ancient Greek and Roman theory, as expressed by Cicero, already
cited. Man is born in society and remains there, and it may be
regarded as the source of ancient Greek and Roman patriotism,
which still commands the admiration of the civilized world. The
state with Greece and Rome was a living reality, and loyalty a
religion. The Romans held Rome to be a divinity, gave her
statues and altars, and offered her divine worship. This was
superstition, no doubt, but it had in it an element of truth. To
every true philosopher there is something divine in the state,
and truth in all theories. Society stands nearer to God, and
participates more immediately of the Divine essence, and the
state is a more lively image of God than the individual. It was
man, the generic and reproductive man, not the isolated
individual, that was created in the image and likeness of his
Maker. "And God created man in his own image; in the image of
God created he him; male and female created he them."

This theory is usually called the democratic theory, and it
enlists in its support the instincts, the intelligence, the
living forces, and active tendencies of the age. Kings, kaisers,
and hierarchies are powerless before it, and war against it in
vain. The most they can do is to restrain its excesses, or to
guard against its abuses. Its advocates, in returning to it,
sometimes revive in its name the old pagan superstition. Not a
few of the European democrats recognize in the earth, in heaven,
or in hell, no power superior to the people, and say not only
people-king but people-God. They say absolutely, without any
qualification, the voice of the people is the voice of God, and
make their will the supreme law, not only in politics, but in
religion, philosophy, morals, science, and the arts. The people