The Influence of Cicero in the Americas. A Preliminary Approach through Bartolomé de las Casas

Abstract

In this paper I make a preliminary analysis of the imprint of Marcus Tullius Cicero in New Spain, especially in works by Bartolomé de las Casas (16^th century), although other authors influenced by Cicero are briefly discussed as well. The analysis consists of a comparison of Cicero’s works De oratore and De officiis with Bartolomé de las Casas’s The Only Way to Attract All Peoples to the True Religion. Cicero’s influence on Las Casas is not merely rhetorical, as is often argued, but involves important philosophical notions: the sense of justice, the rejection of the exclusion of the most disadvantaged, and a differentiated concept of “equality”.