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The articles deals with the analysis of Russian and Soviet works related to Cicero’s views on the ideal citizen, ruler, and state. There are several contradictory trends in the Russian and Soviet historiography on the topic mentioned above. The first one is about Cicero’s conservatism in ethical and political questions (Grabar’-Passek and Utchenko considered Cicero conservative). A bigger number of scholars, on the contrary, wrote about Cicero’s definite innovation (Derevnin, Kamalutdinov, Temnov, and Bragova). The approach to the essence of Cicero’s concept of the best ruler is also twofold: Vipper and Marchenko attach a monarchical essence to it, while the majority of the scholars (Vekhov, Protasova, Mashkin, Utchenko, Zimin, Motus, Derevnin, Kamalutdinov, Temnov, and Bragova) point to its non-monarchical nature. Zvirevich and Derzhavitsky wrote about the humanism of Cicero’s image of the ideal citizen. Some researchers (Zelinsky, Knabe, Motus, Chernyshov, and Bragova) believe that Cicero’s perfect state was a utopia in the time of transition from the republic to the principate, while Temnov is convinced of its realism.

The article is devoted to the analysis of the Latin concept of cognitio in Cicero’s writings. Based on the continuous sampling method, 173 cases of use of the concept were found. The meaning of 23 of them does not correspond to the semantic field “cognition” and the Stoic virtue of knowledge, therefore they are not analysed in the article. The concept of cognitio in the meaning of “cognition” is more often found in the singular form (143 times), less often – in the plural form (7 times). Cognitio is found in the synonymous series with the words contemplatio, exercitatio, perceptio, prudentia, ratio, scientia (most of all – with the word scientia). Cognition (cognitio) is opposed to action (actio) and ignorance (ignoratio). Cognitio sometimes has a dependent word: rerum (33 cases), less often – animi, artis, deorum, naturae, virtutis, vitiorum, etc. In turn, cognitio itself is used as a complement to the words amor, appetitio, consultatio, cupiditas, genus, quaestio, studium, etc. In the same context with cognitio there are such words as res, natura, ratio, scientia, etc. Cicero’s reasoning about cognition (cognitio) is found mainly in his philosophical writings when he analyses the views of ancient Greek philosophers (Academics, Peripatetics, Stoics), in particular – the Stoics and their teaching on virtues, which includes cognition as well.