Everything about Res Publica totally explained
» This article is about the Latin phrase. For the historical state, see Roman Republic; for the dialogue by Cicero, see De re publica; for the former Estonian political party, see Union for the Republic - Res Publica.'Res publica'
is a Latin phrase, literally meaning "public thing" or "public matter". It is the origin of the word 'Republic', though translations vary widely according to the context.
Res publica in Ancient Rome
Dictionary lists the following meanings: "
the common wealth, a commonwealth, state, republic (cf. civitas)
; also, civil affairs, administration, or power, etc.", which are elucidated below:
Basic meaning(s)
"Public property"
Res publica usually refers to a thing that isn't considered to be
private property (or, in Latin:
res privata, the private matters of the society), but which is rather held in common by many people. For instance a park or garden in the city of Rome could either be "private property", or managed by the state, in which case it would be (part of the)
res publica.
"The state" - "The Commonwealth"
Taking everything together that's of public interest leads to the connotation that the
res publica in general equals
the state. For Romans this equalled of course also the
Imperium Romanum, and all its interests, so
Res Publica could as well refer to the
Roman Empire as a whole (regardless of whether it was governed as a
republic or under
imperial reign). In this context scholars suggest "
commonwealth" as a more accurate and neutral translation of the term, while neither implying
republican nor
imperial connotations, just a reference to the state as a whole. But even translating
res publica as "republic" when it clearly refers to the Roman Empire
under Imperial reign occurs (see quotes below).
"The (Roman) Republic"
Roman authors would also use the word
res publica in the sense of the epoch when Rome was governed as a republic, that's the epoch between the
Roman Kingdom and the
Roman Empire. So in this case
res publica does distinctly
not refer to the Roman
Empire, but to what is generally described as the
Roman Republic.
"Public affairs" - "state organisation system" - "politics"
Res publica could also be used in a generic meaning, referring to "public affairs" and/or the general system of government of a state. In this usage
res publica translated the Greek concept
politeia (which originally meant the state organisation of a
city-state).
Also, for a Roman politician engaging himself in the
res publica, a translation can often be the even more generic
being occupied in "politics".
Other uses
Even when limited to its "political" connotations, the meanings of the term
res publica in ancient Rome are diverse and multi-layered, and differing from the Greek
politeia in many ways (that is: from the several interwoven meanings the word
politeia had). However, it's also the customary Latin translation of
politeia; the modern name of
Plato's The Republic comes from this usage.
In some contexts the "state organisation system" meaning of
res publica derives into something like "constitution", although "constitution", properly speaking, is a much more modern concept. Ancient Romans would use the expression "
Twelve Tables" instead of
res publica, when referring to their constitution at the time of the "republic", and the "inalterable laws installed by the divine Augustus", for their equivalent of a constitution in the era of the early Empire.
Quotes
The translations of the quotes below are copied without alteration from existing non-copyrighted material. Other translations might differ, but they all serve to illustrate the many aspects of the
res publica concept in Ancient Rome. The Latin original texts are given concurrently with the translations, in order to show that only the
context of the text allows to interpret the
res publica concept in each instance.
From these examples it also follows that probably there was also a gradual shift of meaning of the
res publica concept throughout the
Roman era: the "(Roman) Republic" connotation of
res publica is something that rather occurs
with retrospect to a closed period (so
less appararent in Cicero's time, who never knew the era of the Emperors, and could only compare with the epoch of the Kings); on the other hand the
translation of the Greek "politeia" concept appears to have nearly completely worn of in late antiquity.
Cicero
Cicero's
De re publica, a treatise of the
1st century BC in
Socratic dialogue format, takes the
res publica as its subject. The differing interpretations and translations of the
title of that work are discussed in the "
De re publica" article. The expression
res publica is of course used several times throughout the work too. The quotes below aim at demonstrating that
within any translation of Cicero's work differing English translations of the term
res publica need to be used, according to
context, in order to make sense. The quotes are taken from
the Latin text at "The Latin Library"
(chapter numbering follows this text), from
C. D. Yonge's translation at gutenberg.org (2nd column) and from
Francis Barham's translation at "The Online Library of Liberty" (3rd column).
When Cicero refers to the Greek authors (pointing at the "politeia" concept):
»
Calques
Later
calques of
Res publica, some of which originated in the
Renaissance, include:
Commonweale/Commonwealth (English - 2nd meaning as indicated above)
Rzeczpospolita (Polish)Further Information
Get more info on 'Res Publica'.
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