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    On Duties
    On Duties
    On Duties
    Ebook421 pages5 hours

    On Duties

    By Marcus Tullius Cicero

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    "This new translation of Cicero's De Officiis, which combines scrupulous faithfulness to the Latin text with smooth readability in English, is a welcome gift to students of manners, morals, ethics, and politics. Cicero’s classic book, somewhat neglected over the last century or so, is due for a revival of interest; this translation, together with its helpful aids to interpretation, should contribute to that end."â•James H. Nichols, Claremont McKenna Colleg

    This new edition of On Duties aims to provide readers who cannot read Latin but wish to study the book with a literal yet elegant translation. It features an introduction, outline, footnotes, interpretative essay, glossary, and indexes, making Cicero’s thought accessible to a general audience.

    Benjamin Patrick Newton’s translation of Cicero’s On Duties is the most complete edition of a text that has been considered a source of moral authority throughout classical, medieval, and modern times. Marcus Tullius Cicero was a preeminent Roman statesman, orator, and philosopher who introduced philosophy into Rome, and through Rome, into Christendom and the modern world. On Duties was championed by important thinkers including Thomas Aquinas, Montesquieu, and Voltaire, and it was one of the earliest books printed on the Gutenberg press.

    The true significance of On Duties lies in its examination of several fundamental problems of political philosophy, the most important being the possible conflict between the honorable and the useful. The honorable encompasses the virtues of human beings, which include justice and concern for the common good. The useful refers to the needs of living beings, which includes certain necessities and concern for private good. Only by understanding the possible conflict between these two sides of human nature, Cicero declares, may we understand our duties to our community and to ourselves.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherCornell University Press
    Release dateJul 28, 2016
    ISBN9781501706523
    Author

    Marcus Tullius Cicero

    Marcus Tullius Cicero wird 106 v. Chr. geboren. Seine Ausbildung in Rom umfaßt Recht, Literatur, Philosophie und Rhetorik, was ihm den Weg zu einer politischen Karriere ebnet. Nach kurzem Militärdienst geht er nach Griechenland und Kleinasien, um seine Studien fortzusetzen. Er kehrt 77 v. Chr. nach Rom zurück und beginnt eine politische Laufbahn. Der Durchbruch als Anwalt und Politiker in Rom gelingt ihm 70 v. Chr. im Prozeß gegen Verres. Während seiner Amtszeit als Konsul verhindert er 63 v. Chr. die Verschwörung des Catilina, muß jedoch auf Grund der herrschenden Machtverhältnisse 58 v. Chr. für kurze Zeit ins Exil gehen. Phasen politischer Abwesenheit nutzt Cicero zur Vertiefung seiner Studien und zur literarischen Produktion. In den folgenden Jahren entstehen die rechtsphilosophischen Hauptwerke wie Vom Gemeinwesen und Von den Gesetzen. Im Jahr 50 v. Chr. kehrt er nach Rom zurück und schließt sich nach Beendigung des Bürgerkrieges Caesar an. Die Akademischen Abhandlungen entstehen etwa vier Jahre später. Cicero kommt hier das Verdienst zu, die Übertragung großer Teile des griechischen philosophischen Vokabulars ins Lateinische geleistet und damit die Rezeption der griechischen Philosophie in Rom befördert zu haben. Die Frage nach der Gewißheit der Erkenntnis und der Unterschied zwischen der dogmatischen und der skeptischen Akademie auf dem Gebiet der Erkenntnistheorie steht im Mittelpunkt des Dialoges Lucullus. Cicero wird Opfer der in den politischen Unruhen des zweiten Triumvirats beschlossenen Proskritptionen. Er wird im Dezember 43 v. Chr. auf der Flucht ermordet.

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    3.5/5

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    • 2/5
      Having read other translations of Cicero, I have to say this one is incredibly wooden, too literal. Cicero is anything but boring, but an unimaginative translation has rendered him a corpse.
    • 5/5
      One of the earliest works on morality and many guiding principles of life. What immediately struck me as a reader was the fact that many of the things we think of today were on the minds of people thoudands of years in our past. The information will shock the advid liberal and purveyor of weak ethical principles. Must read!
    • 5/5
      Cicero's book is intelligent and charming, though his usual--how can I put this?--hatred of poor people does dull through the brilliance. But you shouldn't really need a goodreads review to convince you to read this book, which is tremendously important for the history of ideas Europe.

      You might need a review to suggest a particular edition, and I heartily recommend this one. It's an ideal of its kind. Walsh's notes are full, relevant, and broad (they cover biography, history, and philosophy); his introduction is, too (they cover those three, as well as the book's later influence). The text reads well. Highly recommended.
    • 4/5
      An interesting read, with Cicero's anger at Caesar, his love for the virtue of fellowship and much readable thought, if set in not very rigorous arguments.

    Book preview

    On Duties - Marcus Tullius Cicero

    MARCUS TULLIUS CICERO

    On Duties

    TRANSLATED WITH INTRODUCTION, NOTES, AND INDEXES BY

    Benjamin Patrick Newton

    Cornell University Press

    ITHACA AND LONDON

    For my M. B.

    Contents

    Acknowledgments

    Introduction

    Outline

    ON DUTIES

    BOOK ONE

    BOOK TWO

    BOOK THREE

    Interpretative Essay

    Glossary

    Selected Bibliography

    Index of Names and Places

    Index of Subjects

    Acknowledgments

    It is only appropriate in a book on officia to acknowledge those who acted so amiably as teachers, colleagues, and loved ones. These men and women are the very best of individuals, those who go about their business and lives not simply out of a sense of utility but because virtue is worth pursuing for its own sake. Never fashionable, never fair-weather, always constant, always thoughtful, these are individuals whom I am honored to have worked with and known. My sincere appreciation to Charles L. Babcock and Charles E. Butterworth, who guided my studies of Latin and philosophy, respectively; to David S. Fott and Thomas L. Pangle, who very kindly offered their advice and an editor’s eye throughout the writing process, as well as to James F. Pasley, who extended every courtesy while I finished the book; and to my parents, James and Roxann Newton, and my wife, Summer D. Newton, who provided patience, love, and a spousal sabbatical. Many thanks also to Roger M. Haydon, Karen T. Hwa, Susan C. Barnett, and the anonymous reviewers of Cornell University Press, as well as to Marian H. Rogers of BiblioGenesis, for all of their aid and encouragement. I must also acknowledge my debt to Leo Strauss, whose 1959 course transcript on Cicero provided many hours of pleasure and much food for thought. Without these people, this book could not have been written.

    Introduction

    You hold in your hands one of the most famous books ever written by one of the most famous men who ever lived. Marcus Tullius Cicero was a preeminent Roman statesman, orator, and philosopher. He was a champion of republican government, who successfully defended the Roman commonwealth against its overthrow by Lucius Sergius Catilina; a powerful speaker, who transformed Latin into the language of learning for sixteen centuries to come; and a prudent man, who introduced philosophy into Rome, and through Rome, into Christendom and the modern world. De officiis, or On Duties, has been considered a source of moral authority throughout classical, medieval, and modern times. It was championed by thinkers of no less importance than Thomas Aquinas, Montesquieu, and Voltaire; it was of decisive influence on Hugo Grotius and his On the Law of War and Peace; and it was one of the earliest books printed on the Gutenberg press. But the true significance of On Duties lies in its examination of several fundamental problems of political philosophy, the most important being the possible conflict between the honorable (honestum) and the useful (utile). The honorable encompasses the virtues of human beings, which include justice and concern for the common good. The useful encompasses the needs of living beings, which include certain necessities and concern for private good. Only by understanding the possible conflict between these two sides of human nature may we understand our duties to our community and to ourselves. Throughout On Duties, Cicero continually poses the question, Is there a conflict between the honorable and the useful? Is there ever a time when necessity overcomes justice, or when private good conflicts with public good?

    This new edition of On Duties aims to provide readers who cannot read Latin but wish to carefully study the book with a literal yet elegant translation. Over the last century there have been five complete and two piecemeal editions of On Duties,¹ all of which suffer from inaccurate translations and inadequate interpretations. But before discussing the sorts of problems found in earlier editions that directly relate to and distinguish this edition, a few words first must be said about the author and his book.

    I

    Marcus Tullius Cicero was the elder of two sons born into an influential equites² family in the town of Arpinum on January 3, 106 BC. He shared his hometown and heritage with Gaius Marius.³ As a young man Cicero received an excellent education, studying law with Quintus Mucius Scaevola Augur,⁴ rhetoric with Apollonius Molon of Rhodes,⁵ and philosophy with the Academic Philo,⁶ the Stoic Diodotus,⁷ and the Epicurean Phaedrus.⁸ His ardor for philosophy was immediate and lasted his entire life. As an older man he would continue to associate closely with philosophers, befriending, among others, the Academic Antiochus,⁹ the Peripatetic Marcus Pupius Piso,¹⁰ and the Stoic Posidonius,¹¹ even inviting the above Diodotus to live in his home until Diodotus’s death in 59 BC. His closest lifelong friend was the Epicurean Titus Pomponius Atticus.¹²

    An ambitious man, Cicero quickly worked his way up the Roman cursus honorum, or path of honors. He first served as an advocate in the law courts and won great fame for his defense of Sextus Roscius of Ameria¹³ on a charge of patricide in 80 BC. At a time when the proscriptions¹⁴ of Lucius Cornelius Sulla Felix¹⁵ were still recent, and their execution by his lieutenant Lucius Cornelius Chrysogonus¹⁶ were still fresh, a twenty-six-year old Cicero chose to defend a man whom Chrysogonus wished to see falsely condemned, while Sulla was alive and well. And he won.¹⁷

    In 75 BC Cicero was elected to serve in Sicily as quaestor, an official who oversaw the commonwealth’s finances. He fulfilled the duties of the office so well that the Sicilians later asked him to prosecute their governor, Gaius Verres,¹⁸ for corruption and extortion in 70 BC. By that time Cicero was an aedile, an elected official who oversaw the maintenance of public buildings and regulation of festivals. He undertook the case and successfully prosecuted Verres, prevailing over the defense of Quintus Hortensius Hortalus,¹⁹ a man eight years his senior and then considered to be the most outstanding advocate in Rome.²⁰ This success helped him win the praetorship in 66 BC, an office that served various functions, such as commanding in the army or judging in the courts. In 63 BC he was elected a consul, one of two officials who served one-year appointments as heads of state and the army. Each of the preceding two offices was won by Cicero on the first attempt, at the minimum age requirement, and, perhaps most impressively, as a novus homo, or new man. It was exceedingly rare for such a new man, whose ancestors had never been senators, to be admitted into the Senate, let alone win its highest office.

    During the year of Cicero’s consulship, Catilina²¹ attempted to overthrow the government. The conspirators led by Catilina were largely a group of debt-ridden senators who hoped to erase the debt record. The conspiracy was thwarted by Cicero’s vigilance in Rome, although an army had to be sent against Catilina and the remnants of his army in Etruria. The temporarily grateful Roman people gave Cicero the honorary title Pater Patriae, or Father of the Fatherland.²² But when the danger had passed, Cicero’s enemies, led by Publius Clodius Pulcher,²³ exiled him in 58 BC on the grounds that he executed the leading conspirators, who were Roman citizens, without a trial. This exile might have been avoided had he accepted Gaius Julius Caesar’s offer to join what became known as the First Triumvirate, along with Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus and Marcus Licinius Crassus Dives.²⁴ The purpose of this union was to advance the careers of each of its members at the expense of the common good. But Cicero recognized the new conspiracy for what it was, and refused. His house on the Palatine was destroyed, his villa at Tusculum was ravaged, and he was forced to flee into Macedonia.

    A year later his friend Titus Annius Milo,²⁵ then tribune, secured his return, and he was warmly welcomed back into Italy and Rome. But the First Triumvirate so dominated Roman politics that Cicero’s efforts to reintegrate himself into political life proved futile. Disgusted, he withdrew from politics and devoted himself to writing. It was at this time that his three most political works of philosophy were written, On the Orator in 55 BC, On the Commonwealth (or The Republic) in 51 BC, and On the Laws around 50 BC.²⁶ And yet Cicero did not remain entirely politically inactive during this time. In 53 BC he was elected augur, a priest who interpreted the will of the gods by studying the flight of birds, and in 51 BC he was sent to govern the province of Cilicia. As with his quaestorship in Sicily, he proved a just and capable governor.

    When the Civil War broke out between Caesar and Pompeius Magnus, both sides courted Cicero; in the end he chose the side of Pompeius and the Roman commonwealth. After Pompeius’s defeat at the battle of Pharsalus in 48 BC, Cicero refused Marcus Porcius Cato Uticensis’s²⁷ offer to command the remaining forces of the commonwealth, was pardoned by Caesar, and returned to Italy.

    Cicero’s political life was again seemingly at an end. Nevertheless, he writes, as my mind was incapable of inaction, I thrust myself into those pursuits in which I had been engaged from an early age, believing I could most honorably lay aside my troubles if I returned to philosophy.²⁸ Philosophy for Cicero was above all the pursuit of wisdom,²⁹ a pursuit that offered only probable answers to perennial questions,³⁰ but a pursuit whose beauty was such that one never ought to tire of it.³¹ Thus between 45 and 44 BC he embarked on an ambitious program to fully introduce philosophy into Rome,³² writing his Academics, On the Ends of Good and Bad Things, Tusculan Disputations, On the Nature of the Gods, On Divination, and On Fate, among other works. Having completed his program, he was again swept up into political life.

    With the assassination of Caesar in 44 BC, his lieutenant Marcus Antonius and adopted son Gaius Octavius³³ were fighting for control of the Roman commonwealth. Cicero left the countryside for Rome, determined to manipulate Octavius and destroy Antonius. Delivering speech after speech against Antonius in the Senate³⁴ and exercising the full weight of his auctoritas as a senior ex-consul, Cicero’s authority was never greater than at this time. Nevertheless, Octavius and Antonius outwitted him, meeting in secret to divide the commonwealth between them. A new proscription list was drawn up and at Antonius’s insistence Cicero’s name was placed at the top.

    The soldiers caught up with Cicero as he attempted to escape by sea. Plutarch writes that when Cicero saw them coming, he ordered his servants to put down the litter in which they were carrying him. Eyeing his would-be murders with a steady stare, he stretched forth his own neck to be cut, and was slain.³⁵ Not even Cato died with more courage.

    It was during this chaotic time in 44 BC, with his philosophical program complete and Rome embroiled in another civil war, that Cicero wrote On Duties. Given both the completion of his program and the political turmoil, On Duties is Cicero’s most puzzling composition. Ostensibly written as a long letter in lieu of a planned visit to see his son,³⁶ who was studying philosophy in Athens,³⁷ it soon became something much more.³⁸ Cicero first mentions the book in a letter dated October 28, in which he states that he would write on the nature of appropriate action on a grand scale.³⁹ He writes again, reporting the first two books completed on November 5, then refers to it one final time on November 13.⁴⁰ Given that he was back in Rome and fully engaged in politics on December 9,⁴¹ scholars speculate the book was completed in under four weeks. The speed of its composition has led many scholars to explain away the conflicting statements or digressions as deficiencies owing to a lack of time for revision.⁴² But as will be demonstrated in the notes and especially in the interpretative essay, a great many of these deficiencies are intentional. They are meant to reveal a deeper understanding of appropriate action. Thus the speed with which Cicero wrote On Duties is all the more remarkable.

    II

    Anyone who has ever translated a text and written a commentary can attest that the feat is no mean one. The task of a translator is to aim for clear English solidly grounded in the original meaning; of a commentator, to seek the author’s intention and communicate it to readers. All editors strive to achieve this difficult feat. And so I begin my brief critique of prior editions with a humble bow of respect to their editors. I may not have always agreed with their translations or interpretations, but I always benefited from consulting them.

    Problems with prior editions begin with the translation of the very title and subject of the book, the word officium, translated by Miller, Edinger, and Atkins as duty, and Grant, Higginbotham, and Walsh as obligation. Cicero selected officium as the Latin translation of the Greek word kathekon, literally, appropriate action.⁴³ Except for the title,⁴⁴ I have preferred the much more accurate translation of appropriate action. Duty and obligation as Cicero understood the concept imply actions that look to the preservation and cultivation of human association or the common good. Not all actions that are appropriate to either the needs or the virtues of human beings look to the common good. Thus translations such as duties and obligations do not encompass officia in general. Nor is elegance sacrificed with a more literal translation. While I have consistently translated officium as appropriate action, it is sometimes awkward in English to put the words side by side. In such instances, I separate them. However, readers will always know officium is being translated because the words appropriate and action always appear within the same clause. Compare Atkins’s translation of On Duties 1.59 with my own:

    But, one ought when bestowing all these dutiful services to look at what each person most greatly needs, and what each would or would not be able to secure without our help. Thus the degrees of ties of relationship will not be the same as those of circumstance. Some duties are owed to one group of people rather than to another.

    (Atkins)

    Now in appropriately performing all these actions, we must consider what is most necessary for each person, and what each person could or could not obtain without our help. Thus degrees of rapport and those of circumstance are not the same, and there are actions that are more appropriately owed to some than to others.

    (Newton)

    Prior problematic translations of officium are exacerbated by their editors’ translations of key adjectives describing the different degrees of appropriate action. Officium perfectum has been translated by Grant as perfect, Atkins as complete, and Miller, Higginbotham, Edinger, and Walsh as absolute duty, while officium medium has been translated by Miller as mean, Grant as second-class, Higginbotham and Edinger as secondary, Atkins as middle, and Walsh as intermediate duty. All are problematic. Cicero contrasts two kinds of appropriate actions: those entirely appropriate (officium perfectum) and those ordinarily or commonly appropriate (officium medium or commune). Perfectum, from the verb perficere, is Cicero’s Latin substitute for the Greek katorthoma, both of which mean something done thoroughly or something accomplished successfully. Thus I have translated officium perfectum throughout as an entirely appropriate action. Medium and commune are Cicero’s substitutes for the Greek meson, both of which mean middling, ordinary, or common. Thus I have translated officium medium or commune throughout as an ordinarily or commonly appropriate action, respectively. Officium perfectum implies the true virtue of the wise man; officium medium, the political virtue of the citizen.

    Other problems pervade prior translations. For example, res publica is translated anachronistically by Miller, Higginbotham, and Walsh as state, misleadingly by Grant and Atkins as republic, and variously by Edinger as government, country, or state. Res publica literally means the public thing or commonwealth. As Cicero uses the term, res publica implies a proper distribution of power within a political community, or a good regime. It must be carefully distinguished from human association at its most basic level (hominum societas) and political community as such (civitas).⁴⁵

    While it is impossible to translate every word exactly the same way every time, nevertheless, I have made an effort to be consistent. Particular attention has been paid to key words such as those found in the glossary and subject index.

    Careful translation must be followed by careful interpretation. Therefore, this edition includes comprehensive historical, philological, and intertextual notes to assist readers. Since Cicero is concerned with prescribing precepts in On Duties, it is no surprise that he supports them with numerous historical examples. Many of these examples are repeated over the span of the book and can be difficult to remember. Thus I have made a note under each such example, referring readers back to its original usage and my explanatory note. The exception to this rule is when a given example is used so often in On Duties as to make it commonplace—for example, Themistocles, Socrates, Plato, Lucius Licinius Crassus, Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus, Gaius Julius Caesar, and so forth. In such instances, unless additional clarification is needed, only the original note and explanation are given. Further, Cicero was a master linguist and endeavored to choose his words carefully. Readers must pay close attention to Cicero’s word choice and syntax in order to understand his teaching on any given subject. Accordingly, I have made note of those important philological occurrences that I discovered, as well as those in which I believe attention to a more literal translation is warranted. Finally, intertextual references have been largely limited to the extant primary sources to which Cicero would have had access. However, references to early modern thinkers, in particular, Machiavelli and Hobbes, are included in the notes. These early modern thinkers and their referenced works are not meant to be exhaustive, only illustrative. I have done this, first, to draw out the conflict between classical and modern political philosophy, and, second, because these authors, especially Machiavelli, took pains to attack Cicero and On Duties. Indeed, I hope it will quickly become apparent that Machiavelli may well have written his Prince in direct reply to Cicero’s On Duties. At any rate, I believe readers will benefit from the comparison. A selected bibliography has also been provided for readers wishing to review secondary literature.

    Unique to this edition is an interpretative essay on the treatise modeled on a method of close reading. Such a method approaches the text respectfully, endeavoring to understand Cicero as Cicero understood himself. Very often this means reconciling what seem to be conflicting positions, not only within On Duties, but across Cicero’s entire philosophical oeuvre. The result is hopefully a comprehensive understanding of the text as its author intended. Not all books warrant this method, only first-rate books that were written to be read with care. I hope the analysis found within the interpretative essay will justify this assessment. Some of this analysis is repeated in the notes and the glossary so that readers may take advantage of important concepts while reviewing the text.

    The glossary itself is intended to serve as a quick reference on important concepts, freeing readers somewhat from having to comb back through this introduction or the interpretative essay as they read and reread the text. Thus some of the entries are broader in scope than would normally be found in a glossary.

    A few further words on the translation. Cicero is not Tacitus and should not translated as if he were. He wrote in florid periodic prose, not terse epigrammatic sentences. Periodic prose is characterized by long sentences in which the main clause or point is usually placed toward the middle or end of the sentence, following a series of subordinate clauses that support or modify the main clause. Such prose is not written exclusively in such sentences, but it is heavily infused with them. When used effectively, periodic prose is powerful and ornate; when not, it is long-winded and overwrought. Too often editors chop up Cicero’s sentences in an effort to make them easier to read. True, his sentences sometimes grate upon English ears if not broken up. Also true, as Cicero himself points out, his philosophical works are written in a more equable and temperate style than his more forceful speeches.⁴⁶ But On Duties is still written in periodic prose, and whenever possible I have tried to preserve the style through intelligent use of punctuation. Failing this, I have tried to capture something of its rhythm through good use of conjunctions between sentences. Readers should feel as if they were reading a master of the grand style of oratory. To translate On Duties otherwise would be to sap its prose of vitality and rhetorical power and to rob Cicero of his most effective and renowned tool.

    Moreover, Cicero almost never uses elision, and so it is inappropriate for a translator to use contractions. Thus this translator has respectfully banished all such uses of the apostrophe from his translation.

    This translation is based on the text of M. Winterbottom.⁴⁷ As classical Latin texts did not use word spacing, punctuation, or paragraphing, Winterbottom has inserted them, and I have largely followed his text, deviating infrequently. Occasionally I have resorted to the critical apparatus, marking the change in the notes. Sections that he bracketed as being likely interpolations, with which I agreed, have also been placed in the notes. The only time I have always deviated from Winterbottom has been in paragraphing exchanges of dialogue. These exchanges are meant to introduce an element of dialectic in the treatise and give rise to intentionally troubling questions. This is especially apparent in the third book, which explicitly addresses the possible conflict between the honorable and the useful. For historical references I have consulted the Oxford Classical Dictionary, second and fourth editions;⁴⁸ for philological references, A Latin Dictionary Founded on Andrew’s Edition of Freund’s Latin Dictionary, edited by Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short,⁴⁹ and the Oxford Latin Dictionary, edited by P. G. W. Glare;⁵⁰ and, for intertextual references, Andrew R. Dyck’s A Commentary on Cicero, De officiis.

    All translations herein are my own unless otherwise noted; as all work on this book is my own, so all errors within it are my own. Finally, with the publication of this book, I attempt to correct a youthful article of mine. While there is something to be said for what I attempted to investigate, I have since found much of my method and many of my conclusions in it to be mistaken.

    ¹ The five complete editions are Cicero, On Duties, ed. Walter Miller (Cambridge, MA, 1913); Cicero, On Moral Obligation, ed. John Higginbotham (Berkeley, CA, 1967); Cicero, De officiis/On Duties, ed. Harry Edinger (New York, 1974); Cicero, On Duties, ed. M. T. Griffin and E. M. Atkins (Cambridge, 1991); Cicero, On Obligations, ed. P. G. Walsh (Oxford, 2000). Book 2 is translated and included in Cicero, On the Good Life, ed. Michael Grant (Harmondsworth, UK, 1971), and Book 3 in Cicero, Selected Works, ed. Michael Grant (Harmondsworth, UK, 1969).

    ² The equites were a Roman social class nearly equal to the senatorial, or highest, class. Originally members of the Roman cavalry, by the first century BC they represented the wealthiest nonsenatorial Romans.

    ³ For Gaius Marius, see the note under 1.76.

    ⁴ For Quintus Mucius Scaevola Augur, see the note under 1.109.

    ⁵ Apollonius Molon of Rhodes (fl. 1st century BC) was a Greek orator. He lectured in Rhodes and traveled to Rome in 87 and 81 BC.

    ⁶ Philo of Larissa (160–ca. 80 BC) was an Academic philosopher. At the age of twenty-four, he traveled to Athens to study with Clitomachus, whom he succeeded as head of the Academy in 110 BC. He followed the tradition of Academic skepticism. In 88 BC, he traveled to Rome, where Cicero became his pupil. For a concise explanation of the Academy, see the glossary entry Academics; for a detailed discussion, see the introductory and fifth sections of the interpretative essay.

    ⁷ Diodotus (fl. late 2nd century–ca. 60 BC) was a Stoic philosopher. Cicero became his pupil around 85 BC. He later lived in Cicero’s house and made Cicero his heir. For a concise explanation of Stoicism, see the glossary entry Stoics; for a detailed discussion, see the introductory and third sections of the interpretative essay.

    ⁸ Phaedrus (ca. 140–70 BC) was an Epicurean philosopher. He lived in Rome and for a time was head of the Epicurean school in Rome. Cicero heard him lecture in 88 BC. For a concise explanation of Epicureanism, see the glossary entry Epicureans; for a detailed discussion, see the introductory and fourth sections of the interpretative essay.

    ⁹ Antiochus of Ascalon (ca. 130–ca. 68 BC) was an Academic philosopher. A student of Philo of Larissa, he abandoned his master’s Academic skepticism in favor of a more dogmatic understanding of knowledge. He was head of the Academy in Athens in 79–78 BC, when Cicero attended his lectures.

    ¹⁰ Marcus Pupius Piso Frugi (ca. 115–ca. 61 BC) was a Roman orator and statesman. He was quaestor in 83 BC, praetor in 72 BC, and celebrated a triumph from his governorship in Spain in 69 BC. During 67–62 BC he served as a legate under Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus, and for his service was awarded the consulship in 61 BC. He studied Peripatetic philosophy. For a concise explanation of Peripateticism, see the glossary entry Peripatetics.

    ¹¹ For Posidonius of Apamea, see the note under 1.159.

    ¹² Titus Pomponius Atticus (110–32 BC) was a Roman gentleman. In 85 BC he left Rome for Athens to study Epicurean philosophy. He lived there for the remainder of his life. While he refused to openly engage in politics, he tacitly supported the optimates. Four hundred and twenty-six of Cicero’s letters to him survive.

    ¹³ For Sextus Roscius of Ameria, see the note under 2.51.

    ¹⁴ Lucius Cornelius Sulla Felix’s second march on Rome culminated in a series of proscriptions, or legally sanctioned murders and confiscations of property, of many of Rome’s leading citizens. Their purpose was to rid Sulla of his potential enemies.

    ¹⁵ For Lucius Cornelius Sulla Felix, see the note under 1.43.

    ¹⁶ Lucius Cornelius Chrysogonus (fl. 1st century BC) was a Greek freedman and lieutenant of Lucius Cornelius Sulla Felix. He conspired with two relatives of Sextus Roscius of Ameria to frame the latter for patricide in order to purchase his property at an exceptionally low price. At great risk to himself, Cicero successfully defended Roscius.

    ¹⁷ See Cicero, For Roscius of Ameria.

    ¹⁸ Gaius Verres (ca. 120–43 BC) was a Roman statesman. He was quaestor in 84 BC, praetor in 74 BC, and governor of Sicily in 73–71 BC. While governor in Sicily, he grossly exploited the province for his own gain, and in 70 BC was prosecuted by Cicero for extortion. Cicero undertook so vigorous a prosecution that Verres fled to Massilia and remained there in exile for the rest of his life.

    ¹⁹ For Quintus Hortensius Hortalus, see the note under 2.57.

    ²⁰ See Cicero, Against Verres.

    ²¹ For Lucius Sergius Catilina, see the note under 1.77.

    ²² See Cicero, Against Catilina; Sallust, Catilina’s War.

    ²³ For Publius Clodius Pulcher, see the note under 2.58.

    ²⁴ For Marcus Licinius Crassus Dives, see the note under 1.25.

    ²⁵ For Titus Annius Milo, see the note under 2.58.

    ²⁶ Scholars speculate that Cicero wrote On the Laws between 51 and 50 BC; they are uncertain exactly when, if ever, he published it.

    ²⁷ For Marcus Porcius Cato Uticensis, see the note under 1.112.

    ²⁸ See Cicero, On Duties 2.4. Hereafter all citations with book and section numbers but no title are from On Duties.

    ²⁹ See 2.5. See also Cicero, Tusculan Disputations 5.9.

    ³⁰ See 2.7–8, 3.20, 3.34.

    ³¹ See Cicero, On Ends 1.2–3.

    ³² See Cicero, Tusculan Disputations 2.5; On Divination 2.1–7.

    ³³ Gaius Octavius (63 BC–AD 14), later known as Augustus, was the adopted son and heir of Gaius Julius Caesar. After the assassination of Caesar in 44 BC, he took up his adopted father’s fortune and army. Together with Caesar’s lieutenants, Marcus Antonius and Marcus Aemilius Lepidus, he joined what became known as the Second Triumvirate, which ruled Rome until Lepidus’s exile in 36 BC and Antonius’s defeat at the battle of Actium in 31 BC. Now the sole ruler of Rome, he assumed the title Augustus and became the first of the Roman emperors, marking the end of the Republic and the beginning of the Empire.

    ³⁴ See Cicero, Philippics.

    ³⁵ See Plutarch, Life of Cicero 48.

    ³⁶ For Marcus Tullius Cicero Minor, see the note under 1.1.

    ³⁷ See Cicero, Letters to Atticus 16.3.4, 16.3.6, 16.7.1.

    ³⁸ See 2.45.

    ³⁹ See Cicero, Letters to Atticus 15.13.6.

    ⁴⁰ See Cicero, Letters to Atticus 16.11.4, 16.14.3.

    ⁴¹ See Cicero, Letters to Friends 11.5.1.

    ⁴² See, e.g., Andrew R. Dyck, A Commentary on Cicero, De officiis (Ann Arbor, MI, 1996), 10 and elsewhere; Griffin and Atkins, On Duties, xix; Walsh, On Obligations, liii.

    ⁴³ See Cicero, Letters to Atticus 16.11.4, 16.14.3.

    ⁴⁴ Just as translators recognize that The Republic is a poor title for Plato’s Politeia, but respect long-standing usage, I recognize that On Duties is a poor title for Cicero’s De officiis, but retain it. The most appropriate title would be On Appropriate Actions. See the glossary entry appropriate action.

    ⁴⁵ When attempting to understand difficult terms, I believe it best to consult the author who actually uses them, especially if he defines them. As an Academic, Cicero almost always defines his terms. For the difference between res publica and civitas, see Cicero, On the Commonwealth 1.39, 1.41, 3.43ff. See also the glossary entries commonwealth and political community.

    All references to On the Commonwealth are from K. Ziegler’s edition, M. Tullius Cicero: De re publica (Leipzig, 1969). I have chosen to follow this edition over the more recent one by J. G. F. Powell as scholars are more familiar with its section numbering.

    ⁴⁶ See 1.3.

    ⁴⁷ Cicero, De officiis, ed. M. Winterbottom (New York, 1994).

    ⁴⁸ The Oxford Classical Dictionary, ed. N. G. L. Hammond and H. H. Scullard, 2nd ed. (Oxford, 1970); The Oxford Classical Dictionary, ed. Simon Hornblower, Antony Spawforth, and Esther Eidinow, 4th ed. (Oxford, 2012). I still find the second edition superior to subsequent editions: its entries are concise and objective, cite mainly primary sources, and are relatively free of academic fads. I have used the fourth edition to supplement the second edition as needed.

    ⁴⁹ A Latin Dictionary Founded on Andrew’s Edition of Freund’s Latin Dictionary, ed. Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (Oxford, 1956).

    ⁵⁰ Oxford Latin Dictionary, ed. P. G. W. Glare (Oxford, 1983).

    Outline

    Book One

    1–10 INTRODUCTION

    1–3 Address to Marcus

    4–6 Subject of discussion to be appropriate action; a qualified Stoicism to be followed

    7–8 Entirely appropriate action and ordinarily appropriate action

    9–10 A fivefold division of the subject: (1) the honorable, consisting of the virtues, and (2) the possible conflict between the virtues; (3) the useful, and (4) the possible conflict between useful things; and (5) the possible conflict between the honorable and the useful

    11–14 HUMAN NATURE

    11 The needs of all living beings

    11–14 Virtues specific to human beings

    15–17 HONORABLENESS AS CONSISTING OF TWO KINDS OF VIRTUE

    15–16 Wisdom and the contemplative life

    17 The remaining three virtues and the political life

    18–19 WISDOM

    18–19 The virtue of wisdom

    19 The contemplative and political lives revisited

    20–60 JUSTICE

    20–41 The virtue of justice

    20–23 Definition of justice

    23–30 Definition of injustice

    31–32 The importance of circumstance and the limitations of precepts

    33–40 Precepts on justice, especially among nations

    41 The way of the fox and the lion

    42–49 Beneficence, the companion of justice

    42–49 Precepts on beneficence

    43 Avoid injustice

    44 Give according to one’s own means

    45–49 Give to each according to his worth

    50–60 The limitations of justice and beneficence

    50–55 The natural beginnings of human association and the nature of human affection

    55–60 Conflicts of obligation between associations

    61–92 MAGNANIMITY

    61–69 Definition of magnanimity

    69–91 Precepts on magnanimity

    69–73 Comparison between contemplative and political magnanimity

    73–84 Comparison between civic and martial magnanimity

    85–91 Civic magnanimity

    92 Summary

    93–151 PROPRIETY

    93–99 Definition of propriety

    100–151 Precepts on propriety

    100–121 The four roles

    100–106 What is proper according to human nature

    107–114 According to individual characteristics

    115–116 According to chance and circumstance

    117–121 According to one’s own judgment

    122–123 What is proper according to age

    124–125 What is proper according to political status

    126–132 What is a proper physical and mental bearing

    132–137 What is proper in speech

    138–140 What is a proper use of property

    141 Summary

    142–151 Orderliness

    152–161 CONFLICT AND COMPARISON BETWEEN THE VIRTUES

    152 The possible conflict between the virtues

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