During war, the laws are silent.

In the ancient world, where empires clashed and the drums of war echoed across the lands, the great philosopher and statesman, Quintus Tullius Cicero, made a profound statement: "During war, the laws are silent." These words, spoken in a time of fierce conflict, carry a deep and unsettling truth about the nature of war and the laws that govern human conduct. What Cicero reveals to us is the tragic reality that in times of war, the structures of justice and morality are often cast aside, and violence and might take precedence. The law, which seeks to protect the weak and uphold justice, finds itself powerless against the raging storm of war, where the very principles it stands for can be trampled beneath the weight of survival and conquest.

In war, the laws of peace—which govern how men should treat one another, how they should be held accountable for their actions, and how order should prevail—are often suspended. When the forces of violence are unleashed, the rule of law is often seen as a mere formality, a hindrance to victory rather than a guide to just action. Cicero understood this well, for in his time, the Roman Republic was frequently embroiled in wars of expansion and civil strife. In these dark hours, the law would often be ignored or reinterpreted to serve the needs of those in power, and justice became a casualty of the military imperative.

Let us look to the Roman Empire itself, a mighty power that rose on the strength of its legions. The conquests of Rome were not conducted by peaceful means, nor were they governed by the same principles of law that might have applied in times of peace. Consider the conquest of Gaul by Julius Caesar, where the laws of Rome were not applied to the lands and peoples Caesar sought to conquer. In his famous Commentarii de Bello Gallico, Caesar details how he bent the rules of war, often showing no mercy to the defeated, massacring entire villages and burning cities to the ground. While some might argue that Caesar’s actions were justified by the ends—expanding Rome’s borders and securing its future—the very methods he employed, and the abandonment of law and decency, left a trail of devastation. The laws were silent in the face of his ambition, and the price of victory was the loss of morality.

But the lessons of Cicero’s words are not limited to the ancient world. Even in our modern age, we see how the laws of war—such as the Geneva Conventions, designed to protect civilian lives and uphold basic human dignity—are often trampled upon in the heat of battle. Consider the atrocities of war: the massacres, the torture, and the disregard for civilian life that occur when the laws of war are ignored. In the Second World War, the Nazi regime cast aside any semblance of humanity or law in its pursuit of racial superiority, engaging in genocide and war crimes that stand as a testament to the horrors that can unfold when war takes precedence over law. In the eyes of Adolf Hitler and his followers, the laws of humanity were irrelevant in their quest for dominance, and millions of innocent lives were lost as a result.

Cicero’s words ring true not only in the global stage of war, but in our personal lives as well. When we are consumed by our own internal conflicts, whether between family members, friends, or colleagues, the laws of respect, kindness, and honesty often seem to fall by the wayside. The war of words can escalate into a full-fledged battle, where each person becomes an enemy to be defeated rather than a fellow human being to be understood. Just as in times of war, where the law is silenced, so too do our better natures often become muted in the face of personal conflict. In these moments, we must be mindful not to abandon the very principles that make us human—respect, patience, and understanding—even when the stakes seem high.

The true lesson of Cicero’s insight lies in the recognition that war, whether physical or metaphorical, creates a world where the rules of civility are suspended. In war, the law is often silenced by the clamor of violence and the hunger for victory. Yet, even in the most brutal of struggles, we must strive to keep the light of justice burning bright, to remind ourselves that the laws of humanity should never be discarded, even when it seems expedient to do so. The cost of abandoning these laws is not just temporary victory or temporary peace, but the destruction of the very fabric of what makes us human.

In our own struggles, whether in the realms of politics, family, or personal battles, let us remember that the law should not be silent. It is our duty to hold fast to principles of truth, honor, and justice, even when faced with overwhelming adversity. Let us not lose sight of the human cost of abandoning these laws, for in their absence, we risk becoming nothing more than victims of our own violence. As Cicero taught us, when the law falls silent, society itself begins to unravel, and we must be the ones to restore it, to bring peace and morality to the forefront, no matter the cost of the struggle.