp mind, excellent education, and the ability to deeply reflect on the surrounding reality.

Having survived Sulla's terror, Cicero gained popularity through his numerous public speeches in the Roman court. In fact, in those years he engaged in advocacy in the modern sense of the word and was able to earn the necessary social capital to enter politics. The cursus honorum ("ladder of offices") of the orator began with his election to the position of quaestor (treasurer) in 75 BC, and from then on, Cicero's fame only grew. After a high-profile anti-corruption case against the former Sullan Gaius Verres, Cicero earned a reputation as a fighter against corruption and the arbitrariness of the senatorial oligarchy. As a result, in 66 BC, he was elected praetor, and in 63 BC, he reached the pinnacle of the cursus honorum—the position of consul. Here, Cicero did not sit idle. Lucius Sergius Catiline also ran for the position of consul, who decided to organize a conspiracy to seize power. The troublemaker was exposed by Cicero in the famous four Catilinarian Orations—speeches against Catiline:

"How long, O Catiline, will you abuse our patience? How long will you mock us with your madness? To what extent will you flaunt your unbridled audacity?"

[Cicero, First Oration Against Catiline, I]

The conspiracy was crushed, and Catiline was executed—this was a true triumph for the orator, for which he was named "Father of the Fatherland." In the same year, a boy was born in the family of Senator Gaius Octavius, also named Gaius, and another Gaius—Gaius Julius Caesar—achieved his election as Pontifex Maximus, the head of the Roman religious cult.

In 60 BC, after Cicero's term of office had ended, a new serious political force emerged in the Republic—the triumvirate of Crassus, Pompey, and Caesar. The three politicians united to seize power and far surpassed the late Catiline in influence. The triumvirs, seeing Cicero as a potentially valuable ally, tried to win him over to their side, but the orator preferred exile to an alliance with them. Cicero witnessed Caesar's Gallic War, Crassus's death at Carrhae, and the civil war between Caesar and Pompey more as a passive observer than an active participant. From 60 to 44 BC, Cicero spent his time working on philosophical and political treatises, occasionally interrupting to participate in politics. During this time, Cicero was despondent, writing in his letters to friends about the "night of the Republic," the "death of the Republic," and was filled with pessimistic sentiments.

Cicero's Ideal State and Ideal Ruler

It was during this period that Cicero created the most interesting work from the perspective of our topic—"De re publica" (known in Russian as "On the State"). In this treatise, the political views of the great orator are most fully revealed. The work consists of a series of dialogues between Scipio Aemilianus Africanus and his guests, in which the interlocutors express their judgments on various political issues. Scipio cites three "pure" forms of government: democracy, aristocracy, and monarchy, considering none of them ideal, but only tolerable. Moreover, each form can degenerate: democracy into ochlocracy (mob rule), aristocracy into oligarchy, and monarchy into tyranny. This ancient Greek formula is familiar to many from school. Interestingly, the outstanding republican Cicero prefers monarchy among the three "pure" forms. However, the ideal state is formed through a fourth form, combining the virtues of all three "pure" forms and devoid of their shortcomings:

"...so that there is something outstanding and regal in the state, that some part of the power is allocated and entrusted to the authority of the leading men, and some matters are left to the judgment and will of the people."

[Cicero, On the State, I, 45]

According to Cicero, the Roman Republic of Scipio's time is the "state of the ancestors," which he considers ideal, and it skillfully combines elements of all three "pure" forms—an idea clearly borrowed from the Hellenistic historian of the 2nd century BC, Polybius. Soviet historian S. L. Utchenko suggested that Cicero's republic successfully combined the three "pure" forms from the end of the struggle between patricians and plebeians to the murder of the Gracchus brothers. In Cicero's view, the monarchical element was embodied by the consuls, the aristocratic by the Senate, and the democratic by the popular assemblies. During the period indicated by Cicero, these three elements were perfectly balanced, representing a prototype of a system of checks and balances. Regarding the ruling class, of which Cicero was a representative, the key idea was the identity of the Republic's interests with those of the Senate in alliance with the equestrians. Thus, the thinker clearly appealed to a return to the old ways.

Constantly observing attempts by various individuals to seize sole power, Cicero apparently reconciled himself to the inevitability of the emergence of a permanent head of state, and therefore decided to determine what kind of ruler he should be for the greatest benefit of the Eternal City. It is not entirely clear what conclusion the thinker reached. He certainly harbored deep antipathy towards the dictators Sulla and Caesar. Different researchers call Cicero's ideal an aristocratic reformer, a constitutional monarch, a just monarch, and so on. The author of this text suggests that the thinker dreamed of a just sole ruler under whose leadership Rome would overcome all the difficulties and hardships of that time. It can be said that under the pressure of the political reality of the Republic, Cicero's views became somewhat "monarchized." He called the potential ruler "rector rei publicae" (ruler of the Republic), sometimes replacing it with the familiar term "princeps." Cicero devoted the rest of his life to searching for the rector rei publicae.

Cicero and Augustus

The assassination of Caesar on the Ides of March (March 15) 44 BC was a pleasant surprise for Cicero—it opened a window of opportunity for the orator, which he immediately seized. Cicero took an active part in politics. It was on his initiative that Caesar's assassins, Marcus Junius Brutus and Gaius Cassius Longinus, were amnestied, although Caesar himself was not recognized as a tyrant. A shaky truce was established in the Republic between the Caesarians led by Mark Antony and the republicans Brutus, Cassius, and Cicero. However, Brutus and Cassius, fearing reprisals from the pro-Caesarian mob, withdrew to the eastern provinces to gather an army, and Cicero, after so many years, found himself at the political Olympus of the Republic once again at the age of 62.

Mark Antony could not stand Cicero because his stepfather was executed as a participant in Catiline's conspiracy due to Cicero's actions. Caesar's veterans supported him in this. Cicero desperately needed allies in Italy, and he found one in the 19-year-old Gaius Octavius, who, according to the will of the slain dictator, was his main adopted heir. The newly minted Gaius Julius Caesar Octavian, as Caesar's adopted son, entered into conflict with Antony over the inheritance and willingly allied with Cicero. In this well-educated young man, who openly expressed respect for the great orator and was not lacking in political talent, Cicero, according to the author, saw a potential rector rei publicae. The great trust Cicero placed in Octavian is indicated, in particular, by the famous Roman historians Suetonius and Plutarch.

Relying on the popular Octavian in the army, Cicero entered into open conflict with Antony and delivered his revealing speeches—the Philippics. However, during the new civil war, which the orator himself had ignited, Octavian effectively stabbed his ally in the back, first demanding the consulship for himself and then secretly negotiating with Antony and Lepidus to form the Second Triumvirate. At Antony's initiative and despite Octavian's initial resistance, the triumvirs agreed to eliminate Cicero. In 43 BC, the great orator and princeps of the Senate was beheaded near his villa in Formiae. Antony's wife Fulvia stuck pins into the dead man's tongue, as if hinting at his excessive talkativeness. Cicero's head and hands were displayed at the rostra near the speaker's platform.

Cicero's influence on Octavian became evident 13 years after the orator's death when Octavian defeated Mark Antony and Cleopatra VII and became the sole ruler of the Roman state. Having vanquished all his enemies, Octavian set about implementing his own plans for restructuring the Republic. In 27 BC, Augustus declared the "restoration of the Republic," the death of which Cicero had spoken of. The word res publica was heard much more frequently in propaganda than during the rule of the dictator Gaius Julius Caesar. The latter, according to Suetonius, even declared that the Republic was nothing. Octavian, proclaimed Augustus, renounced dictatorial powers, positioning himself as the first among equals:

"After this, I surpassed all in authority, but I had no more power than those who were my colleagues in each magistracy."

[Augustus, Deeds, XXXIV]

Historians of his era emphasized the "restoration of the Republic" and the return to the old ways, while Augustus diligently maintained the appearance of functioning republican institutions—elections of officials were still held, the Senate still convened, and popular assemblies still gathered, only under the supervision and protection of the new "Father of the Fatherland," rector rei publicae. In this sense, Augustus was undoubtedly a student of Cicero.

Augustus certainly read Cicero's writings, had the opportunity to converse with him, and listen to his advice during their alliance. And, it seems to me, it is not entirely clear whether the first emperor consciously built a regime of sole power with a republican "facade" or truly thought of himself merely as "first among equals," princeps? Cicero hoped for the emergence of a "savior of the Republic," and Augustus presented himself as such to the Roman people. It is no coincidence that later historians provided semi-mythical accounts of Cicero's prophetic dreams, in which he saw Augustus as the future ruler of the Roman state—these dreams are mentioned by Plutarch and Suetonius.

Thus, Cicero is indirectly responsible for the "republicanization" of Augustus's regime and the duality of the principate. It can be said that the great orator ensured the Republic's slow decline rather than its instantaneous destruction. Thanks to him, many historians still debate the nature of the principate regime, and Theodor Mommsen spoke of the "dyarchy" of emperors and the Senate and the inseparability between the Republic and the Empire.

Plutarch, in his biography of Cicero, composed a wonderful epilogue that perfectly illustrates the relationship between the great orator and the great emperor, which, it seems to me, is worth quoting in full:

"I have heard that once, long after, Caesar came to one of his grandsons, and at that time the boy had some work of Cicero in his hands, and he hid the scroll under his toga in fear. Caesar noticed this, took the book from him, and, standing, read a large part of it, then returned the scroll to his grandson and said: 'He was a learned man, that is true, and he loved the Fatherland.' As soon as Antony suffered his final defeat, Caesar, who himself held the office of consul, appointed Cicero's son as his colleague, and during his rule, the Senate ordered the removal of Antony's images, canceled all other honors that had been assigned to him, and finally decreed that henceforth no one in the Antony family should bear the name Marcus. Thus, the deity allowed the house of Cicero to complete the retribution against Antony."

[Plutarch, Cicero, 49]