Katylina i Tabulae Novae. Problem powszechnego zadłużenia i utilitas rei publicae w mowach Cycerona
Tomasz BanachWe are pleased to present a new publication by Dr. Tomasz Banach, affiliated with the Centre. Dr. Banach’s work offers an excellent introduction to the political atmosphere of the final period of the Roman Republic. The Catilinarian Conspiracy, one of its most famous and dramatic episodes, provides him with a perfect opportunity to reflect on constitutional issues and social processes in the city on the Tiber. His analysis focuses on the confrontation between two personalities and two radically different attitudes toward the stability and endurance of the Roman political system. On one side, we have Consul Cicero, striving at all costs to preserve the cohesion of the Republic, devoted to its spirit and principles; on the other, Catiline, who, for immediate personal gain, does not hesitate to challenge not only the economic but also the legal foundations of the Republic. This clash, existential in nature for Rome, is keenly recognized by Cicero, who, even at the price of accepting the obvious negative consequences of widespread debt, adopts an uncompromising stance against his opponent’s program. This confrontation, meticulously analyzed by the author, allows him — often against common opinions and the positions of many historians — to reveal the true background and the real stakes of the struggle between the consul and the conspirator. In doing so, Dr. Banach’s work also unveils for the reader what lies at the heart and core of the Roman republican ethos: responsibility in public service, respect for ancestral tradition, and devotion to the common good.
prof. dr hab. Tomasz Tulejski
Uniwersytet Łódzki
