Tractatus Politicus

The title page of the Tractatus politicus in the Opera Posthuma.
Portrait of Baruch Spinoza, 1665.

Tractatus Politicus (TP) or Political Treatise (PT) was the last and incomplete treatise written by Baruch Spinoza. It was written in 1675–77 and published posthumously in 1677. This treatise has the subtitle, "In quo demonstratur, quomodo Societas, ubi Imperium Monarchicum locum habet, sicut et ea, ubi Optimi imperant, debet institui, ne in Tyrannidem labatur, et ut Pax, Libertasque civium inviolata maneat." ("In which it is demonstrated how a society, may it be a monarchy or an aristocracy, can be best governed, so as not to fall into tyranny, and so that the peace and liberty of the citizens remain unviolated").