The Treatises of Cicero by Cicero
The Treatises of Cicero, composed by the esteemed Roman statesman and philosopher Cicero, encompass a rich collection of essays and studies that delve into various aspects of speculative philosophy, rhetoric, politics, and ethics. Divided into five main categories, these treatises reflect Cicero's engagement with the philosophical traditions of his time, particularly the influence of Greek thought. Among the notable works are "On the Nature of the Gods," which explores differing theological perspectives, and "On Duty," a moral treatise that offers guidance on ethical conduct and virtues relevant to leadership and personal integrity.
Cicero's rhetorical writings, including "On the Orator," address the art of persuasion and the qualities of an ideal orator, while his political treatises, such as "On the Republic," examine concepts of statecraft and justice. The dialogues within these works often feature historical figures and engage in discussions about friendship, aging, and the nature of happiness. Cicero's writings have had a lasting impact on Western thought, influencing educational systems and ethical discussions even among those who may not have directly engaged with his texts. His treatises remain a valuable resource for understanding classical ideas on morality, governance, and effective communication.
The Treatises of Cicero by Cicero
First transcribed:On Invention, 84 b.c.e.; On the Orator, 55 b.c.e.; The Divisions of Oratory, 54 b.c.e.; On the Republic, 54-51 b.c.e.; On the Best Kind of Orator, 52 b.c.e.; On Law, 52 and 46-45 b.c.e.; Brutus, 46 b.c.e.; The Orator, 46 b.c.e.; Paradoxes of the Stoics, 46 b.c.e.; Academics, 45 b.c.e.; On the Ends of Good and Evil, 45 b.c.e.; Tusculan Disputations, 45 b.c.e.; On the Nature of the Gods, 45 b.c.e.; On Divination, 45 b.c.e.; On Fate, 45 b.c.e.; Cato the elder, On Old Age, c. 44 b.c.e.; Laelius, On Friendship, c. 44 b.c.e.; Topica, 44 b.c.e.; On Duty, c. 43 b.c.e.; Letters to Brutus, c. 43 b.c.e.
Type of work: Prose essays
Critical Evaluation:
Although scarcely read today, until the last century Cicero was one of the most widely admired writers of classical antiquity. His reputation was especially high in the period from the fifteenth to the nineteenth centuries, and it must be recognized that his writings have had an incalculable influence on the development of modern education and ethical and political thought, an influence so pervasive that it is still active even on those millions who have never read a word of Cicero. The writings of Cicero, the “typical” Roman, fall into three broad categories, each with its own interest and importance: the orations, magnificent and forceful speeches Cicero delivered in the various law courts and political assemblies of the late Roman republic; the epistles, a large body of personal letters written to close friends and associates, full of historical and biographical information, and masterly in style; and the treatises, a group of essays and studies.
The treatises themselves fall into five main categories: works on speculative philosophy, pagan theology, the art of rhetoric, politics, and morals.
With the exception of the five books of the TUSCULAN DISPUTATIONS, perhaps the least interesting of the treatises to the general reader are those concerned with speculative philosophy and pagan theology. These works, like most of Cicero, rely heavily on Greek antecedents. The theological works include ON THE NATURE OF THE GODS, Cicero’s major work in this category, which explains the views on the subject of the Epicurean, Academic, and Stoic philosophers. The author’s proof in this treatise of a benign providence is much admired. ON DIVINATION and ON FATE are supplements to ON THE NATURE OF THE GODS. In the first, Cicero discusses the kinds of divination practiced by the Romans. In the fragmentary ON FATE the subject is the problem of free will.
Earliest among the speculative works is the ACADEMICS, an only partially surviving study of the philosophy of the Athenian Academy. ON THE GREATEST DEGREES OF GOOD AND EVIL, in five books, is a consideration of the basic ethical problem: the determination of what is the chief good and ultimate aim of life. In this treatise is found a survey of the various ethical doctrines influential in Rome; Cicero decides for the philosophy of the Academy, whose teachings are fit for aristocrats, leaders, and scholars. The five books of the TUSCULAN DISPUTATIONS, a treatise much read in later times, are concerned with the essential constituents of happiness: contempt of death, endurance of affliction, alleviation of grief and other disturbing emotions, and the idea that virtuous living is in itself the happy life.
Among the rhetorical treatises is found Cicero’s earliest prose work, ON INVENTION. This book was to have been a complete and systematic survey in Latin of the best of Greek rhetorical instruction. Cicero never completed it. This work is of little interest except to the scholar. The same may be said of three other works in this category: THE DIVISIONS OF ORATORY, a catechism of rhetorical practice in dialogue form and written for the instruction of his young son; ON THE BEST KIND OF ORATOR, a surviving introduction to a now lost translation of certain orations of the great Greek speakers of the fourth century B.C., Demosthenes and Aeschines; and the TOPICA, an abstract of the TOPICS (methods of drawing conclusions) of Aristotle.
Three other of the rhetorical works, however, are of more general interest: BRUTUS, THE ORATOR, and ON THE ORATOR. BRUTUS is a literary history, in dialogue form, of Greek and Roman eloquence. Cicero includes in this work an interesting discussion of his own rhetorical development and discusses important problems of style. THE ORATOR is a detailed treatise written in the form of an open letter to one of Cicero’s friends. Its main concern is to describe the ideal orator and his techniques: the determination of the proper level of style, ornamentation, proper pronunciation, word arrangement, diction, rhythm, and the like.
ON THE ORATOR is commonly considered to be Cicero’s finest rhetorical work. It is written in the form of a dialogue between various minor personages and one Antonius and a Crassus, two Roman orators and lawyers that Cicero admired in his youth. The subject of the dialogue is a question: “How can the perfect orator and statesman be produced?” This problem had two sides; one, what are the important things an orator should learn, and two, what kind of man should the orator be, considering that he is to govern the state? In the first of the work’s three books, the various characters discuss the premise that the orator must be given a full and sound education in matters other than rhetoric. One of the main characters, Crassus, insists that the orator should have a wide background and that he should always know what he is talking about. But the other, Antonius, disagrees and claims that the ability to speak skillfully is enough. A skillful orator, he says, can speak effectively about a thing whether he understands it or not. In the second book Antonius expounds selection of materials, organization of materials, and memory; and in the third book Crassus speaks of style and delivery. The dialogue ignores technical, school room considerations (for those, see THE ORATOR) in order to concentrate on practical problems.
The BRUTUS, THE ORATOR, and ON THE ORATOR were all regarded as important books during and after the Renaissance rediscovery of the classics, and all had much to do with the development of modern prose style.
One of Cicero’s two political treatises, ON THE REPUBLIC, is thought by many to be his best work. It is more a philosophical than a practical essay, and while it owes something to Plato’s REPUBLIC, it owes more to Cicero himself. This treatise was one of the relatively few Ciceronian texts known in the Middle Ages; even at that, however, it was known only by a single long fragment from the conclusion, the so-called DREAM OF SCIPIO to which was attached the influential commentary of Macrobius. This fragment denies the validity of transitory concerns even for the statesman, and thus it easily fit into the medieval Christian view of things. It was not until 1820, when a large portion of the complete treatise was discovered in the Vatican Library, that readers were able to achieve a good idea of the whole work. In ON THE REPUBLIC, Cicero defines the state, discusses the best form of the state (he finds the republican Roman state to be an ideal example), summarizes Roman history in order to illustrate the growth of the Roman constitution, and concludes that practical statesmanship is more important than the pursuit of philosophic studies. Both the state and the individual must be just, Cicero says, and justice is based on Natural Law. The citizen, however, must be guided by the interests of the commonwealth.
ON LAW, the second of Cicero’s political works, was published as a kind of sequel to ON THE REPUBLIC. It explains the laws of Cicero’s ideal commonwealth. Only the first three books of this treatise survive.
Finally, in the three surviving moral treatises are the works of Cicero that have been most popular with the general public: ON DUTY; LAELIUS, ON FRIENDSHIP; and most attractive of all, CATO THE ELDER, ON OLD AGE. The characters of the brief dialogue of Cato (the fictive time of which is 150 B.C.) are the stern Cato the Elder, who is eighty-four; Scipio Africanus the younger, who is thirty-five; and Laelius, who is thirty-six. In an urbane and witty style, Cicero praises old age and refutes the usual complaints about that condition. The companion piece to this treatise is the dialogue, ON FRIENDSHIP. The fictive date of this piece is 129 B.C., and the speakers are Laelius and his two sons-in-law. The dialogue takes place shortly after the sudden death of the friend of Laelius, the Scipio of the previous dialogue. In this work Cicero discusses the nature, obligations, problems and some examples of friendship.
Much less charming, considerably more lengthy, and less popular than the above two works, the three books of ON DUTY nevertheless have been a powerful influence on Western culture. This, Cicero’s last treatise, was written only a year before his death, and it contains the fruit of a lifetime’s experience and observation among the most important affairs and men of the Roman world. Right conduct is the subject of this work, which was written for Cicero’s grown son, who was just finishing his schooling and who was about to set out in the world. The influence of this work, especially in the last five hundred years, when it was read by thousands of men young and old as an ethical handbook, is difficult to overestimate. In it is found the whole ethic of the Renaissance and post-Renaissance gentleman, aristocrat, and leader. The first book considers ethical good and greatness of spirit in terms of the four cardinal virtues, wisdom, courage, justice, and self-control. Book Two considers the practical, pragmatic bases of the relationships of men, and Book Three is concerned with the problems that arise when the virtues of Book One and the practical necessities of Book Two come into conflict. This treatise was hastily written, and it drags and is confused here and there; nevertheless, it remains an impressive and realistic study of how a man should act, and it is as rewarding to read today as it ever was, if only to help us understand, for example, the ethical set of the heroes who walked in Shakespeare’s dramatic world, or the point of view from which Montaigne spoke in his essays.