Quid res publica secundum Plutarcum, et quid
The Soul of the Commonwealth
The commonwealth is a body animated by divine grace, where religious leaders serve as the soul guiding the whole.
The place of the soul in the body, or that of the limbs. What follows are chapters from this same political constitution, taken from the little book titled 'The Training of Trajan,' which I have taken care to include in this present work, though I have chosen to follow the spirit of its ideas rather than the exact wording. The first priority, therefore, is for the ruler to take the full measure of himself and carefully observe what role he plays within the entire body of the commonwealth. For the commonwealth, as Plutarch suggests, is a kind of body brought to life by the gift of divine grace, and is moved and governed by the impulse of supreme equity and a certain rational moderation. Those things, however, that establish and instruct us in the practice of religion, and that hand down the ceremonies of God—or, to use Plutarch’s term, of the gods—hold the place of the soul in the body of the commonwealth. Indeed, those who preside over the practice of religion ought to be looked up to and venerated as the soul of the body. For who would doubt that the ministers of holiness are the vicars of God himself? Furthermore, just as the soul holds the leadership of the entire body, so too do those whom he calls the prefects of religion preside over the whole body. Augustus Caesar was subject to the high priests of the sacred rites until he himself, so that he might be subject to no one at all, was made a Vestal priest and, shortly after, was raised to the gods while still alive.
The Members of the Body Politic
The various offices of the state are mapped to human anatomy, illustrating the interdependence and potential for corruption within the body.
The prince, however, holds the place of the head in the commonwealth, subject only to God and to those who act in His place on earth, just as the head in the human body is enlivened and governed by the soul. The senate holds the place of the heart, from which the beginnings of good and evil works proceed. Judges and provincial governors claim for themselves the duties of the eyes, ears, and tongue. Officials and soldiers are fitted to the hands. Those who always stand by the prince are likened to the sides. Quaestors and record-keepers—not those I mean who are in charge of prisons, but the stewards of private affairs—represent the image of the belly and intestines. If these people, through immense greed, gather things and hold onto them too tenaciously, they generate countless and incurable diseases, so that their vice makes the ruin of the whole body imminent.
The Foundation of the Feet
The farmers represent the feet that support the body, requiring the protection and foresight of the head to function.
The farmers are matched to the feet, which are always stuck to the ground; they need the head's foresight all the more because they encounter so many obstacles while walking on the earth in service to the body, and it is only right that the protection of the head should be owed to them, since they lift, support, and move the weight of the whole body. Take away the support of the feet from a very strong body, and it won't be able to move on its own; instead, it will either have to crawl along shamefully and uselessly on its hands, or be moved by the help of brute animals. In this way, he sets out in his own style many things that he discusses more thoroughly in a longer treatise, which he thought should be impressed upon a religious prince; but since some of these points were argued in a rather superstitious way, I will leave those aside—especially those that pertain to the worship of idols—and briefly summarize the man's ideas on how he instructed a prince and the offices of the state in the pursuit of justice.
Read the original Latin
uicem animae in ipsa ohtineai aut Tnembrorum. Sequuntur eiusdem politicae constitutionis capitula in libello qui inscribitur Institutio Traiani, quae pro parte praesenti opusculo curaui inserere, ita tamen ut sententiarum uestigia potius imitarer quam passus uerborum. Est ergo primum omnium ut princeps se totum metiatur et quid in toto corpore rei publicae, cuius uice fruatur, diligenter aduertat. Est autem res publica, sicut Plutarco placet, corpus quoddam quod diuini muneris beneficio animatur et summae aequitatis agitiir nutu et regitur quodam moderamine rationis. Ea uero quae cultum religionis in nobis instituunt et informant et Dei (ne secundum Plutarcum deorum dicam) cerimonias tradunt, uicem animae in corpore rei publicae obtinent. Illos uero, qui religionis cultui praesunt, quasi animam corporis suspicere et uenerari oportet. Quis enim sanctitatis ministros Dei ipsius uicarios esse ambigit? Porro, sicut anima totius habet corporis principatum, ita et hii, quos ille religionis praefectos uocat, toti corpori praesunt.
Augustus Cesar eo usque sacrorum pontificibus subiectus fuit donec et ipse, ne cui omnino subesset, Vestalis creatus est pontifex et paulo post ad deos relatus est uiuus. Princeps uero capitis in re publica optinet locum uni subiectus Deo et his qui uices illius agunt in terris, quoniam et in corpore humano ab anima uegetatur caput et regitur. Cordis locum senatus optinet, a quo bononim operum et malorum procedunt initia. Oculorum aurium et linguae officia sibi uendicant iudices et praesides prouinciarum. Officiales et milites manibus coaptantur. Qui semper adsistunt principi, lateribus assimilantur. Qnaestores et commentarienses (non illos dico qui carceribus praesunt, sed comites rerum priuatarum) ad uentris et intestinorum refert imaginem. Quae, si immensa auiditate congesserint et congesta tenacius reseruauerint, inniunerabiles et incurabiles generant morbos, ut uitio eorum totius corporis ruina immineat.
Pedibus uero solo iugiter inherentibus agricolae coaptantur, quibus capitis prouidentia tanto magis necessaria est, quo plura inueniunt offendicula, dum in obsequio corporis in terra gradiuntur, eisque iustius tegumentonmi debetur suffragium, qui totius corporis erigimt sustinent et promouent molem. Pedum adminicula robustissimo corpori tolle, suis uiribus non procedet sed aut turpiter inutiliter et moleste manibus repet aut brutorum animalium ope mouebitur. Ponit in hunc modum more suo quam a plurima, quae diligentius diffusiore tractatu prosequitur, quae religioso prineipi putabat ingerenda, superstitiosius disputata sunt, his omissis quae ad idolatriae eultum pertinent, perstringamus breuiter sensum hominis quo principem et officia rei publicae ad cultum iustitiae informabat.
Policraticus companion
Study the argument weekly; pray the tradition daily
Pair the outline with the Chosen Portion app, which serves short daily portions from the same royal devotional tradition — free on iOS.
John of Salisbury argued that rulers must keep the law of God before their eyes daily; Chosen Portion gives modern readers that same daily discipline in five minutes a morning.
- 8 weeks, one book per week, with the 3-4 key chapters flagged in each
- Discussion questions usable for a reading group from week one
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