on laid in the past. By looking within Rome's past, Cicero hoped to understand the possible propelling factors which led states to behave in a certain fashion. However, Cicero did not attempt to understand the factors too deeply but rather he relied to mush on the roman historic path as a blueprint. Cicero offered no real comprehensive logic behind his pattern of possible outcomes. Early roman history tells of a series of seven kings, and the last, Lucius Tarquinius Superbus, was a tyrannical rex. In the first part of Cicero's diagram a monarch is in place, which can only be followed by a tyrant. After Lucius Tarquinius Superbus overthrow the senate and patricians played a decisive role. The rex's position was abolished and two consuls were elected annual ridding Rome of monarchical and tyrannical rule. This brought Rome into the age of a republic, shortly after the senate gained powers and showed aristocratic traits. Cicero's diagram almost perfectly shadowed the events described. After the seventh tyrannical rule, there are two possible outcomes in Cicero's diagram, either a democracy or an aristocracy. Cicero's logic is that he knew of the senate gaining power historically, yet he also knew of the struggles in the republic between the aristocratic party and the popular party. Cicero understood that the powers could have been gained by the masses just as easily as the aristocrats. It is noteworthy that Cicero did not take the peoples well being as Aristotle did. For Cicero, a good aristocracy could seize power, or rather a bad mob could seize power over the government. Cicero did not contend (as Aristotle did) that the populace mirrors the government. Cicero's diagram loses more strength in its argument as it progresses. Cicero believed a democracy could then only be followed by an oligarchy or an aristocracy. The first aristocracy could only be followed by an oligarchy; At this point it is hard to comprehend Cicero's logic. Cicero, w...
