Who Is Publius?

Shortly before 500 BC, Publius Valerius Publicola was one of the key founders of the Roman Republic. In his position as Roman Consul he created a series of laws that were very popular and important. These laws could almost be seen as an early list of rights in the Roman Republic. His name Publicola translates to “friend of the people.”

More famously, the legacy of Publius can be seen in the Federalist Papers of 1787-1788 which were collectively written by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay under the Publius name. As we all know, the Federalist papers were published as individual essays that advocated the ratification of the constitution. More important to the present day is the historical usage of these papers to determine the original intent of the framers of the constitution.

I chose the name Publius in order to call back to the work the framers did. They were advocates of freedom and our republic, and I believe they wrote under the most famous political pseudonym in history. While the work I do on this site could never possibly be mentioned in the same breath as their work, I have chosen the name to honor them and the memory of their essays.

I am not going to reveal my true identity, but I would like to take a moment to write about who I am not. I am not currently working for any politician or political entity. The best way to describe my current job is to say that I am working in education for a Christian religious organization, and I have a lot of free time at the office.

It has been suggested in the comments section of this site on several occasions that I am a Law Professor from Texas by the name of John Blevins. I can assure you that this is false. For Professor Blevins sake (who I had never even heard of before reading the comments, but I’ll assume that he’s a nice and fair man), I am going to delete any future comments that explicitly name him.

Friendly yours,

Publius