1 Cicero and the Golden Age Tradition Sean McConnell In his dialogues De re publica and De legibus Cicero engages in sophisticated ways with utopian models of the ideal state and the ideally rational and just society. 1 As Jed Atkins argues in Cicero on Politics and the Limits of Reason, 2 Cicero ultimately takes a nuanced position in these dialogues: he is happy to use utopian models of the ideal state for reflective contemplation and inspiration (they show what we should be striving towards), and as a mirror on imperfect political realities (they help us to diagnose the ways in which we are falling short); but at the same time he highlights the very real practical limits when it comes to implementing such ideal models—by stressing the non-rational aspects of human nature, the importance of the contingencies of history, and the dangers of implementing political ideals in the face of established traditions and customs, Cicero shows that such utopian models are, in fact, never achievable fully in practice. Atkins is right to draw the sober conclusion that in De re publica and De legibus Cicero does not advocate implementation of the ideal state, despite the real value he sees in utopian models and aspirations. 3 The ideal state, although very important, is not the only utopian element in Cicero’s political thought. In this paper I draw attention to Cicero’s engagement with another utopian tradition that has a rather different relationship to history and what is practicable given worldly limitations—the tradition of the golden age, which is prominent not only in Greek myth and literature but also in Plato and the Peripatetic and Stoic philosophical traditions. I make the case that Cicero draws on philosophical accounts of the golden age—most significantly that of the Peripatetic Dicaearchus of Messana (c.350–c.285 BC)—in his analysis of the Roman res publica and the nature of Roman political virtue. In particular, I argue that his portrayal of the defining characteristics of the Roman people recalls closely the attributes of Dicaearchus’ “golden race”. This allows Cicero to appear more optimistic about 1 For detailed critical discussion see, for example, Atkins 2011 and 2013; Amis 2005 and 2008; Gallagher 2001. 2 Atkins 2013. 3 See in particular Atkins 2013: 61–69, 96–99, 229–38.