In the year 44 B.C., with the Roman Republic at its end and Julius Caesar dead by assassins, the philosopher Cicero — understanding his own execution could shortly follow — sat down to write a series of letters to his son that would become a sort of guide for how a human being should live.

No one in Rome had been a more fierce defender of liberty against tyranny or a stronger advocate of the need to respect rights and law over the whims of tyrants.

But in his book On Duties, Cicero put forward important concepts of our obligations as free people — obligations that consider how we are bound together in a life of shared responsibilities that are inseparable from our individual rights.

“For there can be no aspect of life public or private, civic or domestic, which can be without its obligation, whether in individual concerns or in relations with our neighbor. Honorable behavior lies entirely in the performance of such obligations,” he wrote.

Justice, civility, human fellowship — these all flow from the observance of our duties to ourselves and to one another.

We thought of that as we watched images of protesters standing on the steps of state capitols loudly protesting what they see as the tyranny of restrictions that much of the country is under to try to slow the spread of infection from a deadly virus.

Some of these protesters are anti-vaccine oddballs or huckster manipulators. A few enjoy brandishing their weapons, knowing it sows fear.

But many of these protesters are good, hardworking people who fear what will happen to their livelihoods, their businesses and their families if they cannot return to work soon. That fear is not unjustified. The nation is falling into what could be a protracted and difficult recession. And we understand that few things are as frightening as the prospect of losing the ability to support one’s family.

That’s why it is appropriate for government officials at every level to work to reopen segments of the economy responsibly.

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What was troubling, however, in too many of the protests was the thread of thinking that individual liberty is supreme and that it does not itself come with responsibilities to the larger society.

What is being asked of us now is more than has been asked in a generation or more — to place the greater good above ourselves.

This is a great deal to ask, but it is not unreasonable to ask given the possibility, and even the likelihood, that if we fail to do that, we will only prolong the sacrifice by giving the disease another chance to spread widely, putting us right back where we started.

Individual freedom is sacred. And by balancing it in society with our duties to one another we also enhance our ability to live freely. Our duty now is to do what we can as a community to slow the spread of this disease so that we can again enjoy, as quickly as possible, the freedoms we are sacrificing.

That is painful. But it is necessary. And it is our obligation to one another.