The one major work preceding More’s in the field was Plato’s Republic. Its influence on Utopia is extensive and unmistakable. To begin with, the central theme of both works is the search for justice. In the Republic, the rulers are to be a group of intelligent, unselfish men called the guardians or philosopher-kings, who conduct public affairs for the good of the whole nation. The principle of community of property is in effect: “No man calls anything his own.” Gold and silver coinage is outlawed, and there is a rigid proscription against luxury and ostentation. Throughout the society, life is directed by a highly moral code of conduct. An educational system for the intelligentsia is elaborately and idealistically designed. Equality of men and women is proposed in both works, though with certain qualifications. There is allowance made in Plato’s scheme for the practice of slavery, as there is in More’s. There are, on the other hand, departures from Plato in Utopia, some quite radical. The Republic establishes sharply defined class distinctions—the ruling intelligentsia; the warrior class; commoners, consisting of merchants, artisans, and laborers; and finally, at the lowest level, the slaves. Utopians recognize no such gradations among their citizens. The religious beliefs and practices in the two books are, of course, quite different. There is also a sharp difference in the treatment of families. In the Republic, women and children are held in common—“there is no marrying nor giving in marriage”—and mating is regulated to serve eugenic ends; whereas in Utopia, the family unit is the core of the entire social structure.
These comparisons merely suggest a few of the similarities and differences between the Republic and Utopia. Other details will be noted in the commentaries on specific passages in the text of Utopia.
The only ancient authors other than Plato who have been mentioned as possibly influencing or suggesting comparison with More are Lycurgus, Cicero, and St. Augustine. Lycurgus is reputed to have dictated a body of laws for ancient Sparta, the best account of which is found in Plutarch. It declared equal possession among the “citizens”—that is, the upper-class members of the community. The “helots,” who were in the vast majority, were virtually on the level of slaves. Instead of gold and silver for coins, iron was used. All luxuries were banned, and both men and women were disciplined to endure hardships and were motivated to sacrifice everything for the welfare of the state.
Cicero’s De republica (54–52 B.C.) is largely indebted to Plato, not only to the Republic but also to several other Platonic dialogues. Cicero discusses the attributes of various types of government—monarchy, aristocracy, democracy, and dictatorship—but without committing himself to a preference. One point, however, is clear. His concept of an ideal state is one based on reason and justice, where those who possess natural superiority rule over the inferiors.
The most famous passage of this work is the chapter called the Somnium Scipionis (Dream of Scipio), which echoes Plato’s concept of the rewards for virtuous souls in the starry heavens. That passage was widely read and greatly admired through the Middle Ages.
St. Augustine’s famous De Civitate Dei (City of God, 413–26) is frequently cited as a source for Utopia. It was, of course, well known to More. He had delivered a series of lectures on the work, as has been mentioned. The basic plan of Augustine’s book is different from the Republic, although Augustine was a devoted admirer of Plato. By the same token, More’s work differs in basic concept from Augustine’s, though inevitably echoes of Augustine are to be found in More.
Augustine’s work set out to defend Christianity against the criticism of proponents of traditional pagan worship. It launches an attack on the pattern of immorality in Roman life under the worship of the pagan gods and offers, in contrast, the way of life taught by Christianity. His arguments are based on his interpretation of history, both Old Testament history and Roman. There is not a specific practical plan for the government of his imaginary ideal state but rather a distinction drawn on philosophical lines between two guiding principles. In the “City of Earth,” the love of self holds precedence over love of God; in the “City of God,” the love of God holds precedence over the love of self.
The Medieval document most frequently cited in historical surveys of the utopian theme is Dante’s Latin treatise on government, De Monarchia (1308?). Here again the differences between that work and More’s are greater than the resemblances, and it is not suggested that More was acquainted with Monarchia. Dante, living in the period when the rivalry between popes and emperors for secular supremacy was splitting nations, cities, and even families, wrote his book to maintain the right of the emperor to independent authority over Europe in temporal matters, refuting the claims of the papacy that the emperor owed his title to the pope as God’s vicar and was the pope’s subject in matters temporal as well as spiritual. Dante does present his practical concept of an ideal commonwealth, the Holy Roman Empire. What this meant to him was a United Europe under the rule of a man of authority, an emperor elected—not by the populace but by the designated electors.
