The lex Pompeia de provinciis

The final chapter examines what Cicero calls ‘Cato’s policy’—that is, a policy of ethical governance designed to secure the welfare and good will of Rome’s allies. It appears that all governors appointed under the lex Pompeia de provinciis were engaged in this project, which entailed not only ethical governance but consciously exemplary behaviour. The chapter also revisits Cato’s letter to Cicero in the light of Cato’s policy: when Cato speaks of Cicero’s maiestas, he is invoking a particularly Stoic concept of ‘true glory’ due to moral excellence. A similar idea appears in Cicero’s De Legibus, written around the same time. Both reflect the ideology of the reform programme of 52–50, which aimed to promote good governance by making a reputation for moral excellence desirable in its own right.