The safety of the people shall be the highest law.

Marcus Tullius Cicero, On the Laws (52 BC)

Genuine

Yes. In On the Laws (52 BC), On the Laws (De Legibus), Book III, section 8 (De Legibus III.3.8).

Found word for word by program in the Latin original and in Charles Duke Yonge’s English translation (1853).

Checked against Cicero, De Legibus III.3.8. English: ‘On the Laws’, in The Treatises of M. T. Cicero: On the Nature of the Gods; On Divination; On Fate; On the Republic; On the Laws; and On Standing for the Consulship, literally translated, chiefly by the editor, C. D. Yonge (London: Henry G. Bohn, 1853; Bohn’s Classical Library), Book III, p. 464; Yonge’s revision of Francis Barham’s translation of 1841. Latin: The Latin Library, De Legibus III, section 8 (edition not named), 464, in the text of a page scan, not the image.

The wording people share comes from a later translation; Yonge’s words are underlined below.

Work
On the Laws (De Legibus), 52 BC
Where
On the Laws (De Legibus), Book III, section 8 (De Legibus III.3.8)
Found at
Paragraph 277 of the Latin text, 24 of the English
Translation
Charles Duke Yonge, 1853
Source
Cicero, De Legibus III.3.8. English: ‘On the Laws’, in The Treatises of M. T. Cicero: On the Nature of the Gods; On Divination; On Fate; On the Republic; On the Laws; and On Standing for the Consulship, literally translated, chiefly by the editor, C. D. Yonge (London: Henry G. Bohn, 1853; Bohn’s Classical Library), Book III, p. 464; Yonge’s revision of Francis Barham’s translation of 1841. Latin: The Latin Library, De Legibus III, section 8 (edition not named), 464
Checked
In the text of a page scan, not the image

Researched by AI; checked by program against the full text on 31 October 2026. Editorial review: pending. How we check

On the page

¶23 en¶276 la

[…] Let him have as many colleagues, of equal power, as the senate think necessary, and the people allows him. .

[8] ‘Iuris disceptator, qui privata iudicet iudicarive iubeat, praetor esto. Is iuris civilis custos esto. Huic potestate pari quotcumque senatus creverit populusve iusserit, tot sunto.’

¶24 en¶277 la
English, Charles Duke Yonge, 1853

“ Let two magistrates be invested with sovereign authority; from their presiding, judging, and counselling, let them be called praetors, judges, or consuls. Let them have supreme authority over the army, and let them be subject to none; for the safety of the people is the supreme law;1 and no one should succeed to this magistracy till it has been held ten years—regulating the duration by an annual law.

Latin, the original

‘Regio imperio duo sunto, iique a praeeundo iudicando consulendo praetores iudices consules appellamino. Militiae summum ius habento, nemini parento. Ollis salus populi suprema lex esto.’

¶25 en¶278 la

“When a considerable war is undertaken, or discord is likely to ensue among the citizens, let a single supreme magistrate be appointed, who shall unite in his own person the authority of both consuls, if the senate so decrees, for six monthsonly. […]

[9] ‘Eundem magistratum, ni interfuerint decem anni, ne quis capito. Aevitatem annali lege servanto.’

¶26 en¶279 la

“ Let the auspices be observed by the senate, and let them authorize persons of their own body to elect the consuls in the comitia, according to the established ceremonials.

‘Ast quando duellum gravius discordiaeve civium escunt, oenus ne amplius sex menses, si senatus creverit, idem iuris quod duo consules teneto, isque ave sinistra dictus populi magister esto. […]

The scene

In the dialogue On the Laws, probably begun in the late 50s BC and left unfinished, Cicero talks with his brother Quintus and Atticus at his estate at Arpinum. In Book III, having set out laws on religion, he reads a code of laws for the magistrates, written in an old-fashioned legal Latin. This clause concerns the two consuls: they are to command the army, obey no one, and be guided by one rule above all others, the welfare of the people. After the code he and Quintus discuss it law by law.

What it means

For the consuls, the good and safety of the people is to be the highest rule, above every other law. ‘Salus’ covers safety, welfare and well-being.

Often misread

Often used as a principle that the people’s welfare justifies anything, including setting the law aside in an emergency. In Cicero’s code it is a clause on the consuls’ supreme power, a rule for those who hold it; how far it licenses breaking other laws is the question later writers, from Locke on, argued over, not one this clause settles.

Also shared as

  • ShortenedSalus populi suprema lex esto. The clause without Cicero’s ‘Ollis’ (‘for them’, the consuls), the form of mottoes and epigraphs; Locke quotes it without ‘esto’. Where it was seen

Before and after

Marcus Tullius Cicero-52, this quote
John Locke1690In the Second Treatise of Government, § 158, writes that ‘Salus populi suprema lex’ is ‘so just and fundamental a rule, that he, who sincerely follows it, cannot dangerously err’, arguing that the executive may on that ground reform an unequal representation.
State of Missouri1822’Salus populi suprema lex esto’ is the motto on the state’s seal.

Topics

Power, Society, Politics

Related quotes

Sources

Cite it

Marcus Tullius Cicero, On the Laws (52 BC), On the Laws (De Legibus), Book III, section 8 (De Legibus III.3.8), translated by Charles Duke Yonge (1853). Checked at Quotogeny, https://quotogeny.com/q/the-safety-of-the-people-shall-be-the-highest-law/ (31 October 2026).

Have a different wording, or a source we missed? Check it or submit it.

Do you hold the rights to anything on this page? Tell us.

Checked by people

People who checked this entry against its source, under their own names. Their checks do not change the verdict: an editor reviews every entry.

Comments

Try