Marcus Tullius Cicero

Cicero

We know more of Marcus Tullius Cicero (106 43 BCE), lawyer, orator, politician and philosopher, than of any other Roman. Besides much else, his work conveys the turmoil of his time, and the part he played in a period that saw the rise and fall of Julius Caesar in a tottering republic.

On the Republic. on the Laws

Niall Rudd

Cicero's The Republic is an impassioned plea for responsible government, based on Greek political theory, and written just before the civil war that ended the Roman Republic. Its sequel, The Laws, expounds the influential doctrine of Natural Law, setting out an ideal code for a reformed Roman Republic that is half in the realm of Utopia. This is the first complete English translation of both works since 1928.

The Republic and The Laws

You can tell Madison and the other Founders were steeped in the philosophy of these works.

Luke Stamps

`My present intention is to clear myself of any suspicion of partiality by presenting the views of the generality of philosophers concerning the nature of the gods.' Cicero's philosophical works are now exciting renewed interest, in part because he provides vital evidence of the views of the (largely lost) Greek philosophers of the Hellenistic age, and partly because of the light he casts on the intellectual life of first century Rome. The Nature of the Gods is a text of central significance, presenting a detailed account of the theologies of the Epicureans and of the Stoics, together with the critical objections to these doctrines raised by the Academic school. When these Greek theories of deity are translated into the Roman context, a fascinating clash of ideologies results. This fine translation by P. G. Walsh includes a summary of the Text, and an Index and Glossary of Names.

The Nature of the Gods

Zoey Mikalatos

Alexander Lobov

Liz Dollmeyer

Bobby Jacobson

Cicero's On the Commonwealth and On the Laws are his most important works of political philosophy. The present volume offers a scholarly reconstruction of the fragments of On the Commonwealth and a masterly translation of both dialogues. The texts are supported by a helpful, concise introduction, notes and other aids. Students in politics, philosophy, ancient history, law and classics will gain a new understanding of this seminal thinker thanks to Professor Zetzel's volume.

On the Republic. on the Laws

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