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Perhaps some quotes or works of his to qualify this statement? Here are some showing Cicero's dedication to liberty...
The name of peace is sweet, the thing itself is most salutary. But between peace and slavery there is a wide difference. Peace is liberty in tranquillity; slavery is the worst of all evils,--to be repelled, if need be, not only by war, but even by death. But if those deliverers of ours have taken themselves away out of our sight, still they have left behind the example of their conduct. They have done what no one else had done. Brutus pursued Tarquinius with war; who was a king when it was lawful for a king to exist in Rome. Spurius Cassius, Spurius. Maelius, and Marcus. Manlius were all slain because they were suspected of aiming at regal power. These are the first men who have ever ventured to attack, sword in hand, a man who was not aiming at regal power, but actually reigning. And their action is not only of itself a glorious and godlike exploit, but it is also one put forth for our imitation; especially since by it they have acquired such glory as appears hardly to be bounded by heaven itself
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Cicero's dedication to liberty, eh?
But between peace and slavery there is a wide difference. Peace is liberty in tranquillity; slavery is the worst of all evils,--to be repelled, if need be, not only by war, but even by death.
That's rich, considering the fact he was a slaveowner himself. The rest is a rehash of 6th century B.C. Roman history.
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What the hell are you talking about? Are you so stuck up in trying to catch me in a contradiction that you ignore everything I write?
I have never contradicted myself on this issue. What I am saying is that declaring oneself a dictator is not wrong (the means). It is no more wrong then establishing a constitutional republic. What matters is that they respect and protect the rights of their citizens.
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You have contradicted yourself. You said, "the ends do not justify the means." Either you believe it, or you don't. You are clearly making an exception when it comes to Cicero, you said that his suspending of the Roman constitution, executing four men without trial, imposing martial law, etc., were all OK.
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All you have been reciting is post-modernist/marxist dogma. You havn't amply explained anything. You keep making baseless rants about how Caeser helepd the "common man" without backing it up with facts. You don't even go as far as to explain what the "common man" was.
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You know, I really resent that. I'm not a marxist and I don't being appreciate being labeled as such. You ought to know better than that. Furthermore, I do not rant, and I don't recite any dogma whatsoever. I'm one of those people who happen to think for myself.
Caesar helped to improve the Roman economy, by forcing landowners to hire freemen as a third of their workers. If you have studied Roman history to any extent, you'll discover that there were masses of urban poor who were miserable and desperate. Slavery was not beneficial to the Roman economy, in addition, slavery is one of the most extreme violations of individual liberty. By forcing landowners to hire freemen, he helped to reduce the demand for slaves. He cut the number of people dependent on state welfare from 300,000 to 150,000 (welfare reform, always a good thing, right?).
Caesar also massively expanded citizenship, thus enfrachising people. He expanded the right to vote to the people of several provinces, including much of Gaul. He did away with the corrupt tax system (the tax collectors of the day were extortionists and kept most of the money) and instituted an effective way of collecting taxes. He also instituted debt reform, ending usury. And no, I don't mean he punished the venture capitalists of the day, lenders back then were worse than back-alley loan sharks are today, and what was common practice back then would be considered highly illegal, not to mention, extremely unethical today. He lowered interest rates, thus spurring investment.
Caesar restored rights to all those who had had them proscribed by Sulla when he had been dictator some 40 years before. He even protected the Jews, a people very much persecuted throughout history.
The men who assassinated Caesar were nothing more than aristocratic oligarchs. They weren't interested in peace, freedom, or liberty, as they proclaimed as they ran through the streets covered with his blood, they were interested in nothing more than preserving their own power, positions, and privileges.