Cicero · Politics

The Mixed Constitution

Cicero’s defence of the Roman republic as the best form of government - a balanced mixture of monarchy, aristocracy, and democracy that checks the corruption to which each pure form decays.

What you'll be able to recall

You learned Cicero’s case that a mixed constitution, balancing the three pure forms, is the most stable and just. Eighteen centuries later, Montesquieu refined the idea into the separation of powers that shaped modern constitutions. State how Montesquieu developed it.

Leads to Montesquieu.

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