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Selections from the Writings of Cicero
Roman statesman and philosopher Marcus Tullius Cicero wrote on a wide range of subjects, from Greek philosophy to moral duty to friendship. Though he considered philosophy secondary to politics and often used his writings for explicit political ends, his work has nevertheless been widely read for over two thousand years and has influenced everything from the culture of the Renaissance to the ideals of the founding fathers of the United States.
This edition contains three of Cicero's best-known works. In "On Friendship," from his Treatises on Friendship and Old Age, Cicero examines the nature of true friendship, which he considers to be based on virtue and dependent upon honesty, truth, and trust. In De Officiis, or "On Duties," written as a letter to his son, Cicero shares his beliefs about the potential conflicts between moral obligation and expedience. Finally, "Scipio's Dream," the sixth book of On the Republic, describes a fictional dream vision of the Roman general Scipio Aemilianus, set two years before the destruction of Carthage in 146 BC.
This edition contains three of Cicero's best-known works. In "On Friendship," from his Treatises on Friendship and Old Age, Cicero examines the nature of true friendship, which he considers to be based on virtue and dependent upon honesty, truth, and trust. In De Officiis, or "On Duties," written as a letter to his son, Cicero shares his beliefs about the potential conflicts between moral obligation and expedience. Finally, "Scipio's Dream," the sixth book of On the Republic, describes a fictional dream vision of the Roman general Scipio Aemilianus, set two years before the destruction of Carthage in 146 BC.
8 pages, Audio CD
First published January 1, 2011
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About the author
Marcus Tullius Cicero
8,050 books1,962 followersBorn 3 January 106 BC, Arpinum, Italy
Died 7 December 43 BC (aged 63), Formia, Italy
Marcus Tullius Cicero was a Roman philosopher, statesman, lawyer, political theorist, and Roman constitutionalist. Cicero is widely considered one of Rome's greatest orators and prose stylists.
Alternate profiles:
Cicéron
Marco Tullio Cicerone
Cicerone
Note: All editions should have Marcus Tullius Cicero as primary author. Editions with another name on the cover should have that name added as secondary author.
Died 7 December 43 BC (aged 63), Formia, Italy
Marcus Tullius Cicero was a Roman philosopher, statesman, lawyer, political theorist, and Roman constitutionalist. Cicero is widely considered one of Rome's greatest orators and prose stylists.
Alternate profiles:
Cicéron
Marco Tullio Cicerone
Cicerone
Note: All editions should have Marcus Tullius Cicero as primary author. Editions with another name on the cover should have that name added as secondary author.
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
July 19, 2025
Selections from the Writings of Cicero by Marcus Tullius Cicero – ★★★★★
To be truthful, I’ve not always been a huge fan of Cicero, this wonderful collection has change my mind a bit!
This is a powerful and engaging collection that captures the brilliance of one of Rome’s greatest minds. I found the translation to be wonderfully clear and accessible—it made Cicero’s complex ideas easy to grasp without losing their depth. I especially enjoyed his philosophical writings, particularly his reflections on Stoicism, virtue, and the role of reason in public life. Stoic lite! Cicero’s thoughts on friendship, duty, and justice are still deeply relevant today. The sections touching on Rome’s war with Carthage also offered fascinating historical context and insight into the challenges of Roman statecraft. A truly rewarding read that brings ancient wisdom into sharp modern focus.
Audible- excellent calming narration
To be truthful, I’ve not always been a huge fan of Cicero, this wonderful collection has change my mind a bit!
This is a powerful and engaging collection that captures the brilliance of one of Rome’s greatest minds. I found the translation to be wonderfully clear and accessible—it made Cicero’s complex ideas easy to grasp without losing their depth. I especially enjoyed his philosophical writings, particularly his reflections on Stoicism, virtue, and the role of reason in public life. Stoic lite! Cicero’s thoughts on friendship, duty, and justice are still deeply relevant today. The sections touching on Rome’s war with Carthage also offered fascinating historical context and insight into the challenges of Roman statecraft. A truly rewarding read that brings ancient wisdom into sharp modern focus.
Audible- excellent calming narration
June 15, 2025
Wonderful selections from Cicero's work.
October 9, 2018
I'd been needing something different from what I'd been reading for the Great Conversation, but I didn't want to stray too far from the period or themes. And due to my recurring interest in Renaissance Humanism, I found myself reading about Petrarch. I learned a little about how his translation of Cicero's letters ignited the Renaissance, so it was here I found my inspiration.
On Friendship: This was a beautiful piece that completely took me off-guard. I'd never read such a distinguished writer discuss something so basic and common to the human experience. This was a pleasant reminder of how important loyalty, respect and admiration make a friendship dynamic and fulfilling to both parties. It was indeed refreshing to read the use of logic and reason applied to friendship, leading to many moments of 'why-didn't-I-think-of-that-sooner' clarity.
Letters to Marcus: As a casual fan of Stoicism, it was on the one hand a good refresher to have such a straightforward and robust analysis and explanation of the philosophy, but it was admittedly a bit long-winded and dull at times. In the end, though, I was glad to have gotten such a full survey of it, gaining an opportunity to really dissect what I find helpful in the philosophy, and what I can do without.
Scipio's Dream (from 'Republic'): Another unexpected delight. It felt a little like reading Dante, being guided through the celestial spheres, imagining the music of the heavens. A philosophy's beauty I think is what is often under appreciated, and will always entice me into its ideas much more quickly than its morality or logic. It's passages like this that make me want to read more of the classics.
On Friendship: This was a beautiful piece that completely took me off-guard. I'd never read such a distinguished writer discuss something so basic and common to the human experience. This was a pleasant reminder of how important loyalty, respect and admiration make a friendship dynamic and fulfilling to both parties. It was indeed refreshing to read the use of logic and reason applied to friendship, leading to many moments of 'why-didn't-I-think-of-that-sooner' clarity.
Letters to Marcus: As a casual fan of Stoicism, it was on the one hand a good refresher to have such a straightforward and robust analysis and explanation of the philosophy, but it was admittedly a bit long-winded and dull at times. In the end, though, I was glad to have gotten such a full survey of it, gaining an opportunity to really dissect what I find helpful in the philosophy, and what I can do without.
Scipio's Dream (from 'Republic'): Another unexpected delight. It felt a little like reading Dante, being guided through the celestial spheres, imagining the music of the heavens. A philosophy's beauty I think is what is often under appreciated, and will always entice me into its ideas much more quickly than its morality or logic. It's passages like this that make me want to read more of the classics.
July 26, 2024
Truly, Cicero relayed worthy and noble sentiments.
May 25, 2011
Amazon review:
How many men and women who have lived more than 2,000 years ago have impressed us with their humanity? We tend to see the statuary, but rarely the person behind it. When you read this outstanding selection edited by the excellent classical historian Michael Grant, you see that Marcus Tullius Cicero has a human face -- and it shows in his work.
The Roman Republic that Cicero loved was falling apart. Marius and Sulla, the Gracchi, the conflicts over the powers of the tribunes had dealt a severe blow to a form of government that had proved itself adequate for governing a city-state, but less so for managing a multi-cultural empire. Cicero fought valiantly against corrupt governors like Verres ("Against Verres") and would-be dictators like Marc Antony ("2nd Phillipic Against Antony"). When he finally threw in his lot with Pompey, he picked the wrong horse and put himself in harm's way. Eventually, Augustus and Antony had him killed as an obstacle to their plans.
The wonderful letters that Cicero wrote to his friend Atticus and others such as Pompey show his hurt at having been rudely pushed aside. He saw himself as the Savior of Rome for his part in quashing the conspiracy of Catiline, but he lived in a world where "What have you done for me lately?" was the question of the day.
Increasingly, Cicero turned to farming and philosophizing. His essays "On Duty" and "On Old Age," reprinted here, are penetrating, humane, and even Christian in a way. One could see why monk copyists of the Middle Ages saw in the Roman senator a pre-Christian piety at work.
Michael Grant supplies an excellent introduction, maps, genealogical charts, timelines, and even a glossary to guide the reader through Cicero's work. This book is definitely a keeper.
How many men and women who have lived more than 2,000 years ago have impressed us with their humanity? We tend to see the statuary, but rarely the person behind it. When you read this outstanding selection edited by the excellent classical historian Michael Grant, you see that Marcus Tullius Cicero has a human face -- and it shows in his work.
The Roman Republic that Cicero loved was falling apart. Marius and Sulla, the Gracchi, the conflicts over the powers of the tribunes had dealt a severe blow to a form of government that had proved itself adequate for governing a city-state, but less so for managing a multi-cultural empire. Cicero fought valiantly against corrupt governors like Verres ("Against Verres") and would-be dictators like Marc Antony ("2nd Phillipic Against Antony"). When he finally threw in his lot with Pompey, he picked the wrong horse and put himself in harm's way. Eventually, Augustus and Antony had him killed as an obstacle to their plans.
The wonderful letters that Cicero wrote to his friend Atticus and others such as Pompey show his hurt at having been rudely pushed aside. He saw himself as the Savior of Rome for his part in quashing the conspiracy of Catiline, but he lived in a world where "What have you done for me lately?" was the question of the day.
Increasingly, Cicero turned to farming and philosophizing. His essays "On Duty" and "On Old Age," reprinted here, are penetrating, humane, and even Christian in a way. One could see why monk copyists of the Middle Ages saw in the Roman senator a pre-Christian piety at work.
Michael Grant supplies an excellent introduction, maps, genealogical charts, timelines, and even a glossary to guide the reader through Cicero's work. This book is definitely a keeper.
June 10, 2021
I listened to this rather on audio book, and a great narrator can add a palpable depth to a writing if done properly. This was the case for me. How can I critique Cicero but only to say that in reading it, I, like so many others including but not limited to our great Founding Father's of the US , stand on the shoulders of Giants. I in particular enjoyed the section on friendship. How many of us truly have what Cicero would call a friend? Everyone must read/listen to Cicero.
October 18, 2024
When Nicholson Baker wrote his homage to John Updike he worked strictly from memory. He did not take notes or go back to Updike’s work. I write my reviews in the same spirit. I just work from what I remember. Not being an academic or having to teach most of the book I read, I am free to just read and then let go of the book. Like catch and release fishing. I am still behind on posting the books I am reading so sometimes I forget much of what I read. It is a very specific kind of forgetting. If I try to recall the book I won’t remember much but if I read another book that refers to a book I have read then I will remember more details. Once in a while I read a book for a discussion group and then I take notes. In that case I have more to go on when I write my reviews. I seem to be going through a Cicero phase. Princeton University Press but out a series of books called Ancient Wisdom for Modern Readers. They are self-help books based on the writings of Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome. I discovered that i could get many of them on my audible account. Cicero is one of the featured writers in that book. I also found a biography of Cicero and his selected writings. I am reading a book about how Greek and Roman writers affected the founding fathers and Cicero is one of the writers that was valued by the signers of the Declaration of Independence. Sometimes on a reading adventure things all come together.
September 16, 2025
Great writing, terrible translation.
Phenomenal thoughts on behaviors and habits of a good person: by a statesman, a lawyer who deeply cared about his country, living in a time in which traitors and betrayers of civic duty seemed to be fomenting.
His theories on friendship and the many furnishings of a good moral spirit are definitely guiding principles on how to live in and be good company.
My biggest complaint with this book is the fact that the translator can’t stop quoting and referencing Christianity, which he seems to be obsessing about rather than translate the actual writing from what Cicero wrote. He would rather create his own version based in principles of Christendom.
Nobody asked you literally nobody asked you, sir. We came to this book because we wanted to learn about Cicero. We did not want to learn about you and your weird musings about Christianity. We didn’t ask for Christianity in a Roman philosophy book.
Phenomenal thoughts on behaviors and habits of a good person: by a statesman, a lawyer who deeply cared about his country, living in a time in which traitors and betrayers of civic duty seemed to be fomenting.
His theories on friendship and the many furnishings of a good moral spirit are definitely guiding principles on how to live in and be good company.
My biggest complaint with this book is the fact that the translator can’t stop quoting and referencing Christianity, which he seems to be obsessing about rather than translate the actual writing from what Cicero wrote. He would rather create his own version based in principles of Christendom.
Nobody asked you literally nobody asked you, sir. We came to this book because we wanted to learn about Cicero. We did not want to learn about you and your weird musings about Christianity. We didn’t ask for Christianity in a Roman philosophy book.
September 30, 2025
Well, it makes sense why people are reading him since antiquity.
Usually discussions on ethics and the way to live best or dry drab the pain to get through. It’s thought-provoking and gripping. Send me something and think about friendship. Maybe stop and think about what I would want to pass on to my own children.
One thing you’ve run into is that some of the words used don’t have the same connotations that we have for them modern English. Or at least those words have become much more ambiguous. Even some have contained a stink to them. What does Cicero mean when it says equity? What does it mean when he says expedient?
Usually discussions on ethics and the way to live best or dry drab the pain to get through. It’s thought-provoking and gripping. Send me something and think about friendship. Maybe stop and think about what I would want to pass on to my own children.
One thing you’ve run into is that some of the words used don’t have the same connotations that we have for them modern English. Or at least those words have become much more ambiguous. Even some have contained a stink to them. What does Cicero mean when it says equity? What does it mean when he says expedient?
October 11, 2024
Some good advice and, for me at least, many unknown references that obscure points. Also very repetitive on the topic of the right vs the expedient, even though I agreed with the conclusion.
Some remarkably “modern” bits as well, such as when he appears to predate Bastiat’s The Law in a paragraph warning his son against attempts to create equality of property (Roman era socialism?) and touts the purpose of government to be the protection of private property.
Not quite philosophy by my judgement, but rather perhaps the world’s first self-help book.
Some remarkably “modern” bits as well, such as when he appears to predate Bastiat’s The Law in a paragraph warning his son against attempts to create equality of property (Roman era socialism?) and touts the purpose of government to be the protection of private property.
Not quite philosophy by my judgement, but rather perhaps the world’s first self-help book.
October 19, 2019
Super boring.. It isn't in anyway enlightening or even that interesting. If someone is quoting this drivel, I'm writing them off as a pretentious weenie.
January 20, 2025
This is not an easy 'read'. Especially as an audio book. I felt the urge to want to re-read some passages as I would normally do if I had read it as an actual book on more complex subject matter. But listening to it in audio format made that close to impossible.
Basically his first work is on Friendship, second on the state and politics and the third is kind of lost on me.
The selected works are quite different from one and other. With the first two being in my view the most interesting. The last one is short and so exceptionally out of date compared to our current knowledge and understanding of the world I did not understand why it was included. Told like a dream. Perhaps the deeper meaning was lost on me and I should re-read it.
The first two parts I think are quite interesting. They still hold wisdom you can apply to this day. In fact it holds wisdom I wish we WOULD apply to this day. Somehow I do not think Cicero would be to impressed with how people are enriching themselves for their own sake and not the good of the people and the state for example. He is very outspoken about that. He also might appreciate some things about our current world. But in general I think his ideas about service to a greater good -without forgetting to taking care of yourself- are well articulated and can still be applied today.
Same about his thoughts about friendship. It actually made me think and question my own relationships and friendships. What is a friend? How does one not just act towards a friend, but also think about that friend? I think again his ideas are relevant in todays world where friendships are sometimes almost quantified in likes and followers. His plea for indepth life time friendships is very far from that.
The narrative in both is also on the morals behind actions. Both in friendship and in politics. Discussing dilemma's like handling a friendship when your friend does something exceptionally wrong.
I had never read anything directly by Cicero. Preferring other Roman thinkers and other thinkers overall. But this has changed my mind. Yes, its dated in places (the lengthy bit about how he thinks about social status and that fish merchants are very low on that ladder for him... yeah.. uhm). But the message behind it, or sometimes exceptionally upfront. Its not dated at all. Its as relevant as ever and timeless. Worth reading for anyone. Should be mandatory for anyone in politics for sure.
Basically his first work is on Friendship, second on the state and politics and the third is kind of lost on me.
The selected works are quite different from one and other. With the first two being in my view the most interesting. The last one is short and so exceptionally out of date compared to our current knowledge and understanding of the world I did not understand why it was included. Told like a dream. Perhaps the deeper meaning was lost on me and I should re-read it.
The first two parts I think are quite interesting. They still hold wisdom you can apply to this day. In fact it holds wisdom I wish we WOULD apply to this day. Somehow I do not think Cicero would be to impressed with how people are enriching themselves for their own sake and not the good of the people and the state for example. He is very outspoken about that. He also might appreciate some things about our current world. But in general I think his ideas about service to a greater good -without forgetting to taking care of yourself- are well articulated and can still be applied today.
Same about his thoughts about friendship. It actually made me think and question my own relationships and friendships. What is a friend? How does one not just act towards a friend, but also think about that friend? I think again his ideas are relevant in todays world where friendships are sometimes almost quantified in likes and followers. His plea for indepth life time friendships is very far from that.
The narrative in both is also on the morals behind actions. Both in friendship and in politics. Discussing dilemma's like handling a friendship when your friend does something exceptionally wrong.
I had never read anything directly by Cicero. Preferring other Roman thinkers and other thinkers overall. But this has changed my mind. Yes, its dated in places (the lengthy bit about how he thinks about social status and that fish merchants are very low on that ladder for him... yeah.. uhm). But the message behind it, or sometimes exceptionally upfront. Its not dated at all. Its as relevant as ever and timeless. Worth reading for anyone. Should be mandatory for anyone in politics for sure.
December 8, 2015
Cicero's advice on practical philosophy in this volume make his the most likely role model for Shakespeare's Polonius. This collection of statements rivals Aristotle's "Nicomachean Ethics" in every way except that I would choose Aristotle over Cicero without a second thought. Cicero is brittle compared to Aristotle. Both try to give some overview of practical philosophy to a younger relative with generosity and wisdom. Cicero comes close to self-parody, while Aristotle manages to maintain a sweet and thoughtful sincerity in his tone.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews