French Literature Reviews - 2026
A. Viktoria Fichtl, La Radicalisation de l’idéal républicain. Modèles antiques et la Révolution française
History, Politics and Society
Ariane Viktoria Fichtl
La Radicalisation de l’idéal républicain. Modèles antiques et la Révolution française
Paris, Classiques Garnier, coll. "L'Europe des Lumières", 2021
EAN : 9782406103837 — 476 p. — €49
Focusing on the models of political morality found in ancient and modern authors, this study examines the evolution of revolutionary concepts within the political culture of classical republicanism, a tradition shared and contested by members of the 18th-century French intellectual elite.
INTRODUCTION
Models of the Public Figure and Secular Morality among the Ancients 9
PART ONE
TWO TRADITIONS
OF CLASSICAL REPUBLICANISM
THE NEO-ROMAN TRADITION AND THE NEO-STOIC TRADITION
THE ORIGINS OF LACONOPHILIA,
THE ISSUE OF AGRARIAN LAW,
AND CLASSICAL REPUBLICANISM IN THE AGE OF ENLIGHTENMENT ... 23
THE STUDY OF ROMAN AUTHORS
IN PRE-REVOLUTIONARY FRANCE
Exploring the Relationship between Laws and Mores 47
PART TWO
ANCIENT MODELS OF THE PUBLIC FIGURE:
ARISTIDES AND CICERO
THE IDEAL OF THE VIRTUOUS MAGISTRATE
THE CICERONIAN MODEL
From the Right of Accusation to the Tribunate of the Plebs 95
THE ARISTIDEAN MODEL
The Obsession with Idolatry and the Debate over Ostracism 119
PART THREE
THE POLITICAL LESSONS OF ROMAN HISTORY
REPUBLIC AND EMPIRE
Positive and Negative Models 137
THE EXAMPLE OF THE TWO BRUTI
AND THE PREEMINENCE OF THE PUBLIC INTEREST 155
PAVING THE WAY FOR REVOLUTIONARY ACTIVISM 167
QUATRIÉME PARTIE : ANCIENS VS. MODERNES
TWO CONFLICTING CONSTITUTIONAL MODELS
SPARTAN AUSTERITY AS THE COUNTER-IMAGE
OF ATHENIAN MODERATION 189
THE MODEL OF DEMOCRATIC ATHENS
AND "INDULGENT" CRITICISM 203
PART FIVE: PUBLIC SAFETY
THE POLITICS OF EXCEPTION, OR THE POLITICAL EXCEPTION
THE PRINCIPLE OF POLITICAL NECESSITY AND THE REVOLUTIONARY POLITICS OF YEAR II 221
THE ARENA OF NEW CICEROS AGAINST MODERN CATILINES 235
DIVIDE AND RULE
The History (or Histories) of the Foreign Conspiracy 253
ROBESPIERRE, MODERN DEMOSTHENES
OR MODERN PISISTRATUS 261
CONCLUSION
Envisioning the Ideal Republic 271
DICTIONARY OF ANCIENT REFERENCES
USED IN PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES
DURING THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 403
BIBLIOGRAPHY 451
INDEX OF CITED AUTHORS 469
The intellectual history of the eighteenth century frequently engaged with classical antiquity to articulate emerging political values. Debates surrounding the French Revolution often relied upon paradigms drawn from Greek and Roman history to shape contemporary concepts of citizenship, virtue, and statecraft. Authors and political actors alike turned to classical models to legitimize or contest institutional reforms, reflecting a broader European engagement with ancient political philosophy during the Enlightenment.
Focusing on the models of political morality found in ancient and modern authors, this study examines the evolution of revolutionary concepts within the political culture of classical republicanism, a tradition shared and contested by members of the 18th-century French intellectual elite. Readers interested in the reception of classical antiquity during the French Revolution may find it relevant.