{"product_id":"a-written-republic-ciceros-philosophical-politics-9780691264820","title":"A Written Republic: Cicero's Philosophical Politics","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eWhy philosophy was politics by other means for Rome's greatest statesman\u003c\/b\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eIn the 40s BCE, during his forced retirement from politics under Caesar's dictatorship, Cicero turned to philosophy, producing a massive and important body of work. As he was acutely aware, this was an unusual undertaking for a Roman statesman because Romans were often hostile to philosophy, perceiving it as foreign and incompatible with fulfilling one's duty as a citizen. How, then, are we to understand Cicero's decision to pursue philosophy in the context of the political, intellectual, and cultural life of the late Roman republic? In \u003ci\u003eA Written Republic\u003c\/i\u003e, Yelena Baraz takes up this question and makes the case that philosophy for Cicero was not a retreat from politics but a continuation of politics by other means, an alternative way of living a political life and serving the state under newly restricted conditions. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eBaraz examines the rhetorical battle that Cicero stages in his philosophical prefaces--a battle between the forces that would oppose or support his project. He presents his philosophy as intimately connected to the new political circumstances and his exclusion from politics. His goal--to benefit the state by providing new moral resources for the Roman elite--was traditional, even if his method of translating Greek philosophical knowledge into Latin and combining Greek sources with Roman heritage was unorthodox. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ci\u003eA Written Republic\u003c\/i\u003e provides a new perspective on Cicero's conception of his philosophical project while also adding to the broader picture of late-Roman political, intellectual, and cultural life.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eYelena Baraz\u003c\/b\u003e is assistant professor of classics at Princeton University.\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Princeton University Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50911840698642,"sku":"9780691264820","price":47.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_e65991b2-a648-4d6a-8d64-22f62e7b5f76.jpg?v=1738756898","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/a-written-republic-ciceros-philosophical-politics-9780691264820","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}