Res publica

', also spelled ''rēs pūblica'' to indicate vowel length, is a Latin phrase, loosely meaning "public affair". It is the root of the ''republic'', and '' commonwealth'' has traditionally been used as a synonym for it; however, translations vary widely according to the context. ''Res'' is a nominative singular Latin noun for a substantive or concrete thing—as opposed to ''spes'', which means something unreal or ethereal—and ''publica'' is an attributive adjective meaning "of or pertaining to the public, people", hence a literal translation is "the public thing, affair", or "the people's thing, affair".

The Latin term ''res publica'' was incompatible with the idea of absolute power by any individual or group over the body of citizens. The most essential characteristic of a ''res publica'' was liberty (''libertas''), which meant freedom from the arbitrary control of another and the absence of a monarchical domination over the body politic, that was analogous to the absolute power of a master over a slave.

In ancient Rome

Public property

''Res publica'' usually is something held in common by many people. For instance, a park or garden in the city of Rome could either be private property ('' res privata'') or managed by the state, in which case it would be part of the ''res publica''.

State or commonwealth

Taking everything together that is of public interest leads to the connotation that ''res publica'' in general equals "the state". For Romans, the state equaled the Roman Empire and all its interests, so ''Res Publica'' may also refer to the ''Roman Empire'' as a whole, regardless of whether it was governed as a ''republic'' or under imperial reign. In this context, scholars suggest ''commonwealth'' as a more accurate and neutral translation of the Latin term, as it implies neither ''republican'' governance nor ''imperial'' rule, but rather refers to the state as a whole; however, translating ''res publica'' as "republic" when it clearly refers to the Roman Empire ''under Imperial reign'' sometimes occurs.

Roman Republic

Roman authors would use the phrase ''res publica'' in the context of the era when Rome was governed as a republic: the era between the Roman Kingdom and Roman Empire. So in this case, ''res publica'' does distinctly ''not'' refer to the Roman ''Empire'', but to what is generally described as the Roman Republic.

Public affairs or institutions

''Res publica'' could also be used in a generic meaning, referring to "public affairs" and/or the general system of government of a state. In this usage, ''res publica'' translated the Greek concept '' politeia'' (which originally meant the state organisation of a city-state). Also, for a Roman politician engaging himself in the ''res publica'', a translation can often be the even more generic "being occupied in politics".

Other uses

Even when limited to its "political" connotations, the meanings of the term ''res publica'' in ancient Rome are diverse and multi-layered, and differing from the Greek '' politeia'' in many ways, that is, from the several interwoven meanings the word ''politeia'' had; however, it is also the customary Latin translation of ''politeia'', and the modern name of Plato's ''The Republic'' comes from this usage. In some contexts, the "state organisation system" meaning of ''res publica'' derives into something like "constitution", although a constitution, properly speaking, is a much more modern concept. Ancient Romans would use the expression " Twelve Tables" instead of ''res publica'', when referring to their constitution at the time of the republic, and the "inalterable laws installed by the divine Augustus", for their equivalent of a constitution in the era of the early Empire. After the Roman Empire collapsed in the West, the idea of ''res publica'' disappeared, as foreign to the barbarians of the Migrations Period: whenever Gregory of Tours refers to ''res publica'', it is the Eastern Empire of which he is speaking.Noted by Michel Rouche, "Private life conquers state and society", in Paul Veyne, ed. ''A History of Private Life: I. From Pagan Rome to Byzantium'' (Harvard University Press) 1987:419.

Quotations

The translations of the quotations below are copied without alteration from existing non-copyrighted material. Other translations might differ, but they all serve to illustrate the many aspects of the ''res publica'' concept in ancient Rome. The Latin original texts are given concurrently with the translations, in order to show that only the ''context'' of the text allows to interpret the ''res publica'' concept in each instance. From these examples, it also follows that probably there was also a gradual shift of meaning of the ''res publica'' concept throughout the Roman era: the "(Roman) Republic" connotation of ''res publica'' is something that rather occurs ''with retrospect'' to a closed period (so ''less'' apparent in Cicero's time, who never knew the era of the Emperors, and could only compare with the epoch of the Kings); on the other hand the ''translation of the Greek "politeia" concept'' appears to have nearly completely worn off in late antiquity.

Cicero

Cicero's ''De re publica'' (this translates as "about the res publica"), a treatise of the 1st century BC in Socratic dialogue format, takes the ''res publica'' as its subject. The differing interpretations and translations of the ''title'' of that work are discussed in the " De re publica" article. The expression ''res publica'' is used several times throughout the work too. The quotes below aim at demonstrating that ''within any translation'' of Cicero's work differing English translations of the term ''res publica'' need to be used, according to ''context'', in order to make sense. The quotes are taken fro
the Latin text at "The Latin Library"
(chapter numbering follows this text), fro
C. D. Yonge's translation at gutenberg.org
(2nd column) and fro
Francis Barham's translation at "The Online Library of Liberty"
(3rd column).

When Cicero refers to the Greek authors (pointing at the "politeia" concept):
:
When pointing at the ''Roman'' context:
:
The translation shows that the meaning of ''res publica'' can differ ''even within the same paragraph''...

Pliny the Elder

When Pliny dedicates his '' Naturalis Historiae'' to his friend Emperor Vespasian in the first century, he uses the word res publica (Latin fro
LacusCurtius website
/ 1601 Philemon Holland translation from http://penelope.uchicago.edu/holland/index.html / 185
John Bostock translation from the Perseus website
:
:
When under an ''Emperor'', that is Vespasian or his predecessors, Pliny was not talking about the Roman Republic, but used "commonwealth"/"republic" in the meaning of "the state". The ambiguity of Rome still considering itself formally, or just "pro forma", a republic throughout the era of the principate, when a monarchic rule had already de facto been established, adds to the complexity of translating "res publica" in this context.

Tacitus

As another example of the complexities of the meaning of the word ''res publica'' one can cite Tacitus, who in the early 2nd century described in his '' Annals'' how the first Emperors, like Tiberius in the year Augustus had died (AD 14), sought to preserve all institutions of the ''Res publica'' completely intact
Latin and translation as available at the Perseus Project
:
:
... while Tacitus complained in the same writing that at the same time the ''res publica'' went astray for good because not a single soul seemed to care any more:
:
The least that can be said is that the two quotes above (like so many passages in Tacitus' writings) are a translator's minefield:
* In the first quote above Tacitus qualifies the ''res publica'' he intends as "vetus" (the "old" res publica) - which implies he knows another, not "old", "re(s)public(a)", while Tacitus' dense writing style would usually avoid redundancies. Nonetheless in the second quote, actually preceding the first in the text of the ''Annals'', "res publica" does ''not'' have such qualifier, while in the context it is clear he meant the then lost republican form of government.
* "imperandi", litt. "to command", is translated as "being emperor" - while the "emperor" concept (which in fact did not yet ''literally'' exist in the time Tacitus describes here, and so could not be assigned to Tiberius as an ''intention'') was usually indicated as " princeps" by Tacitus.
* "tribunicia potestas" is translated as "title of Tribune", while the "tribunicia potestas" is more about exercising the ''power'' of a tribune without actually ''being'' a Tribune, and had been an invention of Caesar Augustus (compare to Holland and Bostock translations for the same concept in the Pliny quote above: "sacred authoritie of the Tribunes" and "the tribunate", respectively).
Nonetheless it can only be admired in Tacitus how, with some judicially chosen words, he most poignantly and to the point describes the transition from "(overdue) remnants of the republic" to "actual Imperial reign, already established in the minds of people".

In his book ''Germania'', Tacitus also uses ''res publica'' in the context of the Germanic "barbarian" society. Here the word is used to convey the generic meaning of "public affair" or "the commonwealth" (in contrast to the private or family life) without the Roman connotations of republicanism. This is illustrated in the following text
Latin
text an
English
translation from the Perseus Project):
:

Augustine

Augustine of Hippo uses the word ''res publica'' several times throughout his work '' The City of God'', in which he comments, in the early 5th century on several Greek and Roman authors. Again, the standard translations of the expression "res publica" are multiple throughout the work. Examples taken fro
the Latin text at "The Latin Library"
English translation fro


Meaning "the (Roman) state" in general:
:
Note that in this quote Augustine does ''not'' use the expression ''imperium Romanum'' ("the Roman empire") as a synonym to "the era when Rome was governed by emperors". Compare also to the 2nd quote from Tacitus above: there an expression ''different'' from ''res publica'' and ''imperium Romanum'' is used for referring to "the (Roman) State" in general.

Meaning "the Roman Republic" as ''era'' with a distinct form of state organisation, from the same book:
:

Calques

Later calques of ''Res publica'':
* Commonwealth ( English – 2nd meaning as indicated above)
* ''chose publique'' ( French)
* ''cosa pubblica'' ( Italian)
* Rzeczpospolita ( Polish)
* Civitas
* Public

Notes

References

*''A Latin Dictionary'' – Founded on Andrews' edition of Freund's Latin dictionary, revised, enlarged, and in great part rewritten by Charlton T. Lewis, and Charles Short. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1879. Various 20th and 21st century re-publications under .

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Roman law
Latin political words and phrases

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