The Liberty of the Ancients Compared with that of the Moderns

A collection of vocabulary terms and definitions derived from Benjamin Constant's 1819 speech comparing ancient and modern concepts of liberty, detailing historical governance, economic shifts, and the philosophical foundations of representation.

Liberty of the Ancients

A form of liberty consisting in the active and constant participation in collective power, where individuals exercised sovereignty directly but were completely subjected to the authority of the community.

Liberty of the Moderns

The right of individuals to be subjected only to laws, to express their opinions, to choose a profession, to dispose of property, and to enjoy peaceful private independence and security.

Representative System

A modern discovery and organization where a nation charges a few individuals to defend their interests, acting as a proxy for the people who do not have the time to defend them themselves.

Ephors

Five elected officials in the Lacedaemonian republic whose authority was both religious and political, and who shared in the executive power of the government.

Monastic Aristocracy

The term used by Constant to describe the Lacedaemonian government, arguing it was in no way a representative government.

Tribunes

Magistrates in Rome who had, up to a point, a representative mission for the plebeians but functioned alongside a system where citizens still exercised many political rights directly.

Ostracism

A legal practice in Athens representing the supremacy of the social body over the individual, allowing the society to banish or exile citizens.

War

In antiquity, the constant interest and habitual occupation of free states, used as a means to obtain wealth in slaves, tributes, and lands.

Commerce

A modern method of obtaining what is wanted through mutual agreement and calculation, which Constant argues has replaced war as the universal tendency of nations.

Slavery

An institution of antiquity that provided the free population with the leisure required to spend every day in the public square for political discussion.

Individual Independence

The primary need of the moderns, which Constant argues must never be sacrificed for the sake of establishing political liberty.

Jean-Jacques Rousseau

A philosopher whose work is criticized for transposing the collective sovereignty of ancient centuries into the modern age, providing pretexts for tyranny.

Abbe de Mably

An author who represented a system that demanded individuals be enslaved so the nation could be free, desiring that the law cover thoughts and impressions.

Roman Censors

Officials who regulated customs and family life through discretionary power, an institution Constant argues would be ineffective and intolerable in modern society.

Circulation

A quality conferred on property by commerce that creates an invisible and invincible obstacle to the actions of arbitrary social power.

Credit

A modern economic influence that places government authority in a position of dependence because money can hide or flee, making it a restraint on despotism.

Stewards

The analogy used to describe representatives in a proxy system, where the people (like rich landowners) hire others to look after their interests while maintaining surveillance over them.

Political Liberty

The indispensable guarantee of individual liberty, which calls citizens to contribute to the exercise of power and the assessment of their sacred interests.

Self-development

Described as the true destiny of mankind, rather than just happiness alone, for which political liberty is the most powerful and effective means.

Danger of Modern Liberty

The risk that individuals, absorbed in private independence and particular interests, might too easily surrender their right to share in political power.

Danger of Ancient Liberty

The risk that men, exclusively concerned with securing their share of social power, might attach too little value to individual rights and enjoyments.

Augustus

A historical figure cited for wanting his people to remain faithful to the cult of their fathers, an example Constant warns against using to justify modern religious oppression.

Socrates

The philosopher mentioned as being killed by the Athenians for undermining polytheism, used by Constant to warn against citing ancient laws against foreign gods.

The Athenee Royal

The location in Paris where Constant delivered this speech in $1819$.