Aristotle and Cicero

            ) was a Greek philosopher and one of Plato's most famous students. During his time at Plato's academy, Plato's thinking and his philosophical approach to politics and the economy heavily influenced Aristotle (Tannenbaum, D., 2012, pg. 33). It was through these teachings that Aristotle not only honed his philosophical skills, but also formed his own opinion on life, justice, politics, and the nature of man. Aristotle's most important political views are on full display in his works, Politics. Aristotle's contribution is to Western philosophy is significant, and his approach to life and governance have had great influence on those thinkers that came after him. .
             Marcus Tullius Cicero (106-43 B.C.E.) was a highly regarding Roman political thinker. Cicero was man of many hats; he was a lawyer, statesman, orator, and even rose to serve to the position of consul. He had the ability to speak Greek aided in spreading Greek literature and philosophy throughout ancient Rome. Much, if not all of Cicero's works are not original and he derives many of his views from Stoicism. Cicero's most famous works are On the Commonwealth, and On the Law (Tannenbaum, pg. 48). Though Cicero was an advocate of a republican government and one that opposed or challenged the formation of an Empire.
             Though these two great minds are separated by a few generations, much of their influence comes from the same sources. Both Aristotle and Cicero had strong views of how the political community should be considered. They both have some similar views, yet the conception of Cicero's views seem much more viable, while Aristotle's views were narrow in perspective. The center of both views of the political community revolved around the core of the "family", and spread outward to society and the economy. The extension of this nucleus is where the differing point of views of the political community started to form their individualistic conceptions of governance and rule.