The Case for Tradition: Mos Maiorum

Throughout his life, Cicero advocated for an adherence to traditional values and customs - mos maiorum.

He lived by it, fought to maintain it, and ultimately died through defending it.

‘If this habit of lawlessness begins to spread and changes our rule from one of justice to one of force, so that those who up to the present have obeyed us willingly are held faithful by fear alone, then, though our own generation has perhaps been vigilant enough to be safe, yet I am anxious for our descendants, and for the permanent stability of our commonwealth, which might live on forever if the principles and customs of our ancestors were maintained.’ (The Republic, trans. Clinton Walker Keyes).

An apt compilation of the Case for the Classics. Image courgesy of Magnific.

The poignant phrase is Cicero’s anxiety for his descendants. His fear for loss of tradition, and the warning for the fate of future generations is playing out right now before our very eyes in 2026.

Many nations who were recipients of all that was wonderful and good from more than two thousand years ago, are decaying through lack of respect for the foundations that give strength to the enduring edifice of good governance by the best that society can produce.

We must educate our young people in the Classics, and build their resilience to challenges. If we do not, then we will lose the most valuable of inheritance.