Abstract Tertullian first coined the phrase ‘the freedom of religion’. This article considers what this entails. I argue that Tertullian’s discussion of religious liberty derives its theoretical significance from his creative repurposing of the Roman idea of liberty as non-domination. Tertullian contends that the Roman magistrates’ treatment of Christian citizens and loyal subjects amounts to tyrannical domination characterized by the absence of the traditional conditions for non-domination: the rule of law, rule in and responsive to the interests of the people, and citizens’ rights. On his reworking of these criteria, he argues that citizens and loyal subjects should have the right to act publicly on the convictions of their conscience even if these actions conflict with the state’s civil religion. Tertullian shows that non-domination is a highly flexible idea that does not necessarily entail the participatory ‘free state’ of republicanism. Moreover, by applying the logic of non-domination to questions surrounding religious liberty, he opens up an important avenue of investigation largely ignored in the contemporary republican literature on non-domination.

A prolific philosopher who also held Rome's highest political office, Cicero was uniquely qualified to write on political philosophy. In this book Professor Atkins provides a fresh interpretation of Cicero's central political dialogues - the Republic and Laws. Devoting careful attention to form as well as philosophy, Atkins argues that these dialogues together probe the limits of reason in political affairs and explore the resources available to the statesman given these limitations. He shows how Cicero appropriated and transformed Plato's thought to forge original and important works of political philosophy. The book demonstrates that Cicero's Republic and Laws are critical for understanding the history of the concepts of rights, the mixed constitution and natural law. It concludes by comparing Cicero's thought to the modern conservative tradition and argues that Cicero provides a perspective on utopia frequently absent from current philosophical treatments.

Recent scholarship on Stoic political thought has sought to explain the relationship between Zeno’s Republic and the concept of a natural law regulating a cosmic city of gods and human beings that is attributed to later Stoics. This paper provides a reassessment of this relationship by exploring the underappreciated influence of Plato’s Laws on Zeno’s Republic and, through Zeno, on the subsequent Stoic tradition. Zeno’s attempt to remove perceived inconsistencies in Plato’s treatment of ‘law’ and ‘nature’ established a philosophical framework that overturned the republicanism of Plato and Aristotle; this same framework established the preconditions for the cosmic city of gods and human beings regulated by natural law. Thus, the early Stoic tradition on the topic of natural law is characterized by continuity rather than by discontinuity.

De legibus , Cicero argues, "the entire civic community (civitas) tends to be infected (infi ci) by the passions and vices of its leaders" (3.30). In such a case, the political leaders are both themselves corrupted (corrumpuntur) and corrupt others (corrumpunt ; 3.32). In Cicero's opinion, because of their position and status a very few members of the aristocracy "have the capacity to either corrupt (corrumpere) or restore the habits of the civic community" (mores civitatis ; 3.32). Th ough the phenomenon of corruption begins with the inordinate passions and vices of leaders, it extends to the whole civic community; it infects and diminishes civic practices and ultimately the community itself. Th e verb corrumpere often indicates harm or injury to the body. Corruption in this sense denotes a lack of health in the body politic. Cicero's account of corruption assumes that political leaders are the key to causing and remedying the civic body's infection. A diff erent explanation is suggested by his contemporary Sallust in his monographs Th e Jugurthine War and, especially, Catiline's Conspiracy. A new man born in Amiternum, a town 50 miles northeast of Rome, Sallust endured an up and down career in politics. He held the offi ce of tribune in 52 bce , but he was subsequently expunged from the senate in 50. After serving in Caesar's army from 49 to 44, he was made governor of a province. Once again he suff ered a setback, when he was charged with extortion. At this point, he retired from political life and turned his attention to writing history. 2 Sallust's account of corruption begins with passions and the Roman honor code. Th e Republic fell into corruption when the Romans' unlimited and unrestrained passions overcame their virtue. Th e Romans wanted too much-too much money and power, "the root of all evils" (Sal. Cat. 10.3). Th ese vices perverted the aristocratic code. Under the Roman honor code, wealth was a constitutive part of a wider life dedicated to the pursuit of public offi ce, glory, and standing-hence, it had value only if pursued "by honest means" (Plin. Nat. 7.139; Sal. Cat. 7.6). Now money was desired for its own sake, the result of "boundless and insatiable" greed (Sal. Cat. 11.3). Similarly, the desire for glory, which previously held value only if achieved by honorable competition, had degenerated into the desire to exercise power over others. Th e excessive desire for glory gave way to the desire for power, and that desire in turn led to the desire to dominate 2 For Sallust's biography, see Syme 1964 ; for his political thought, see Earl 1961 (virtue and the honor code); Kapust 2011b : chs. 2-3 (confl ict and rhetoric); Connolly 2015 : ch. 2 (justice, economic inequality, and judgment); Hammer 2014 : ch. 3 (memory).