If a little is good, more is not necessarily better. Cicero boldly explains:
Nam ut ex nimia potentia principum oritur interitus principum, sic hunc nimis liberum populum libertas ipsa servitute adficit. Sic omnia nimia, cum vel in tempestate vel in agris vel in corporibus laetiora fuerunt, in contraria fere convertuntur, maximeque id in rebus publicis evenit, nimiaque illa libertas et populis et privatis in nimiam servitutem cadit. Itaque ex hac maxima libertate tyrannus gignitur et illa iniustissima et durissima servitus.
For just as, from an excess of power in the oligarchy arises the death of the oligarchy, likewise, excess of liberty in the people causes slavery upon the people themselves. Thus, all excesses—when upon the weather, the fields, or in one’s body—some were happier, the opposite results; and this especially happens in civic things. For example, when excessive liberty falls into excessive slavery, both upon the populace and the individual. Therefore, from this greatest liberty, a tyrant was born alongside the greatest injustice and harshest servitude.
Cicero’s commentary on the dangers of excessive power placed upon one group serves as the foundation of major political theories and geopolitics. It is important to recognize that neither Cicero’s commentary nor this is to discredit the benefits of democracy. Rather, it reminds us that balance and competing spheres of influence are key. In his own time, Cicero’s writing defended the Roman Republic’s system of government with the Magistrates, the Senate, and the Assembly.
- The two magistrates called consuls held the supreme civil and military authority.
- The Senate can be considered the advisory branch of government, formed from the patrician aristocrats.
- The Assembly was composed of two parts: the army, which elected consuls annually, and all citizens, who created legislation and decided issues of war and peace.
However, none of these groups held complete authority, for the two magistrates could veto each other, were determined by the Assembly, and had term limits. Also, the Assembly directly voted on laws and could veto actions of the government. Additionally, they were all collectively kept in check through divided responsibilities.
This thought has carried to the United States from the inception, as the founding fathers created the three branches of our government, inspired by the Roman Republic. Just as Lord Acton recognized, “Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely,” the framers identified likewise and determined that rather than fighting against human nature, we must embrace it by pitting the distinct spheres against each other, forcing them to collaborate as it suits them, and compete as it suits them, such that not one sphere gains power over the rest.
Thus, in modern America, it is important to remember that the key to our government is balance. There is a reason we have a president and not a dictator. The president is only the president as far as the government and the people permit. The government is only the government as far as the people permit.
We must always remember: the danger is not in one sphere, but in all spheres. For all that is in excess is dangerous. Just as Cicero explained:
Sic omnia nimia, cum vel in tempestate vel in agris vel in corporibus laetiora fuerunt, in contraria fere convertuntur, maximeque id in rebus publicis evenit.
“All excesses, when upon the weather, the fields, or in one’s body, some were happier, the opposite results; and this especially happens in civic things.”