Qui sint pedes rei puhlicae et de cura eis
The Feet of the Commonwealth
The laboring classes, likened to the feet of the body politic, provide essential service and support to the whole, requiring mutual obligation between the higher and lower members.
must be devoted. Those who perform the humbler tasks are called the feet, and through their service, the members of the entire commonwealth walk upon the earth. In these, indeed, lies the work of farmers, who always cling to the earth, whether they are occupied with sowing, planting, grazing, or tending the fields. Also included are many types of weaving and mechanical arts—such as working with wood, iron, bronze, and other metals—as well as menial services and the various ways people earn a living, sustain life, or build family wealth. While these jobs don't involve governing authority, they contribute in every way to the commonwealth as a whole. These are so numerous that the commonwealth transcends the eight-legged crab and even the centipede in the sheer number of its feet; indeed, they cannot be counted because of their multitude, not because they are infinite by nature, but because there are so many varied forms of work that no writer on duties has ever given specific instructions for every single one of them. Nevertheless, what is general is provided for all and each, so that they do not exceed the limits of the law and that all things are referred to the public good. The lower members owe service to the higher, and in turn, all of them owe the lower members the necessary support. Hence, Plutarch says that in all things one must carry out what benefits the lower members—that is, the multitude—for the few must always yield to the many.
The Duty of Protection
Magistrates are tasked with protecting the common people, whose suffering serves as a diagnostic of the ruler's failure, while mutual care ensures the health of the entire body.
Magistrates are established for this reason: to protect subjects from injury and to ensure the commonwealth is, as it were, shod by their handiwork. For the commonwealth is, so to speak, barefoot when it is exposed to injury—and there is nothing more shameful for those in office than that. An afflicted people is, in effect, proof and evidence of a ruler's gout. The health of the entire commonwealth will be secure and glorious, however, if the higher members devote themselves to the lower, and the lower respond to the higher with equal justice, so that each is like a limb to the other, and everyone believes their own best interest is served by whatever they know to be most useful for the care of others.
Read the original Latin
impendenda. Pedes quidem qui humiliora exercent officia, appellantur, quorum obsequio totius rei publicae membra per terram gradiuntur. In his quidem agricolarum ratio uertitur qui a terrae semper adherent siue in sationalibus siue in consitiuis siue in pascuis siue in floreis agitentur. His etiam aggregantur multae species lanificii artesque mecanicae, quae in ligno ferro ere metallisque uariis consistunt, seruiles quoque obsecundationes et multiplices uictus adquirendi uitaeque sustentandae aut rem familiarem amplificandi formae, quae nec ad praesidendi pertinent auctoritat m et uniuersitati rei publicae usquequaque proficiunt. Haec autem tot sunt ut res publica non octipedes cancros sed et centipedes pedum numerositate transcendat, et quidem prae multitudine numerari non possunt, cum tamen non infinita sint per naturam, sed quia tam uariae figurae sunt ut nullus umquam oflBciorum scriptor in singulas species eorum specialia praecepta dederit. Verumtamen quod generale est omnibus et singulis procuratur, ut legis scilicet limites non excedant et ad publicam utilitatem omnia referantur. Debent autem obsequium inferiora superioribus quae omnia eisdem uicissim debent necessarium subsidium prouidere. Vnde Plutarchus ea dicit in omnibus exequenda quae humilioriJ5 bus, id est multitudini, prosunt; nam paucitas semper pluribus cedit.
Ea ergo causa instituti sunt magistratus ut a subditis iniuriae propulsentur ipsaque res publica quasi illorum opificio calcietur. Est enim quasi discalciata quando iniuriis exponitur, quo nichil potest ignominiosius esse gerentibus magistratum. Afflictus namque populus quasi principis podagram arguit et conuincit. Tunc autem totius rei publicae salus incolumis praeclaraque erit, si superiora membra se impendant inferioribus et inferiora j superioribus pari iure respondeant, ut singula sint quasi aliorum ad inuicem membra et in eo sibi quisque maxime credat esse consultum in quo aliis utilius nouerit esse prospectum.
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
- A daily 5-minute companion portion in the app alongside your weekly study