Cicero’s On the Laws is one of the most famous and enduring of all the links between the modern world and ancient Rome. Written in the last decade of Cicero’s life, at a time when he considered himself retired from public service, it serves as a companion piece and a commentary on his earlier De re publica (On the Republic). On the Republic is a philosophical commentary on the ideal state, in much the same manner as the discourse of Cicero’s model Plato. On the Laws, by comparison, effectively sets out a constitution for that ideal state, an action plan for creating the structures necessary for making that state a reality. Cicero bases those laws not on a set of divine commandments imposed on humanity but on natural law.