''De Officiis'' (''On Duties'' or ''On Obligations'') is a political and ethical treatise by the Roman orator, philosopher, and statesman

Marcus Tullius Cicero Marcus Tullius Cicero ( ; ; 3 January 106 BC – 7 December 43 BC) was a Roman statesman, lawyer, scholar, philosopher, and academic skeptic, who tried to uphold optimate principles during the political crises that led to the est ...

written in 44 BC. The treatise is divided into three books, in which Cicero expounds his conception of the best way to live, behave, and observe moral obligations. The work discusses what is honorable (Book I), what is to one's advantage (Book II), and what to do when the honorable and one's private interest apparently conflict (Book III). In the first two books Cicero was heavily influenced by the Stoic philosopher

Panaetius Panaetius (; grc-gre, Παναίτιος, Panaítios; – ) of Rhodes was an ancient Greek Stoic philosopher. He was a pupil of Diogenes of Babylon and Antipater of Tarsus in Athens, before moving to Rome where he did much to introduce Stoic doc ...

, but wrote more independently for the third book. In addition to being a central component of liberal education for centuries, the work was held in high regard among many prolific philosophers and statesman including

Augustine Augustine of Hippo ( , ; la, Aurelius Augustinus Hipponensis; 13 November 354 – 28 August 430), also known as Saint Augustine, was a theologian and philosopher of Berber origin and the bishop of Hippo Regius in Numidia, Roman North Af ...

Thomas Aquinas Thomas Aquinas, OP (; it, Tommaso d'Aquino, lit=Thomas of Aquino; 1225 – 7 March 1274) was an Italian Dominican friar and priest who was an influential philosopher, theologian and jurist in the tradition of scholasticism; he is known wi ...

Hugo Grotius Hugo Grotius (; 10 April 1583 – 28 August 1645), also known as Huig de Groot () and Hugo de Groot (), was a Dutch humanist, diplomat, lawyer, theologian, jurist, poet and playwright. A teenage intellectual prodigy, he was born in Delf ...

Montesquieu Charles Louis de Secondat, Baron de La Brède et de Montesquieu (; ; 18 January 168910 February 1755), generally referred to as simply Montesquieu, was a French judge, man of letters, historian, and political philosopher. He is the principa ...

Voltaire François-Marie Arouet (; 21 November 169430 May 1778) was a French Enlightenment writer, historian, and philosopher. Known by his '' nom de plume'' M. de Voltaire (; also ; ), he was famous for his wit, and his criticism of Christianity—es ...

, and the American Founding Fathers. ''De Officiis'', along with Xenophon's ''

Cyropaedia The ''Cyropaedia'', sometimes spelled ''Cyropedia'', is a partly fictional biography of Cyrus the Great, the founder of Persia's Achaemenid Empire. It was written around 370 BC by Xenophon, the Athenian-born soldier, historian, and student of So ...

,'' are considered among the foundational works in the genre of the mirrors for princes, now most famously associated with Machiavelli's ''

The Prince ''The Prince'' ( it, Il Principe ; la, De Principatibus) is a 16th-century political treatise written by Italian diplomat and political theorist Niccolò Machiavelli as an instruction guide for new princes and royals. The general theme of ''Th ...

''.

Background

''De Officiis'' was written in October–November 44 BC, in under four weeks. This was Cicero's last year alive, and he was 62 years of age. Cicero was at this time still active in politics, trying to stop revolutionary forces from taking control of the

Roman Republic The Roman Republic ( la, Res publica Romana ) was a form of government of Rome and the era of the classical Roman civilization when it was run through public representation of the Roman people. Beginning with the overthrow of the Roman Kingd ...

. Despite his efforts, the republican system failed to revive even upon the assassination of Caesar, and Cicero was himself assassinated shortly thereafter.

Writing

''De Officiis'' is written in the form of a letter to his son

Cicero Minor Marcus Tullius Cicero Minor ( la, Minor, label=none, lit=younger), or Cicero the Younger, was born in 64 or 65 BC. He was the son of Marcus Tullius Cicero, who as a distinguished orator and consular senator was one of the leading figures of the Rom ...

, who studied philosophy in

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh List ...

. Judging from its form, it is nonetheless likely that Cicero wrote with a broader audience in mind. The essay was published posthumously. Although Cicero was influenced by the

Academic An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary or tertiary higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membership). The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, f ...

Peripatetic Peripatetic may refer to: * Peripatetic school, a school of philosophy in Ancient Greece * Peripatetic axiom *Peripatetic minority, a mobile population moving among settled populations offering a craft or trade. *Peripatetic Jats There are severa ...

, and Stoic schools of Greek philosophy, this work shows the influence of the Stoic philosopher

.Cicero, Miller
''On Duty''
iii. 23 Panaetius was a Greek philosopher who had resided in Rome around eighty years previously. He wrote a book ''On Duties'' ( el, Περὶ Καθήκοντος) in which he divided his subject into three parts but had left the work unfinished at the third stage. Although Cicero draws from many other sources, for his first two books he follows the steps of Panaetius fairly closely. The third book is more independent, and Cicero disclaims having been indebted to any preceding writers on the subject. Michael Grant tells us that "Cicero himself seems to have regarded this treatise as his spiritual testament and masterpiece." Cicero urged his son Marcus to follow nature and wisdom, as well as politics, and warned against pleasure and indolence. Cicero's essay relies heavily on

anecdote An anecdote is "a story with a point", such as to communicate an abstract idea about a person, place, or thing through the concrete details of a short narrative or to characterize by delineating a specific quirk or trait. Occasionally humorous ...

s, much more than his other works, and is written in a more leisurely and less formal style than his other writings, perhaps because he wrote it hastily. Like the

satire Satire is a genre of the visual arts, visual, literature, literary, and performing arts, usually in the form of fiction and less frequently Nonfiction, non-fiction, in which vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, ...

s of

Juvenal Decimus Junius Juvenalis (), known in English as Juvenal ( ), was a Roman poet active in the late first and early second century CE. He is the author of the collection of satirical poems known as the '' Satires''. The details of Juvenal's lif ...

, Cicero's ''De Officiis'' refers frequently to current events of his time.

The work discusses what is

honor Honour (British English) or honor (American English; see spelling differences) is the idea of a bond between an individual and a society as a quality of a person that is both of social teaching and of personal ethos, that manifests itself as a ...

able (Book I), what is expedient or to one's advantage (Book II), and what to do when the honorable and expedient conflict (Book III). Cicero says they are the same and that they only appear to be in conflict. In Book III, Cicero expresses his own ideas.

Book One

The first book treats of what is honorable in itself. He shows in what true manner our duties are founded in honor and virtue. The four constituent parts of virtue are truth, justice, fortitude, and decorum, and our duties are founded in the right perception of these.

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 actions 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 virtues 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 of justice, especially among nations 41 The way of the fox and the lion

= 42-49 Beneficence, the companion of justice

= 43 Avoid injustice 44 Give according to one's own means 45-49 Give to each according to his worth

= 50-60 The limitation 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 69-73 Comparison between contemplative and political magnanimity 73-84 Comparison between civic and martial magnanimity 85-91 Civic magnanimity

93-151 PROPRIETY

93-99 Definition of propriety 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 individual judgement 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 153-160 The conflict between wisdom and justice 157 The conflict between justice and magnanimity 159 The conflict between justice and propriety 161 Conclusion

Book Two

The second book enlarges on those duties which relate to private advantage and the improvement of life. The book focuses on political advancement, and the means employed for the attainment of wealth and power. The honorable means of gaining popularity include generosity, courtesy, and eloquence.

Book Three

The third book discusses the choice to be made when there is an apparent conflict between virtue and expediency. True virtue can never be put in competition with private advantage. Thus nothing should be accounted useful or profitable if not strictly virtuous, and there ought to be no separation of the principles of virtue and expediency. Cicero proposes some rules for cases of doubt, where seeming utility comes into competition with virtue. He examines in what situations one may seek private gain with honour. He takes his examples from Roman history, such as the case of Marcus Atilius Regulus who was released by the

Carthaginians The Punic people, or western Phoenicians, were a Semitic people in the Western Mediterranean who migrated from Tyre, Phoenicia to North Africa during the Early Iron Age. In modern scholarship, the term ''Punic'' – the Latin equivalent of the ...

to negotiate a peace, advised the

Roman Senate The Roman Senate ( la, Senātus Rōmānus) was a governing and advisory assembly in ancient Rome. It was one of the most enduring institutions in Roman history, being established in the first days of the city of Rome (traditionally founded in ...

to reject the proposals, and fulfilled his oath by returning to

Carthage Carthage was the capital city of Ancient Carthage, on the eastern side of the Lake of Tunis in what is now Tunisia. Carthage was one of the most important trading hubs of the Ancient Mediterranean and one of the most affluent cities of the clas ...

Themes

''De Officiis'' has been characterized as an attempt to define ideals of public behavior. It criticizes the recently overthrown dictator Julius Caesar in several places, and his dictatorship as a whole. Cicero claims that the absence of political rights corrupts moral virtues. Cicero also speaks of a

natural law Natural law ( la, ius naturale, ''lex naturalis'') is a system of law based on a close observation of human nature, and based on values intrinsic to human nature that can be deduced and applied independently of positive law (the express enacted ...

that is said to govern both humans and

gods A deity or god is a supernatural being who is considered divine or sacred. The ''Oxford Dictionary of English'' defines deity as a god or goddess, or anything revered as divine. C. Scott Littleton defines a deity as "a being with powers great ...

alike.Cicero, Miller
''On Duty''
Book III. v. 23

Legacy

The work's legacy is profound. Although not a

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words '' Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρ ...

work, St. Ambrose in 390 declared it legitimate for the Church to use (along with everything else Cicero, and the equally popular Roman philosopher Seneca, had written). It became a

moral authority Moral authority is authority premised on principles, or fundamental truths, which are independent of written, or positive, laws. As such, moral authority necessitates the existence of and adherence to truth. Because truth does not change, the princi ...

during the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...

. Of the Church Fathers,

St. Augustine Augustine of Hippo ( , ; la, Aurelius Augustinus Hipponensis; 13 November 354 – 28 August 430), also known as Saint Augustine, was a theologian and philosopher of Berber origin and the bishop of Hippo Regius in Numidia, Roman North Afri ...

, St. Jerome and even more so St. Thomas Aquinas, are known to have been familiar with it. Illustrating its importance, some 700 handwritten copies remain extant in libraries around the world dating back to before the invention of the printing press. Though this does not surpass the Latin grammarian Priscian's 900 extant handwritten copies, it places ''De Officiis'' far above many classical works. Following the invention of the

printing press A printing press is a mechanical device for applying pressure to an inked surface resting upon a print medium (such as paper or cloth), thereby transferring the ink. It marked a dramatic improvement on earlier printing methods in which the ...

, ''De Officiis'' was the third book to be printed—third only to the

Gutenberg Bible The Gutenberg Bible (also known as the 42-line Bible, the Mazarin Bible or the B42) was the earliest major book printed using mass-produced movable metal type in Europe. It marked the start of the "Gutenberg Revolution" and the age of printed b ...

and Donatus's "Ars Minor", which was the first printed book.

Petrarch Francesco Petrarca (; 20 July 1304 – 18/19 July 1374), commonly anglicized as Petrarch (), was a scholar and poet of early Renaissance Italy, and one of the earliest humanists. Petrarch's rediscovery of Cicero's letters is often credite ...

, the father of humanism and a leader in the revival of Classical learning, championed Cicero. It is suspected that Machiavelli's ''

'' is at least in part meant to be a direct refutation of Cicero's ''De Officiis.'' is Several of his works build upon the precepts of ''De Officiis''. Prince

Peter, Duke of Coimbra Infante D. Pedro, Duke of Coimbra KG (; en, Peter), (9 December 1392 – 20 May 1449) was a Portuguese ''infante'' (prince) of the House of Aviz, son of King John I of Portugal and his wife Philippa of Lancaster, daughter of John of Gaunt ...

, member of the Order of the Garter, translated the treatise to portuguese in 1437, signal of the wide spread of the work in medieval courts. The Catholic humanist

Erasmus Desiderius Erasmus Roterodamus (; ; English: Erasmus of Rotterdam or Erasmus;''Erasmus'' was his baptismal name, given after St. Erasmus of Formiae. ''Desiderius'' was an adopted additional name, which he used from 1496. The ''Roterodamus'' w ...

published his own edition in Paris in 1501. His enthusiasm for this moral treatise is expressed in many works. The German humanist

Philip Melanchthon Philip Melanchthon. (born Philipp Schwartzerdt; 16 February 1497 – 19 April 1560) was a German Lutheran Protestant Reformers, reformer, collaborator with Martin Luther, the first systematic theologian of the Protestant Reformation, intellect ...

established ''De Officiis'' in Lutheran humanist schools. Thys Boke Is Myne

T. W. Baldwin said that "in Shakespeare's day ''De Officiis'' was the pinnacle of moral philosophy".

Sir Thomas Elyot Sir Thomas Elyot (c. 149626 March 1546) was an English diplomat and scholar. He is best known as one of the first proponents of the use of the English language for literary purposes. Early life Thomas was the child of Sir Richard Elyot's firs ...

, in his popular '' Governour'' (1531), lists three essential texts for bringing up young gentlemen:

Plato Plato ( ; grc-gre, Πλάτων ; 428/427 or 424/423 – 348/347 BC) was a Greek philosopher born in Athens during the Classical period in Ancient Greece. He founded the Platonist school of thought and the Academy, the first institutio ...

's works, Aristotle's ''Ethics'', and ''De Officiis''. In the 17th century it was a standard text at English schools (

Westminster Westminster is an area of Central London, part of the wider City of Westminster. The area, which extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street, has many visitor attractions and historic landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, Buck ...

and Eton) and universities (Cambridge and Oxford). It was extensively discussed by

and

Samuel von Pufendorf Samuel Freiherr von Pufendorf (8 January 1632 – 26 October 1694) was a German jurist, political philosopher, economist and historian. He was born Samuel Pufendorf and ennobled in 1694; he was made a baron by Charles XI of Sweden a few mo ...

. Grotius drew heavily on ''De officiis'' in his major work, ''

On the Law of War and Peace ''De iure belli ac pacis'' (English: ''On the Law of War and Peace'') is a 1625 book in Latin, written by Hugo Grotius and published in Paris, on the legal status of war. It is now regarded as a foundational work in international law. The work t ...

''.Cicero; Walsh: "On Obligations" pp. xliii–xliv It influenced Robert Sanderson and John Locke.

John Marshall John Marshall (September 24, 1755July 6, 1835) was an American politician and lawyer who served as the fourth Chief Justice of the United States from 1801 until his death in 1835. He remains the longest-serving chief justice and fourth-longes ...

, "John Locke: Resistance, Religion, and Responsibility", Cambridge University Press, 1994, pp. 162, 164, 299 In the 18th century,

said of ''De Officiis'' "No one will ever write anything more wise".Voltaire, ''Cicero'', Philosophical Dictionary Part 2 Orig. Published 1764

Frederick the Great Frederick II (german: Friedrich II.; 24 January 171217 August 1786) was King in Prussia from 1740 until 1772, and King of Prussia from 1772 until his death in 1786. His most significant accomplishments include his military successes in the S ...

thought so highly of the book that he asked the scholar Christian Garve to do a new translation of it, even though there had been already two German translations since 1756. Garve's project resulted in 880 additional pages of commentary. In 1885, the city of

Perugia Perugia (, , ; lat, Perusia) is the capital city of Umbria in central Italy, crossed by the River Tiber, and of the province of Perugia. The city is located about north of Rome and southeast of Florence. It covers a high hilltop and par ...

was shaken by the theft of an

illuminated manuscript An illuminated manuscript is a formally prepared document where the text is often supplemented with flourishes such as borders and miniature illustrations. Often used in the Roman Catholic Church for prayers, liturgical services and psalms, th ...

of ''De Officiis'' from the city's Library Augusta. The chief librarian Adamo Rossi, a well-known scholar, was originally suspected but exonerated after a lengthy administrative and judicial investigation. The culprit in the theft was never found. Suspicion fell on a janitor who a few years later became well-to-do enough to build for himself a fine house. The former janitor's house was nicknamed "Villa Cicero" by residents of Perugia. The 2002 George Mason Memorial in Washington, D.C. includes ''De Officiis'' as an element of the statue of a seated Mason. ''De Officiis'' continues to be one of the most popular of Cicero's works because of its style, and because of its depiction of Roman political life under the Republic.

Quotes

* ...and brave he surely cannot possibly be that counts pain the supreme evil, nor temperate he that holds pleasure to be the supreme good. ( la, fortis vero dolorem summum malum iudicans aut temperans voluptatem summum bonum statuens esse certe nullo modo potest) (I, 5) * Not for us alone are we born; our country, our friends, have a share in us. ( la, non nobis solum nati sumus ortusque nostri partem patria vindicat, partem amici) (I, 22) * Let us remember that justice must be observed even to the lowest. ( la, Meminerimus autem etiam adversus infimos iustitiam esse servandam) (I, 41) * Let arms yield to the toga, the laurel defer to praise. ( la, cedant arma togae concedat laurea laudi) (I, 77) * It is the function of justice not to do wrong to one's fellow-men; of considerateness, not to wound their feelings; and in this the essence of propriety is best seen. ( la, Iustitiae partes sunt non violare homines, verecundiae non offendere, in quo maxime vis perspicitur decori) (I, 99) * Is anyone unaware that Fortune plays a major role in both success and failure? ( la, Magnam vim esse in fortuna in utramque partem, vel secundas ad res vel adversas, quis ignorat?) (II, 19) * Of evils choose the least. ( la, Primum, minima de malis.) (III, 102)

Citations

References

* * *

External links

* *
''De Officiis'' in Latin and English
at the

Perseus Project The Perseus Project is a digital library project of Tufts University, which assembles digital collections of humanities resources. Version 4.0 is also known as the "Perseus Hopper", and it is hosted by the Department of Classical Studies. The proj ...

''De Officiis'' – Latin with English translation by Walter Miller (1913)
–

Loeb Classical Library The Loeb Classical Library (LCL; named after James Loeb; , ) is a series of books originally published by Heinemann_(publisher), Heinemann in London, but is currently published by Harvard University Press. The library contains important works ...

edition, Internet Archive
''De Officiis''
English translation by Walter Miller (1913),

LacusCurtius LacusCurtius is a website specializing in ancient Rome, currently hosted on a server at the University of Chicago. It went online on August 26, 1997; in July 2021 it had "3707 webpages, 765 photos, 772 drawings & engravings, 120 plans, 139 maps." T ...

* *
''De Officiis'' online in Latin
at The Latin Library
''De Officiis''
– From th
Rare Book and Special Collections Division
at the

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The librar ...

{{Authority control Philosophical works by Cicero 1st-century BC Latin books 44 BC