America: An Empire of Men, After All
Norms (and the people who enforce them) are crucial for democracy
Pretty much all of the founders of the American Republic were steeped in knowledge about classical Greece and Rome. They carefully studied the achievements and failures of Athenian democracy and the Roman Republic as they authored the Constitution. Some of the founders had a personal favorite from Greece or Rome. John Adams really, really liked Cicero.
Historian Simon Schama says that Adams wanted to be an “American Cicero, the orator who made a difference.” Like Adams, Cicero was a “new man” who rose up through the politics of his time through perseverance and skill rather than gliding to prominence on a famous name. He was a brilliant orator and lawyer. He stood stubbornly on principle against authoritarians who wished to undermine the Republic. He turned down opportunities for wealth and power and upheld the values of justice and fairness.
Adams imitated Cicero’s arguments in his most famous court cases. He took his ideas about the balance of power in the government from Cicero’s writings. And he frequently gushed to his friends about the great man. He wrote that
- “As all the ages of the world have not produced a greater statesman and philosopher united than Cicero, his authority should have…
