The chief philosophical sources for political thought were Plato and Neoplatonism; Stoicism and Cicero; and Aristotle (only a few of whose works were accessible to medieval thinkers before the thirteenth century).
Plato and Neoplatonism
Only one of Plato’s dialogues was known in the Latin Middle Ages, but much of his thought had been assimilated by the church fathers, directly or through later Pla-tonists. The realm of ideal being posited by Plato, more real than, and a model for, the natural world, was the background for all western philosophical thought through the twelfth century. The most important part of this position for politics was the vision of an ideal polity to which all human beings should belong. Plato’s picture of the soul as a bundle of appetites, inherently unordered until constrained by a spirited element to obey reason also exercised a pervasive influence.
Stoicism and Cicero
The Stoic idea of a cosmic rational principle (logos) was also broadly influential. The most important aspect of this for political thought was the conception of a natural law valid independently of human legislation. On this basis, personal moral integrity and devotion to one’s community were championed by Cicero.
Aristotle
Although Aristotle’s Politics arrived late in the West, its influence on political thought after 1250 was enormous. Major features of the work were its critical and comparative analysis of a wide range of political structures and its presentation of these as outcomes of deliberate human action. (It is unclear whether the Politics was translated in medieval Islam.)
World History
