Concord and Peace in Roman Republican Thought: Disputed Commonalities

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Abstract

This chapter examines the place of two notions, concord and peace, within political thought of the late Roman Republic, specifically exploring how these were communicated and challenged as markers of internal stability and social order during the conflicts that mired the Republic’s final decades.

The Roman notions of concordia and pax, whilst nominally similar in conceptualizing ideas of stability, conventionally operated in different ways: concordia was inherently concerned with internal, political stability, unity and agreement, whilst pax was, in many respects, a means of formulating a relationship with the ‘other’ (as something outside of one’s own community or self-identity), be that divine (such as the pax deorum) or another civic entity. Concordia was framed in terms of equality between parties, whereas pax described a relationship of power which was usually unequal, particularly as a state achieved by Rome in war and offered to the weaker opponent. Moreover, Concordia (the deity) had a long established tradition of cult at Rome tied to the internal security of the commonwealth, whereas Pax did not receive cult under the new political institution established by Augustus. Nevertheless, during the civil conflicts of the late Republic, specifically the debates during the 40s BC, pax became a more prominent concept within language of internal political discourse, even potentially usurping (although never fully replacing) concordia as an expression of social order and stability. In short, both concepts offer two different ways in which the Republic civic community, particularly during the civil wars of the late Republic, came to conceive of itself.

Beyond the inherent differences and tensions between concordia and pax, this chapter further articulates how both notions were subject to the shifting political dynamics and disputes. Ideas of Roman concordia in Republican politics are usually viewed through the lens of Cicero, which given how reliant we are on his corpus for understanding political and religious thought of the time is hardly surprisingly. However, caution is required: Cicero’s presentation of both concordia and pax are his versions, dependent on the circumstances of use and application, and indeed when we bring in other Republican writers, such as Sallust and Caesar, a more complicated and disputed interpretation of these notions appears. Whilst political contemporaries agreed notionally on the mechanics of concord and peace, having some form of shared understanding and unity of concept, ideas concerning the purpose, function and application of such notions differed and became a means for confrontations with, or passing judgement on, one’s political opponents.

An exploration of the changing attitudes to ideas of stability and social order, through the fluidity of application of concordia and pax, will reveal the reasons behind the shift in prominence, shedding light on the conceptions of commonwealth that they express and the impact they had on the commonwealth’s transformation under Augustus.
Original languageEnglish
Title of host publication‘Peace’ and ‘Concord’ from Plato to Kant
EditorsFrancesco Borghesi
PublisherCambridge University Press
Publication statusAccepted/In press - 15 Sept 2022

Bibliographical note

Not yet published as of 06/03/2024.

Keywords

  • Concord
  • Peace
  • Roman republic

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