Commentary The authors discussed in this series impacted the Constitution both directly and indirectly. Citations to the authors by participants in the constitutional debates of 1787–1790 are evidence of direct influence.
Indirect influence occurred in at least two ways. First, over the course of centuries the insights of men such as Aristotle, Cicero, and Polybius had permeated through the British political and legal tradition the Founders inherited. Second, participants in the debates often relied on later writers, who in turn had built upon the ideas of earlier ones. In classical antiquity, Aristotle owed much to Plato, Polybius to Aristotle, and Cicero and Plutarch to all those who had gone before….