Peace in Civil War

This chapter examines the pressures that the civil wars of the 40s exerted on the conventional political language of the Republic, focusing in particular on the central role of pax in the debates of the time. The letters and speeches of Cicero provide major source material for this period and offer different viewpoints between the expedient and less guarded use of the term pax in order to examine the crisis of the Republic. The literary engagement with the concept is further explored in the works of Sallust and Caesar. An investigation into the language of pax in the numismatic field also provides insight into the engaging and changing application of the term as the political structures of the Republic change.