# Epigraph explained — The Social Contract

> Chapter companion for The Social Contract by Jean-Jacques Rousseau.

## What happens

The chapter opens with an epigraph from Virgil's Aeneid XI, calling for the establishment of equal laws within a compact.

## Themes in this chapter

### The Social Contract

The call for 'equal laws' in a compact directly evokes the idea of a social contract as the foundation of a just society.

### The Role of the Legislator

The epigraph's emphasis on establishing laws suggests the foundational role of a legislator in framing the terms of the social compact.

## Key lines

> Foederis aequas Dicamus leges.

Let us propose equal laws for a compact.

_This epigraph from Virgil's Aeneid sets the stage for Rousseau's exploration of the social contract and the establishment of just laws._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_social_contract_se/chapters/epigraph
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_social_contract_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_social_contract_se/chapters