Abstract

The essay assumes the difference between (internal) peace and security: while the former is an ontological necessity of every social order, security does not characterize specifically the ancient order of common life. The «case study» is Cicero, whose idea of "concordia" (the composition of the conflict which is a physiological character of social development) is part of a complex vision of "civitas" as "res publica" (the constitution of civil life, which cannot be reduced to the querelle concerning different forms of government, pure or mixed). In order to define the complex vision of this res, the relationship between "ius civile" and "ius civitatis", between "ius" and "lex", between "lex" and "nature", between the lawyer and the politician are analyzed. Furthermore, it is also discussed the reassuring role of religion in opposition to the risk of "vita activa", which pretends honour and glory - not for the self, but for the homeland.