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Res publica, also spelled rēs pūblica to indicate vowel length, is a Latin phrase, loosely meaning "public affair". It is the root of the republic, and commonwealth has traditionally been used as a synonym for it; however, translations vary widely according to the context. Res is a nominative singular Latin noun for a substantive or concrete thing—as opposed to spes, which means something unreal or ethereal—and publica is an attributive adjective meaning "of or pertaining to the public, people", hence a literal translation is "the public thing, affair", or "the people's thing, affair".[1]
The Latin term res publica was incompatible with the idea of absolute power by any individual or group over the body of citizens. The most essential characteristic of a res publica was liberty (libertas), which meant freedom from the arbitrary control of another and the absence of a monarchical domination over the body politic, that was analogous to the absolute power of a master over a slave.[2]
- ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879). "Res". A Latin Dictionary. Oxford: Clarendon Press. Retrieved 19 December 2024 – via Perseus Project.
[A] thing, object, matter, affair, business, event, fact, circumstance, occurrence, deed, condition, case.
- ^ Mitchell, Thomas N. (2001). "Roman Republicanism: The Underrated Legacy". Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society. 145 (2): 127–137. ISSN 0003-049X. JSTOR 1558267.