''Amicitia'' is the
Latin
Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...
word for
friendship
Friendship is a Interpersonal relationship, relationship of mutual affection between people. It is a stronger form of interpersonal bond than an "acquaintance" or an "association", such as a classmate, neighbor, coworker, or colleague.
Althoug ...
, either between individuals, between the state and an individual or between states. It was "a technical term of Roman political life" from the 2nd century BC, when, according to
Seneca, it was introduced by the ''
Populares
''Optimates'' (, ; Latin for "best ones"; ) and ''populares'' (; Latin for "supporters of the people"; ) are labels applied to politicians, political groups, traditions, strategies, or ideologies in the late Roman Republic. There is "heated ...
''
Gaius Gracchus
Gaius Sempronius Gracchus ( – 121 BC) was a reformist Roman politician and soldier who lived during the 2nd century BC. He is most famous for his tribunate for the years 123 and 122 BC, in which he proposed a wide set of laws, i ...
and
Marcus Livius Drusus, who thereby ranked their ''
clientes''. The
clients and allies of the
Roman state were called ''amici populi Romani'' (friends of the Roman people) and listed on the ''tabula amicorum'' (table of friends). Such ''amicitia'' did not involve treaties or reciprocal obligations. Although ''amicitia'' between individuals was ideally genuine friendship marked by mutual fondness, in practice it more often referred to mere political alliance. Forming and breaking bonds of ''amicitia'' was thus highly formal. The ''amici Augusti'' (friends of Augustus) formed the court in
imperial times.
[Howard Hayes Scullard and Andrew William Lintott, "Amicitia", in ''The Oxford Classical Dictionary'', 4th ed. (Oxford University Press, 2012).]
See also
*
Cicero
Marcus Tullius Cicero ( ; ; 3 January 106 BC – 7 December 43 BC) was a Roman statesman, lawyer, scholar, philosopher, orator, writer and Academic skeptic, who tried to uphold optimate principles during the political crises tha ...
, ''
Laelius de amicitia''
*
Client state
A client state in the context of international relations is a State (polity), state that is economically, politically, and militarily subordinated to a more powerful controlling state. Alternative terms for a ''client state'' are satellite state, ...
References
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Society of ancient Rome
Foreign relations of ancient Rome