Cicero, Octavian and the Failure of Republican Leadership

doi:10.1017/9781009493833.008

Chapter 7 - Cicero, Octavian and the Failure of Republican Leadership

Published online by Cambridge University Press: 14 September 2025

Jonathan P. Zarecki

Edited by

Melina Tamiolaki

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Melina Tamiolaki: Affiliation:
University of Crete

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Summary

For Cicero, effective Republican leadership entailed both morality and agency. Morality meant actions that supported the Republic, while agency was required for such actions to be carried out. It is difficult to subsume any theory of leadership under a single word, but I argue that Cicero’s leadership theory can be signified by consilium. This term encapsulates the best mental and moral aspects of leadership as well as the actions and results of acting on behalf of the Republic. It is inherently tied to the practice of Republican politics, a practice that was fundamentally transactional. Cicero used this idea of consilium to support his acceptance of Octavian as an ally against Antony. According to his theory of consilium, Cicero acted correctly against Antony, but Octavian ultimately exposed the flaws in Cicero’s theory when he refused to participate in traditional Republican transactional politics.

Keywords

Cicero Octavian leadership Roman Republic politics consilium

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Type: Chapter
Information: Leadership in the Ancient World
Concepts, Models, Theories
, pp. 153 - 175

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009493833.008 [Opens in a new window]

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Print publication year: 2025

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