Claude Nicolet (15 September 1930 – 24 December 2010[1][2]) was a 20th-21st century French historian, a specialist of the institutions and political ideas of ancient Rome.
He was secretary, then editor-in- chief of the Cahiers de la République, and assigned to the office of Jean-Pierre Chevènement, between 1984 and 2002, on civic education.
This contributed to the originality of his work, straddling between ancient Rome and contemporary times, especially around the functioning of society and political institutions.
As Catherine Virlouvet pointed out, "it is the same questioning that unites Le métier de citoyen dans la Rome antique (1976) and L'idée républicaine en France.
The man and his work have been, by themselves, so intimately connected, and they are, moreover, so contradictory in appearance, and so coherent in reality, that we can not be surprised that Rousseau was, century-long - and perhaps more - both the inevitable reference and the most striking sign of division among the French republicans, as well as some others.