Professor Rufus Fears's essay opens this unique collection by examining the concept of liberty in Republican Rome and its transformation from the period of the Republic to the Empire. In the Republic, liberty was a religious tenet reserved exclusively for Romans. Juridically protected, it was considered necessary to preserve Roman morality. After the collapse of the Republic, the concept of liberty remained as a rhetorical support for the emperor, but its substantive meaning had changed. One development in this period, however, enhanced both the value and future success of liberty, fo...

• Word Count: 2975
• Approx Pages: 12
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

The citizen, in order to create a strong republic, must yield to the inevitable realization that each man by himself is weak. ... Machiavelli's Republic Considering Machiavelli's concepts of virtu and the functional role of the citizen in state affairs, we can infer that Machiavelli's republicanism is above all else a commitment to the vivere civil or civil life. ... To Machiavelli, the logical creation of an ordered state is a republic characterized by political and civil liberty. ... Machiavelli thus recognizes that an ordered republic that can insure political and civil ...

• Word Count: 4508
• Approx Pages: 18
• Grade Level: Undergraduate