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On Old Age, On Friendship & On Divination
Cicero (Marcus Tullius, 106 - 43 BCE), Roman lawyer, orator, politician and philosopher, of whom we know more than of any other Roman, lived through the stirring era which saw the rise, dictatorship, and death of Julius Caesar in a tottering republic. In his political speeches especially and in his correspondence we see the excitement, tension and intrigue of politics and the part he played in the turmoil of the time. Of about 106 speeches, delivered before the Roman people or the Senate if they were political, before jurors if judicial, 58 survive (a few of them incompletely). In the fourteenth century Petrarch and other Italian humanists discovered manuscripts containing more than 900 letters of which more than 800 were written by Cicero and nearly 100 by others to him. These afford a revelation of the man all the more striking because most were not written for publication. Six rhetorical works survive and another in fragments. Philosophical works include seven extant major compositions and a number of others; and some lost. There is also poetry, some original, some as translations from the Greek.
The Loeb Classical Library edition of Cicero is in twenty-nine volumes.
576 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 45
28 people are currently reading
1749 people want to read
About the author
Marcus Tullius Cicero
8,183 books1,981 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 - 30 of 37 reviews
November 5, 2008
It is hard to imagine that as our civilization has progressed these two thousand years, that we feel less and less inclined to seriously analyse what could only be termed "ubiquitous". Old Age, friendship, virtue, duty - they are everywhere represented but are either given over to an authority (such as religion, government etc.) to define for us, or only given cursory attention in our early education.
Two thousand years ago and more, it was quite a different story. Analysis of those things most prevelant in life - nature, love, vice, death, mental states etc. - were to be studied not just for the answers that study would generate - but for the act of studying itself. As is commonly referred to in science - the subject is changed by observation - and, to a sgnificant extent - so is the observer. That was the point - to study the truth of things and be changed by them.
Cicero's essay on Old Age, written as a lecture from the censor* (see More) Cato to two friends, Scipio and Laelius, on the advantages and disadvantages of old age. Cicero was 63 years old when he wrote it and said that the "pleasure he experienced in writing it made him forget his own infirmities." The treatise itself is addressed to Titus Pomponius Atticus, a Roman knight.
Cato discusses in turn the primary myths associated with old age:
1. It calls us away from the tranasaction of affairs.
2. It renders the body more feeble.
3. Deprives us of almost all pleasure.
4. That it is not far from death.
First, he explains to the two young men, it need not call us from the transanction of affairs. It calls us from the front lines of war - to where our perspective should be even more useful. And in the matters of war and civil affairs - are not the cooler heads of those who've survived such many years more valuable?
States Cato, "but if you shall be inclined to read or hear of foreign matters, you will find the greatest commonwealths have been overthrown by young men, and supported and restored by old men."
He further demonstates his point by listing those most decorated and celebrated statesmen who made their strongest contributions to the glory of Rome in their later years.
Second, he states that the body and mind need not be rendered more feeble. He takes rather the Stoic view of virtue leading to good health overall, and to longevity in particular. In matters of the mind espeically practice and discipline of the appetites holds the key. And to the question of physical strength Cato states, "Derive nobility from yourself and not from physical prowess." Physical strength is fleeting in any context - strength of spirit can more than compensate for the body's weakness.
Third, again taking the Stoic stance, Cato reminds us that it is not necessarily that we are deprived pleasures that a youthful body provides - but of the need for it. Old age gives us the temperament to be content with what we have and the ability to regulate our appetites.
Finally Cato asks, what have we to fear of death? If all things of natural law are necessarily good and virtuous - than how can death be something to fear? It is as natural as every part of life. And since we've no idea how long we shall have , what is gained by worrying? If we die and there is nothing that follows - then what will we care of death after it is done with us? And if virtue is rewarded with a next life - then we not only have nothing to fear, but much to be gained. (And every reason to want to live a virtuous life.)
* one of two Roman magistrates appointed to take the census, and, later, to supervise public morals.
On Friendship
"A sure friend is discerned in unsure matters." --- Ennius
Although it seemed, at first glance, that this essay would be a more simple and even superficial treatment of the subject, it turned out to be the more complex. It assumes more knowledge of the Stoic position on the nature of human beings and looks more explicitly at what is and what may not be friendship.
The first and primary assumption is that friendship can only exist among the good. For those who are wicked will seek the advantage from every association and that cannot be truly termed friendship. Friendship must still come second to virtue.
The second assumption is actually Cicero's definition of friendship: "Friendship is nothing else than a complete union of feeling on all subjects, divine and human, accompanied by kindly feeling and attachment."
Third, the importance of friendship to society and civility itself: "nay... should you remove from nature the cement of kind feelings, neither a house nor a city will be able to stand; even the cultivation of land will not continue."
This question of virtue in friendship has weighed on me much in the past - and I continue to observe it my current friendships. Afterall, how easy is it too lapse into our selfish wants, our own appetites when we advise or console a friend? How often do we question whether a course of action benefits the friendship itself - or merely satisfies what we personally crave. I have been guilty of satisfying my own desires before the needs of a friendship and have lost the friend consequently. It's a difficult balance to be struck, but one worth observing.
He continues with advice concerning old friends and new friends and the benefit of creating multiple associations so that none be left out. He also weighs the benefit of allowing an old friendship that has turned bitter to simply die away than to force a violent end.
This was in many ways the more practical essays for me - but considering my age, that isn't surprising. As with most things that happen into my life - I cannot help but note the timing.
Onto Cicero's Paradoxes..
I will only give this a brief explanation as I found these to be merely mental and oratory exercises, rather than the deeper, more meaningful treatises he's famous for. These paradoxes are derived from the arguments of the Stoics - and can be somewhat confusing when it is remembered that Cicero himself was not a Stoic - though he appears to support the arguments here.
Perhaps the best explanation lies in this quote:
"There is, hhowever, nothing so incredible that it may not be made more plausible by eloquence; nothing so rough and uncultivated that it may not, in oratory, become brilliant and polished."
There are the flollowing "Paradoxes" or proofs which he takes in turn:
1. That virtue is the only good
2. A man who is virtuous is destitute of no requisite of a happy life.
3. That all misdeeds are in themselves equal, and good deeds are the same.
4. That every fool is a madman (This proof is directed pointedly at Publius Clodius.)
5. That the wise man alone is free, and that every fool is a slave.
6. That the wise man alone is rich.
Though he clearly believes the value of defending these basic Stoic beliefs - the elaborate prose he uses to do so suggests more the emphasis on style, rather than substance.
Two thousand years ago and more, it was quite a different story. Analysis of those things most prevelant in life - nature, love, vice, death, mental states etc. - were to be studied not just for the answers that study would generate - but for the act of studying itself. As is commonly referred to in science - the subject is changed by observation - and, to a sgnificant extent - so is the observer. That was the point - to study the truth of things and be changed by them.
Cicero's essay on Old Age, written as a lecture from the censor* (see More) Cato to two friends, Scipio and Laelius, on the advantages and disadvantages of old age. Cicero was 63 years old when he wrote it and said that the "pleasure he experienced in writing it made him forget his own infirmities." The treatise itself is addressed to Titus Pomponius Atticus, a Roman knight.
Cato discusses in turn the primary myths associated with old age:
1. It calls us away from the tranasaction of affairs.
2. It renders the body more feeble.
3. Deprives us of almost all pleasure.
4. That it is not far from death.
First, he explains to the two young men, it need not call us from the transanction of affairs. It calls us from the front lines of war - to where our perspective should be even more useful. And in the matters of war and civil affairs - are not the cooler heads of those who've survived such many years more valuable?
States Cato, "but if you shall be inclined to read or hear of foreign matters, you will find the greatest commonwealths have been overthrown by young men, and supported and restored by old men."
He further demonstates his point by listing those most decorated and celebrated statesmen who made their strongest contributions to the glory of Rome in their later years.
Second, he states that the body and mind need not be rendered more feeble. He takes rather the Stoic view of virtue leading to good health overall, and to longevity in particular. In matters of the mind espeically practice and discipline of the appetites holds the key. And to the question of physical strength Cato states, "Derive nobility from yourself and not from physical prowess." Physical strength is fleeting in any context - strength of spirit can more than compensate for the body's weakness.
Third, again taking the Stoic stance, Cato reminds us that it is not necessarily that we are deprived pleasures that a youthful body provides - but of the need for it. Old age gives us the temperament to be content with what we have and the ability to regulate our appetites.
Finally Cato asks, what have we to fear of death? If all things of natural law are necessarily good and virtuous - than how can death be something to fear? It is as natural as every part of life. And since we've no idea how long we shall have , what is gained by worrying? If we die and there is nothing that follows - then what will we care of death after it is done with us? And if virtue is rewarded with a next life - then we not only have nothing to fear, but much to be gained. (And every reason to want to live a virtuous life.)
* one of two Roman magistrates appointed to take the census, and, later, to supervise public morals.
On Friendship
"A sure friend is discerned in unsure matters." --- Ennius
Although it seemed, at first glance, that this essay would be a more simple and even superficial treatment of the subject, it turned out to be the more complex. It assumes more knowledge of the Stoic position on the nature of human beings and looks more explicitly at what is and what may not be friendship.
The first and primary assumption is that friendship can only exist among the good. For those who are wicked will seek the advantage from every association and that cannot be truly termed friendship. Friendship must still come second to virtue.
The second assumption is actually Cicero's definition of friendship: "Friendship is nothing else than a complete union of feeling on all subjects, divine and human, accompanied by kindly feeling and attachment."
Third, the importance of friendship to society and civility itself: "nay... should you remove from nature the cement of kind feelings, neither a house nor a city will be able to stand; even the cultivation of land will not continue."
This question of virtue in friendship has weighed on me much in the past - and I continue to observe it my current friendships. Afterall, how easy is it too lapse into our selfish wants, our own appetites when we advise or console a friend? How often do we question whether a course of action benefits the friendship itself - or merely satisfies what we personally crave. I have been guilty of satisfying my own desires before the needs of a friendship and have lost the friend consequently. It's a difficult balance to be struck, but one worth observing.
He continues with advice concerning old friends and new friends and the benefit of creating multiple associations so that none be left out. He also weighs the benefit of allowing an old friendship that has turned bitter to simply die away than to force a violent end.
This was in many ways the more practical essays for me - but considering my age, that isn't surprising. As with most things that happen into my life - I cannot help but note the timing.
Onto Cicero's Paradoxes..
I will only give this a brief explanation as I found these to be merely mental and oratory exercises, rather than the deeper, more meaningful treatises he's famous for. These paradoxes are derived from the arguments of the Stoics - and can be somewhat confusing when it is remembered that Cicero himself was not a Stoic - though he appears to support the arguments here.
Perhaps the best explanation lies in this quote:
"There is, hhowever, nothing so incredible that it may not be made more plausible by eloquence; nothing so rough and uncultivated that it may not, in oratory, become brilliant and polished."
There are the flollowing "Paradoxes" or proofs which he takes in turn:
1. That virtue is the only good
2. A man who is virtuous is destitute of no requisite of a happy life.
3. That all misdeeds are in themselves equal, and good deeds are the same.
4. That every fool is a madman (This proof is directed pointedly at Publius Clodius.)
5. That the wise man alone is free, and that every fool is a slave.
6. That the wise man alone is rich.
Though he clearly believes the value of defending these basic Stoic beliefs - the elaborate prose he uses to do so suggests more the emphasis on style, rather than substance.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Read
December 30, 2014For a class I'm teaching next quarter, and also because Saul Levmore and I are working on a joint collection of essays on aging, I've been reading Cicero's On Old Age (De Senectute) and its companion work On Friendship (De Amicitia). Both of these works, written in 44 BCE, were real favorites for many centuries, but they are less often read today. You can find a decent translation in the Loeb Classical Library. Both works are dedicated to Cicero's best friend Atticus, and Cicero says that their aim is to distract Atticus from the dangerous and difficult political situation. (Julius Caesar had just been assassinated, and Cicero, who sympathized with the conspirators, soon found his life in danger. He was assassinated himself less than a year later. Atticus, a wealthy and rather apolitical banker, survived the upheavals and died of colon cancer many years later, in his early eighties.) On Old Age is pretty much the only serious philosophical work on this topic, and it is a gem. Cicero tells Atticus that the two of them are not really old yet (they are 65 and 62 at the time), but they should look ahead and think about it. In this stylish dialogue, Cicero brings in a protagonist who is a well-known politician, Cato age 84 at the time the dialogue is set, and Cato proceeds to puncture all the stereotypes about old age, which are pretty much the same ones we deal with: old people are useless and can't do their work; their bodies are decrepit; they can't have sexual pleasure; etc. He documents the productivity of older people, noting that the Roman Senate is named after the "oldsters" or "senes" who serve there. About the body, he says that some feats may not be possible any longer, but a lot of things are possible so long as one exercises regularly. And if one can no longer indulge in some taxing activity, one can always teach it to others! As for sex, in that pre-Viagra era, Cato concedes the point, but he says it's not a bad thing, and aging politicians are much less likely to give rise to scandal and broken families. (Rome was a divorce culture that seems quite familiar today.) One especially interesting thing, as he lists the ages of outstanding people, is to see that in that salubrious climate, with that good diet and a regular need to walk, and of course no tobacco, people regularly lived into their eighties and above.
On Friendship is a beloved work, but to me it is too high-mindedly abstract, lacking the texture of a real-life friendship, with its jokes, its differences, its intimate knowledge of each one's history and character. So, when you read that one, also read some of Cicero's real letters to Atticus, hundreds of which survive, and which have been splendidly translated in the Loeb Library by David Shackleton Bailey.
—Martha Nussbaum
On Friendship is a beloved work, but to me it is too high-mindedly abstract, lacking the texture of a real-life friendship, with its jokes, its differences, its intimate knowledge of each one's history and character. So, when you read that one, also read some of Cicero's real letters to Atticus, hundreds of which survive, and which have been splendidly translated in the Loeb Library by David Shackleton Bailey.
—Martha Nussbaum
April 7, 2008
I'd like to read it again when I begin to age and fall apart. I liked the reference to the main character's (I forget the spelling) mastery of Greek after the age of 60 - made me feel like I shouldn't be so worried about running out of time to study the things I want to learn. It also contains a good deal of sound advice regarding choosing friends and interacting with them, although it can seem somewhat Machiavellian at times.
August 7, 2021
While deceptively simple, this book comes from such a radically different time than ours that one spends as much time excavating the history and politics of the age as he does weighing the substance of Cicero’s argument. Be that as it may, there is an abundance of insight to be had if you’re willing to put in the work, and with regards to two of the most important topics in human life.
August 29, 2018
When I pick up a book of ancient treatises like this, I often subconsciously brace myself for tendentious dialogues with a lot of bad arguments. So I was pleasantly surprised to find Cicero eminently reasonable. It turns out he doesn't like that stuff any more than I do. So it was pleasant reading, and left me free to just enjoy his thoughts on these subjects, and to consider whether I agreed with them or not.
I bought this mainly for the essay on old age, since it's coming up and I'd like to handle it well. And maybe even hear some good news about it. Even though it doesn't look fun, I find myself looking forward to it sometimes, as I sometimes find this time of life difficult. But right at the beginning, he cut me down to size by remarking that the people who find old age hard are the people who find other times of life hard. So I'll try to clean up my attitude.
All the essays are good. I sympathized with Cicero's brother arguing for the validity of divination, since I too believe God can and does communicate with people. But on the whole Cicero nails it, and his arguments discredit a lot of Christian superstition no less than pagan.
I bought this mainly for the essay on old age, since it's coming up and I'd like to handle it well. And maybe even hear some good news about it. Even though it doesn't look fun, I find myself looking forward to it sometimes, as I sometimes find this time of life difficult. But right at the beginning, he cut me down to size by remarking that the people who find old age hard are the people who find other times of life hard. So I'll try to clean up my attitude.
All the essays are good. I sympathized with Cicero's brother arguing for the validity of divination, since I too believe God can and does communicate with people. But on the whole Cicero nails it, and his arguments discredit a lot of Christian superstition no less than pagan.
December 20, 2020
On Old Age:
A very Stoic outlook on ageing.
Some favourite quotes:
"For to those who have not the means within themselves of a virtuous and happy life every age is burdensome" (On Old Age, ii. 5); "I come now to the pleasures of agriculture in which I find incredible delight; they are not one whit checked by old age, and are, it seems to me, in the highest degree suited to the life of the wise man" (On Old Age, xv. 51); "For even if the allotted space in life be short, it is long enough in which to live honourably and well" (On Old Age, xix. 70).
5/5
On Friendship:
If not abounding with new and insightful revelation, "On Friendship" thoughtfully explores the nature a true and deep friendship. Many of the ideas expressed may not seem particularly new or inspiring, however there is plenty of truth to Cicero's arguments, and I suspect most people less deeply understand the concepts in this book than they would like to believe they do.
Not necessarily my favourite quotes, but key ideas to the text nonetheless:
"All that I can do is to urge you to put friendship before all things human (On Friendship, v. 17); "friendship cannot exist except among good men; ... no one is good unless he is wise" (On Friendship, v. 18); "For it is Love from which the word "Friendship" is derived, that leads to the establishing of goodwill." (On Friendship, viii. 26); "Therefore let this law be established in friendship: neither ask dishonourable things, nor do them, if asked." (On Friendship, xii. 40); "Therefore let this be ordained as the first law of friendship: Ask of friends only what is honourable; do for friends only what is honourable and without even waiting to be asked; ... dare to give true advice with all frankness; ... not only with frankness, but, if the occasion demands, even with sternness, and let the advice be followed when given." (On Friendship, xiii. 44); "It is not the case, therefore, that friendship attends upon advantage, but, on the contrary, that advantage attends upon friendship." (On Friendship, xiv. 51); "But most men unreasonably, not to say shamelessly, want a friend to be such as they cannot be themselves and require from friends what they themselves do not bestow" (On Friendship, xxii. 82).
4/5
On Divination
"On Divination" is lengthy, with an excess of examples for the arguments given which end up feeling very repetitive. That said, it is interesting to read the arguments given by an intelligent man for practices that we today see as superstitious, absurd, and foolish. In addition, there are numerous insights to the religious practices of divination among a breadth of ancient civilisations and cultures.
3.5/5
A very Stoic outlook on ageing.
Some favourite quotes:
"For to those who have not the means within themselves of a virtuous and happy life every age is burdensome" (On Old Age, ii. 5); "I come now to the pleasures of agriculture in which I find incredible delight; they are not one whit checked by old age, and are, it seems to me, in the highest degree suited to the life of the wise man" (On Old Age, xv. 51); "For even if the allotted space in life be short, it is long enough in which to live honourably and well" (On Old Age, xix. 70).
5/5
On Friendship:
If not abounding with new and insightful revelation, "On Friendship" thoughtfully explores the nature a true and deep friendship. Many of the ideas expressed may not seem particularly new or inspiring, however there is plenty of truth to Cicero's arguments, and I suspect most people less deeply understand the concepts in this book than they would like to believe they do.
Not necessarily my favourite quotes, but key ideas to the text nonetheless:
"All that I can do is to urge you to put friendship before all things human (On Friendship, v. 17); "friendship cannot exist except among good men; ... no one is good unless he is wise" (On Friendship, v. 18); "For it is Love from which the word "Friendship" is derived, that leads to the establishing of goodwill." (On Friendship, viii. 26); "Therefore let this law be established in friendship: neither ask dishonourable things, nor do them, if asked." (On Friendship, xii. 40); "Therefore let this be ordained as the first law of friendship: Ask of friends only what is honourable; do for friends only what is honourable and without even waiting to be asked; ... dare to give true advice with all frankness; ... not only with frankness, but, if the occasion demands, even with sternness, and let the advice be followed when given." (On Friendship, xiii. 44); "It is not the case, therefore, that friendship attends upon advantage, but, on the contrary, that advantage attends upon friendship." (On Friendship, xiv. 51); "But most men unreasonably, not to say shamelessly, want a friend to be such as they cannot be themselves and require from friends what they themselves do not bestow" (On Friendship, xxii. 82).
4/5
On Divination
"On Divination" is lengthy, with an excess of examples for the arguments given which end up feeling very repetitive. That said, it is interesting to read the arguments given by an intelligent man for practices that we today see as superstitious, absurd, and foolish. In addition, there are numerous insights to the religious practices of divination among a breadth of ancient civilisations and cultures.
3.5/5
November 18, 2019
Reading Cicero for his knowledge of oratory and politics is akin to killing an animal for its hide and discarding the meat.
Cicero might not have been the creator of a specific school of philosophy but as a person who was not only extremely well read but who also played an important role in the transmission of Greek philosophy to Rome you get a very insightful writer. Not only that but he is also a writer that is extremely clear and straightforward with his writings.
A 5/5 read if only for the work on old age, though read Mari's review if you want a more in depth look at the content.
Finally get this edition specifically - No its not because it has the Latin in it its because this is the best quality and cheapest edition you can get of this work that doesnt butcher it in abridgement (+ its a very cute little hardcover)
Cicero might not have been the creator of a specific school of philosophy but as a person who was not only extremely well read but who also played an important role in the transmission of Greek philosophy to Rome you get a very insightful writer. Not only that but he is also a writer that is extremely clear and straightforward with his writings.
A 5/5 read if only for the work on old age, though read Mari's review if you want a more in depth look at the content.
Finally get this edition specifically - No its not because it has the Latin in it its because this is the best quality and cheapest edition you can get of this work that doesnt butcher it in abridgement (+ its a very cute little hardcover)
September 14, 2020
It is salutary to contrast the two great disquisitions on the perennial theme of friendship that have come down to us from antiquity, at the hands, respectively, of Aristotle, the quintessential Greek philosopher, and of Cicero, the greatest of the Roman rhetoricians and orators. Aristotle’s, in the eighth and ninth books of the Nicomachean Ethics and in the seventh book of the Eudemian Ethics, is, as one could expect, far the more theoretical. He distinguishes friendships by the principal good upon which they are based, or those due to excellence, to usefulness and to pleasantness. Now, certainly, Aristotle is under no illusion that the noblest kind of friendship consists in that between equals, founded on mutual respect and directed to contemplation, what is the activity in accord with man’s proper excellence and conducive to complete happiness. All the same, though, something seems to be missing. For, as is known, among the pagan Greeks morality was not bound up so tightly with religion, the way it is for us who derive our inheritance from Jewish monotheism. Cicero’s Roman practicality and patriotic piety, on the other hand, imbue his view of friendship in his dialogue De amicitia with a higher ethical ideal.
Let us document our contention from the primary texts. First off, Cicero echoes Aristotle’s judgment that ‘Perfect friendship is the friendship of men who are good, and alike in excellence; for these wish well alike to each other qua good, and they are good in themselves’ (1156b6-10), all the while implicitly reserving friendship only to the first of Aristotle’s categories (see p. 127). Indeed, Cicero roundly dismisses as inferior the friendship of utility or of pleasure:
The oftener, therefore, I reflect on friendship the more it seems to me that consideration should be given to the question, whether the longing for friendship is felt on account of weakness and want, so that by the giving and receiving of favors one may get from another and in turn repay what he is unable to procure of himself; or, although this mutual interchange is really inseparable from friendship, whether there is not another cause, older, more beautiful, and emanating more directly from Nature herself. For it is love [amor], from which the word “friendship” [amicitia] is derived, that leads to the establishing of goodwill….Wherefore it seems to me that friendship springs rather from nature than from need, and from an inclination of the soul joined with a feeling of love rather than from calculation of how much profit the friendship is likely to afford. (pp. 137-139)
Aristotle—what is of interest—neglects to define what friendship is. Here, Cicero supplies a definition more all-encompassing that what, one suspects, Aristotle could entertain:
For friendship is nothing else than an accord in all things, human and divine, conjoined with mutual goodwill and affection, and I am inclined to think that, with the exception of wisdom, no better thing has been given to man by the immortal gods. (p. 131)
As, after all, Aristotle limits the friends’ relation to what they share, namely, excellence of character and contemplation, but Cicero sees it as extending to ‘all things, human and divine’ and, as we have seen in our immediately preceding review of Cicero’s De officiis, for Cicero this must mean not solely the life of leisure and research (the value of which he respects no less than Aristotle), but primarily the active life of men engaged in public affairs on behalf of their country. Hence, one should not be surprised that Cicero engages real practical issues faced by friends as they make their way through life, such as whom to befriend, how far the limits of friendship extend, under what conditions friendship can be broken off, what a friend may rightly demand and the like. In this vein, the following two quotations:
In short: there is but one security and one provision against these ills and annoyances, and that is, neither to enlist your love too quickly nor to fix it on unworthy men. Now they are worthy of friendship who have within their own souls the reason for their being loved. A rare class indeed! And really everything splendid is rare, and nothing is harder to find than something which in all respects is a perfect specimen of its kind. But the majority of men recognize nothing whatever in human experience as good unless it brings some profit and they regard their friends as they do their cattle, valuing most highly those which give hope of the largest gain. Thus do they fail to attain that loveliest, most spontaneous friendship, which is desirable for itself; and they do not learn from their own experience what the power of such friendship is and are ignorant of its nature and extent. For everyone loves himself, not with a view of acquiring some profit for himself from his self-love, but because he is dear to himself on his own account; and unless this same feeling were transferred to friendship, the real friend would never be found; for his is, as it were, another self. (pp. 187-189)
Therefore, among men like those just mentioned, friendship offers advantages almost beyond my power to describe. In the first place, how can life be what Ennius calls “the life worth living”, if it does not repose on the mutual goodwill of a friend? What is sweeter than to have someone with whom you may dare discuss anything as if you were communing with yourself? How could your enjoyment in times of prosperity be so great if you did not have someone whose joy in them would be equal to your own? Adversity would indeed be hard to bear, without him to whom the burden would be heavier even than to yourself….I am not now speaking of the ordinary and commonplace friendship—delightful and profitable as it is—but of that pure and faultless kind, such as was that of the few whose friendships are known to fame. For friendship adds a brighter radiance to prosperity and lessens the burden of adversity by dividing and sharing it. (pp. 131-133).
Here, incidentally, Cicero contradicts Spinoza, who, in the latter books of the Ethics discusses human affairs from a dismayingly reductive and utilitarian perspective; for Spinoza, ‘love is nothing else but pleasure accompanied by the idea of an external cause’ (Book 3, Proposition 13). Along such lines, granted, we could limn the transactional view of friendship common among businessmen of all ages, including our own, but scarcely what Cicero means by the term. No wonder, then, that the pantheist Spinoza seems to recommend a retreat from intercourse with other men in order to seek solace in a refined, disinterested and dispassionate ‘amor Dei intellectualis’. Could, one might well want to ask here, Spinoza really ever have enjoyed any significant affective relationship with another human being, such as what anyone other than him would call a friendship? It seems rather doubtful. Why then were all the Germans—Lessing, Herder, Novalis etc.—so enamored with Spinoza? Leave this as an aside, and back to Cicero:
For to the extent that a man relies upon himself and is so fortified by virtue and wisdom that he is dependent on no one and considers all his possessions to be within himself, in that degree is he most conspicuous for seeking out and cherishing friendships. (pp. 141-143)
Thus the greatest advantages will be realized from friendship, and its origin, being derived from nature rather than from weakness, will be more dignified and more consonant with truth. For on the assumption that advantage is the cement of friendships, if advantage were removed friendships would fall apart; but since nature is unchangeable, therefore real friendships are eternal. (p. 145)
Therefore let this law be established in friendship: neither ask dishonorable things, nor do them, if asked. (p. 151)
Therefore let this be ordained as the first law of friendship: Ask of friends only what is honorable; do for friends only what is honorable and without even waiting to be asked; let zeal be ever present, but hesitation absent; dare to give true advice with all frankness; in friendship let the influence of friends who are wise counselors be paramount, and let that influence be employed in advising, not only with frankness, but, if the occasion demands, even with sternness, and let the advice be followed when given. (pp. 155-157)
Nothing of the sort could be found in Aristotle’s theoretical analysis of friendship. Clearly, what lends urgency to Cicero’s account is a deeply felt commitment to virtue and to public service unknown to Aristotle but first nature to a Roman citizen. Let us exemplify the point with a further string of quotations from Cicero:
But, since, as I said before, virtue knits friendship together, if there should be some exhibition of shining virtue to which a kindred spirit may attach and adjust itself, then, when that happens, love must needs spring forth….And what if I also add, as I may fairly do, that nothing so allures and attracts anything to itself as likeness does to friendship? Then it will surely be granted as a fact that good men love and join to themselves other good men, in a union which is almost that of relationship and nature. (p. 161)
And again, it seems to me at any rate, that those who falsely assume expediency to be the basis of friendship, take from friendship’s chain its loveliest link. For it is not so much the material gain procured through a friend, as it is his love, and his love alone, that gives us delight; and that advantage which we derive from him becomes a pleasure only when his service is inspired by an ardent zeal. And it is far from being true that friendship is cultivated because of need; rather, it is cultivated by those who are most abundantly blessed with wealth and power and especially with virtue, which is man’s best defense; by those least in need of another’s help; and by those most generous and given to acts of kindness. (p. 163)
Friendship was given to us by nature as the handmaid of virtue, not as a comrade of vice; because virtue cannot attain her highest aims unattended, but only in union and fellowship with another. Such a partnership as this, whether it is, or was, or is yet to be, should be considered the best and happiest comradeship along the road to nature’s highest good. In such a partnership, I say, abide all things men deem worthy of pursuit—honor and fame and delightful tranquility of mind; so that when these blessings are at hand life is happy, and without them, it cannot be happy. (p. 191)
Virtue, my dear Gaius Fannius, and you, my dear Quintus Mucius, Virtue, I say, both creates the bond of friendship and preserves it. For in Virtue is complete harmony, in her is permanence, in her is fidelity; and when she has raised her head and shown her own light and has seen and recognized the same light in another, she moves towards it and in turn receives its beams; as a result love or friendship leaps into flame; for both words are derived from a word meaning “to love” [amor]. But love is nothing other than the great esteem and affection felt for him who inspires that sentiment, and it is not sought because of material need or for the sake of material gain….But inasmuch as things human are frail and fleeting, we must be ever on the search for some persons whom we shall love and who will love us in return; for if goodwill and affection are taken away, every joy is taken from life. (pp. 207-209)
Hence, we have amply illustrated Cicero’s high estimate of friendship. For him the following anecdote—what for Aristotle must appear nonsensical in light of his views on contemplation in the seeming absence of human interrelationships as man’s telos—will be very appropriate:
True, therefore, is that celebrated saying of Archytas of Tarentum, I think it was—a saying which I have heard repeated by our old men who in their turn heard it from their elders. It is to this effect: “If a man should ascend alone into heaven and behold clearly the structure of the universe and the beauty of the stars, there would be no pleasure for him in the awe-inspiring sight, which would have filled him with delight if he had had someone to whom he could describe what he had seen”. Thus nature, loving nothing solitary, always strives for some sort of support, and man’s best support is a very dear friend. (p. 195)
Thus, Cicero. Let us try to bring him forward to the context of our day, when, sad to say, one must doubt whether the Ciceronian ideal continues to enjoy very much cultural currency anymore, in an environment dictated by all-enveloping materialism and consumerism. Anyone who has attended an Ivy League university will be familiar with the type, the careerist so keen on getting ahead that, practically speaking, between professional duties and family responsibilities to his wife and children, he has no time left in which to cultivate friendship. Perhaps, one will be welcome to visit once or twice a year for old times’ sake to reminisce on the past. Isn’t there more to life than this? Yes, what this reviewer sees as the ideal in friendship is not just wasting time together once in a while but concerted action towards something greater than oneself, what is comprehended under that untranslatable German verb, handeln. Such memorable friendships are few and far between; one recalls, say, Goethe and Schiller’s Weimar classicism, or the symphilosophieren among the close circle at Jena who made up the movement of early German Romanticism. What is at stake in this? For Fichte, what grounds self-consciousness and awakens one to freedom is a summons [Aufforderung] that issues from other rational subjects. Without this necessary condition, one would never attain to existence as a human being.
A final apposite reflection. In all the passages quoted above, is not Cicero unwittingly penning the very description of Jesus, the one before all others most capable of and desirous of friendship? For, in the following magnificent gospel verses from his farewell discourse to his disciples at the Last Supper, Jesus declares something altogether unheard of elsewhere in all mankind’s annals and scriptures throughout recorded history, that God himself wishes to befriend us and entrusts to us the summons to bring about the reign of the kingdom of heaven on earth:
This is my commandment: love one another, as I have loved you. No one can have greater love than to lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends, if you do what I command you. I shall no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business; I call you friends, because I have made known to you everything I have learnt from my Father. You did not choose me, no, I chose you; and I commissioned you to go out and to bear fruit, fruit that will last; so that the Father will give you anything you ask him in my name. My command to you is to love one another. (John 15:12-17)
Let us document our contention from the primary texts. First off, Cicero echoes Aristotle’s judgment that ‘Perfect friendship is the friendship of men who are good, and alike in excellence; for these wish well alike to each other qua good, and they are good in themselves’ (1156b6-10), all the while implicitly reserving friendship only to the first of Aristotle’s categories (see p. 127). Indeed, Cicero roundly dismisses as inferior the friendship of utility or of pleasure:
The oftener, therefore, I reflect on friendship the more it seems to me that consideration should be given to the question, whether the longing for friendship is felt on account of weakness and want, so that by the giving and receiving of favors one may get from another and in turn repay what he is unable to procure of himself; or, although this mutual interchange is really inseparable from friendship, whether there is not another cause, older, more beautiful, and emanating more directly from Nature herself. For it is love [amor], from which the word “friendship” [amicitia] is derived, that leads to the establishing of goodwill….Wherefore it seems to me that friendship springs rather from nature than from need, and from an inclination of the soul joined with a feeling of love rather than from calculation of how much profit the friendship is likely to afford. (pp. 137-139)
Aristotle—what is of interest—neglects to define what friendship is. Here, Cicero supplies a definition more all-encompassing that what, one suspects, Aristotle could entertain:
For friendship is nothing else than an accord in all things, human and divine, conjoined with mutual goodwill and affection, and I am inclined to think that, with the exception of wisdom, no better thing has been given to man by the immortal gods. (p. 131)
As, after all, Aristotle limits the friends’ relation to what they share, namely, excellence of character and contemplation, but Cicero sees it as extending to ‘all things, human and divine’ and, as we have seen in our immediately preceding review of Cicero’s De officiis, for Cicero this must mean not solely the life of leisure and research (the value of which he respects no less than Aristotle), but primarily the active life of men engaged in public affairs on behalf of their country. Hence, one should not be surprised that Cicero engages real practical issues faced by friends as they make their way through life, such as whom to befriend, how far the limits of friendship extend, under what conditions friendship can be broken off, what a friend may rightly demand and the like. In this vein, the following two quotations:
In short: there is but one security and one provision against these ills and annoyances, and that is, neither to enlist your love too quickly nor to fix it on unworthy men. Now they are worthy of friendship who have within their own souls the reason for their being loved. A rare class indeed! And really everything splendid is rare, and nothing is harder to find than something which in all respects is a perfect specimen of its kind. But the majority of men recognize nothing whatever in human experience as good unless it brings some profit and they regard their friends as they do their cattle, valuing most highly those which give hope of the largest gain. Thus do they fail to attain that loveliest, most spontaneous friendship, which is desirable for itself; and they do not learn from their own experience what the power of such friendship is and are ignorant of its nature and extent. For everyone loves himself, not with a view of acquiring some profit for himself from his self-love, but because he is dear to himself on his own account; and unless this same feeling were transferred to friendship, the real friend would never be found; for his is, as it were, another self. (pp. 187-189)
Therefore, among men like those just mentioned, friendship offers advantages almost beyond my power to describe. In the first place, how can life be what Ennius calls “the life worth living”, if it does not repose on the mutual goodwill of a friend? What is sweeter than to have someone with whom you may dare discuss anything as if you were communing with yourself? How could your enjoyment in times of prosperity be so great if you did not have someone whose joy in them would be equal to your own? Adversity would indeed be hard to bear, without him to whom the burden would be heavier even than to yourself….I am not now speaking of the ordinary and commonplace friendship—delightful and profitable as it is—but of that pure and faultless kind, such as was that of the few whose friendships are known to fame. For friendship adds a brighter radiance to prosperity and lessens the burden of adversity by dividing and sharing it. (pp. 131-133).
Here, incidentally, Cicero contradicts Spinoza, who, in the latter books of the Ethics discusses human affairs from a dismayingly reductive and utilitarian perspective; for Spinoza, ‘love is nothing else but pleasure accompanied by the idea of an external cause’ (Book 3, Proposition 13). Along such lines, granted, we could limn the transactional view of friendship common among businessmen of all ages, including our own, but scarcely what Cicero means by the term. No wonder, then, that the pantheist Spinoza seems to recommend a retreat from intercourse with other men in order to seek solace in a refined, disinterested and dispassionate ‘amor Dei intellectualis’. Could, one might well want to ask here, Spinoza really ever have enjoyed any significant affective relationship with another human being, such as what anyone other than him would call a friendship? It seems rather doubtful. Why then were all the Germans—Lessing, Herder, Novalis etc.—so enamored with Spinoza? Leave this as an aside, and back to Cicero:
For to the extent that a man relies upon himself and is so fortified by virtue and wisdom that he is dependent on no one and considers all his possessions to be within himself, in that degree is he most conspicuous for seeking out and cherishing friendships. (pp. 141-143)
Thus the greatest advantages will be realized from friendship, and its origin, being derived from nature rather than from weakness, will be more dignified and more consonant with truth. For on the assumption that advantage is the cement of friendships, if advantage were removed friendships would fall apart; but since nature is unchangeable, therefore real friendships are eternal. (p. 145)
Therefore let this law be established in friendship: neither ask dishonorable things, nor do them, if asked. (p. 151)
Therefore let this be ordained as the first law of friendship: Ask of friends only what is honorable; do for friends only what is honorable and without even waiting to be asked; let zeal be ever present, but hesitation absent; dare to give true advice with all frankness; in friendship let the influence of friends who are wise counselors be paramount, and let that influence be employed in advising, not only with frankness, but, if the occasion demands, even with sternness, and let the advice be followed when given. (pp. 155-157)
Nothing of the sort could be found in Aristotle’s theoretical analysis of friendship. Clearly, what lends urgency to Cicero’s account is a deeply felt commitment to virtue and to public service unknown to Aristotle but first nature to a Roman citizen. Let us exemplify the point with a further string of quotations from Cicero:
But, since, as I said before, virtue knits friendship together, if there should be some exhibition of shining virtue to which a kindred spirit may attach and adjust itself, then, when that happens, love must needs spring forth….And what if I also add, as I may fairly do, that nothing so allures and attracts anything to itself as likeness does to friendship? Then it will surely be granted as a fact that good men love and join to themselves other good men, in a union which is almost that of relationship and nature. (p. 161)
And again, it seems to me at any rate, that those who falsely assume expediency to be the basis of friendship, take from friendship’s chain its loveliest link. For it is not so much the material gain procured through a friend, as it is his love, and his love alone, that gives us delight; and that advantage which we derive from him becomes a pleasure only when his service is inspired by an ardent zeal. And it is far from being true that friendship is cultivated because of need; rather, it is cultivated by those who are most abundantly blessed with wealth and power and especially with virtue, which is man’s best defense; by those least in need of another’s help; and by those most generous and given to acts of kindness. (p. 163)
Friendship was given to us by nature as the handmaid of virtue, not as a comrade of vice; because virtue cannot attain her highest aims unattended, but only in union and fellowship with another. Such a partnership as this, whether it is, or was, or is yet to be, should be considered the best and happiest comradeship along the road to nature’s highest good. In such a partnership, I say, abide all things men deem worthy of pursuit—honor and fame and delightful tranquility of mind; so that when these blessings are at hand life is happy, and without them, it cannot be happy. (p. 191)
Virtue, my dear Gaius Fannius, and you, my dear Quintus Mucius, Virtue, I say, both creates the bond of friendship and preserves it. For in Virtue is complete harmony, in her is permanence, in her is fidelity; and when she has raised her head and shown her own light and has seen and recognized the same light in another, she moves towards it and in turn receives its beams; as a result love or friendship leaps into flame; for both words are derived from a word meaning “to love” [amor]. But love is nothing other than the great esteem and affection felt for him who inspires that sentiment, and it is not sought because of material need or for the sake of material gain….But inasmuch as things human are frail and fleeting, we must be ever on the search for some persons whom we shall love and who will love us in return; for if goodwill and affection are taken away, every joy is taken from life. (pp. 207-209)
Hence, we have amply illustrated Cicero’s high estimate of friendship. For him the following anecdote—what for Aristotle must appear nonsensical in light of his views on contemplation in the seeming absence of human interrelationships as man’s telos—will be very appropriate:
True, therefore, is that celebrated saying of Archytas of Tarentum, I think it was—a saying which I have heard repeated by our old men who in their turn heard it from their elders. It is to this effect: “If a man should ascend alone into heaven and behold clearly the structure of the universe and the beauty of the stars, there would be no pleasure for him in the awe-inspiring sight, which would have filled him with delight if he had had someone to whom he could describe what he had seen”. Thus nature, loving nothing solitary, always strives for some sort of support, and man’s best support is a very dear friend. (p. 195)
Thus, Cicero. Let us try to bring him forward to the context of our day, when, sad to say, one must doubt whether the Ciceronian ideal continues to enjoy very much cultural currency anymore, in an environment dictated by all-enveloping materialism and consumerism. Anyone who has attended an Ivy League university will be familiar with the type, the careerist so keen on getting ahead that, practically speaking, between professional duties and family responsibilities to his wife and children, he has no time left in which to cultivate friendship. Perhaps, one will be welcome to visit once or twice a year for old times’ sake to reminisce on the past. Isn’t there more to life than this? Yes, what this reviewer sees as the ideal in friendship is not just wasting time together once in a while but concerted action towards something greater than oneself, what is comprehended under that untranslatable German verb, handeln. Such memorable friendships are few and far between; one recalls, say, Goethe and Schiller’s Weimar classicism, or the symphilosophieren among the close circle at Jena who made up the movement of early German Romanticism. What is at stake in this? For Fichte, what grounds self-consciousness and awakens one to freedom is a summons [Aufforderung] that issues from other rational subjects. Without this necessary condition, one would never attain to existence as a human being.
A final apposite reflection. In all the passages quoted above, is not Cicero unwittingly penning the very description of Jesus, the one before all others most capable of and desirous of friendship? For, in the following magnificent gospel verses from his farewell discourse to his disciples at the Last Supper, Jesus declares something altogether unheard of elsewhere in all mankind’s annals and scriptures throughout recorded history, that God himself wishes to befriend us and entrusts to us the summons to bring about the reign of the kingdom of heaven on earth:
This is my commandment: love one another, as I have loved you. No one can have greater love than to lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends, if you do what I command you. I shall no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business; I call you friends, because I have made known to you everything I have learnt from my Father. You did not choose me, no, I chose you; and I commissioned you to go out and to bear fruit, fruit that will last; so that the Father will give you anything you ask him in my name. My command to you is to love one another. (John 15:12-17)
November 25, 2022
Around 1918 an aged man on his sickbed asks his nephew to read Cicero’s On Old Age to him, translating from the Latin. The man encourages his nephew to publish his translation, and the nephew replies that he hasn’t read this text since he was a student at the University of Virginia 20 years before. But he does it in odd moments and publishes it. Sometimes it seems that compared to our great grandparents we’re little more than illiterate Philistines.
I was attended UVA, but by then there was another view of what knowledge is relevant. It’s another world where 19-yr-old college students translate long Latin texts, specifically a text on — of all things — old age, growing old and preparing to die.
I’m not suggesting we reinstate the past, but I’m impressed that students in 1900 were being taught to hold on to the past (know the classics of civilization) while facing the future with a steady eye (we all will one day face death). Not sure how much students today have either a hold on the past or are equipped to face their future.
Cicero’s essay on old age is the best of these three, with some succinct, powerful arguments for the immortality of the soul as a reason why we needn’t fear death. One of the best lines comes towards the end: “I quit life, as if it were an inn, not a home. For nature has given us a hostelry in which to sojourn not to abide.”
Cicero’s essay on friendship has many good thoughts, but felt abstract and idealized, remote from real relationships. Still, he gives sound principles for what makes a deep friendship, not the least of which is its foundation on virtue. His description comes very close to the Christian and Jewish view of marriage, in which the two friends become one “soul.”
I was attended UVA, but by then there was another view of what knowledge is relevant. It’s another world where 19-yr-old college students translate long Latin texts, specifically a text on — of all things — old age, growing old and preparing to die.
I’m not suggesting we reinstate the past, but I’m impressed that students in 1900 were being taught to hold on to the past (know the classics of civilization) while facing the future with a steady eye (we all will one day face death). Not sure how much students today have either a hold on the past or are equipped to face their future.
Cicero’s essay on old age is the best of these three, with some succinct, powerful arguments for the immortality of the soul as a reason why we needn’t fear death. One of the best lines comes towards the end: “I quit life, as if it were an inn, not a home. For nature has given us a hostelry in which to sojourn not to abide.”
Cicero’s essay on friendship has many good thoughts, but felt abstract and idealized, remote from real relationships. Still, he gives sound principles for what makes a deep friendship, not the least of which is its foundation on virtue. His description comes very close to the Christian and Jewish view of marriage, in which the two friends become one “soul.”
November 14, 2013
Cicero's treatise on friendship wasn't that novel -- especially because I read Montaigne's and Seneca's far superior works on the matter -- but it is relatively solid. His treatise on old age, however -- extremely valuable, and highly recommended. The end of the treatise is loaded with quality quotes and passages; every person should read this.
July 31, 2009
Given how little we have how do I rate the ancient sources other than "must read?"
August 28, 2022
Loved on old age and on friendship, still think it's relevant today. On divination took me a while to get through but it was overall interesting
March 3, 2025
I think these texts are incredibly important for any polytheist to check out, and honestly there's so much just great life advice in here as well.
July 13, 2024
Three short, minor works by Cicero, with On Friendship the most memorable of the bunch.
On Divination is the longest of the three and the least relevant to contemporary life. It describes many kinds of divination known to Romans (frenzied oracles, interpretations of dreams, interpretations of the entrails of sacrificed animals, the zodiac, etc.). Then Cicero disposes of each of them, sometimes with a nice pithy putdown (for the prophecy that Croesus would destroy a kingdom in war, but it turned out to be his own kingdom, Cicero notes that it's a useless and obvious prophecy since one of the interpretations must have been true). It's good if you're interested in that sort of thing, or studying it for some reason, but it didn't strike me as essential.
The essay on friendship was my favorite. If you're familiar with Cicero from his Stoic-friendly thoughts (e.g., the enjoyable Tusculan Disputations ), you may not think that Cicero would put a high priority on friendship. But he writes that friendship is one of the most important things in life. To be a good friend, he says, you must be virtuous. It makes his earlier works fall like On Duties fall into a broader life philosophy: one of the rewards of being virtuous is to have good friendships. But there's more to it than that, even in the short fifty or so pages here. It's the highlight.
The first essay in the book is On Old Age, where Cicero imagines a historical figure explaining all the benefits of old age, and how a Stoic would not dwell on anything uncomfortable about being old. This is similar to other Stoic writings (again, the Tusculan Disputations). One big thing stuck out to me: Cicero argues (I'm paraphrasing here) that young people are anxious about death because they don't want to die young. When you are old, you don't have that anxiety anymore. You've already made it! And of course, Cicero says we shouldn't worry about dying once we're old because it's inevitable anyway.
I picked this book up for my college reunion since (1) I was feeling older, (2) I was about to see some old friends, and (3) on campus, I am always inclined to revisit the classics. It was a good read. I think it's a fine follow-up to some of Cicero's other works if you want to revisit him but don't want to read something you've already read before.
On Divination is the longest of the three and the least relevant to contemporary life. It describes many kinds of divination known to Romans (frenzied oracles, interpretations of dreams, interpretations of the entrails of sacrificed animals, the zodiac, etc.). Then Cicero disposes of each of them, sometimes with a nice pithy putdown (for the prophecy that Croesus would destroy a kingdom in war, but it turned out to be his own kingdom, Cicero notes that it's a useless and obvious prophecy since one of the interpretations must have been true). It's good if you're interested in that sort of thing, or studying it for some reason, but it didn't strike me as essential.
The essay on friendship was my favorite. If you're familiar with Cicero from his Stoic-friendly thoughts (e.g., the enjoyable Tusculan Disputations ), you may not think that Cicero would put a high priority on friendship. But he writes that friendship is one of the most important things in life. To be a good friend, he says, you must be virtuous. It makes his earlier works fall like On Duties fall into a broader life philosophy: one of the rewards of being virtuous is to have good friendships. But there's more to it than that, even in the short fifty or so pages here. It's the highlight.
The first essay in the book is On Old Age, where Cicero imagines a historical figure explaining all the benefits of old age, and how a Stoic would not dwell on anything uncomfortable about being old. This is similar to other Stoic writings (again, the Tusculan Disputations). One big thing stuck out to me: Cicero argues (I'm paraphrasing here) that young people are anxious about death because they don't want to die young. When you are old, you don't have that anxiety anymore. You've already made it! And of course, Cicero says we shouldn't worry about dying once we're old because it's inevitable anyway.
I picked this book up for my college reunion since (1) I was feeling older, (2) I was about to see some old friends, and (3) on campus, I am always inclined to revisit the classics. It was a good read. I think it's a fine follow-up to some of Cicero's other works if you want to revisit him but don't want to read something you've already read before.
January 26, 2019
Enjoyed the language and style. Death is not to be mourned as it is followed by immortality. Depart from life as from an inn not from a place of habitation
‘O wretched old man, not to have learned in so long a life that death is to be despised! which manifestly ought to be regarded with indifference if it really puts an end to the soul, or to be even desired if at length it leads the soul where it will be immortal;
‘Rashness, indeed, belongs to youth; prudence, to age.’
‘The old man does not do what the young men do; but he does greater and better things. Great things are accomplished, not by strength, or swiftness, or suppleness of body, but by counsel, influence, deliberate opinion, of which old age is not wont to be bereft,
‘The best-fitting defensive armor of old age, Scipio and Laelius, consists in the knowledge and practice of the virtues, which, assiduously cultivated, after the varied experiences of a long life, are wonderfully fruitful, not only because they never take flight..’
‘O wretched old man, not to have learned in so long a life that death is to be despised! which manifestly ought to be regarded with indifference if it really puts an end to the soul, or to be even desired if at length it leads the soul where it will be immortal;
‘Rashness, indeed, belongs to youth; prudence, to age.’
‘The old man does not do what the young men do; but he does greater and better things. Great things are accomplished, not by strength, or swiftness, or suppleness of body, but by counsel, influence, deliberate opinion, of which old age is not wont to be bereft,
‘The best-fitting defensive armor of old age, Scipio and Laelius, consists in the knowledge and practice of the virtues, which, assiduously cultivated, after the varied experiences of a long life, are wonderfully fruitful, not only because they never take flight..’
December 24, 2019
Απλό λιτό και απέριττο.
Θα το χώριζα το βιβλίο σε δύο μέρη. Στο πρώτο μέρος ειναι μια εισαγωγή εποχής, χαρακτήρων και διαφόρων απόψεων. Στο δεύτερο μέρος μπαινουμε στο δια ταύτα, στην ανάλυση της φιλίας.
Η σοφία που εμπεριέχει σίγουρα θα ανοίξει τα μάτια σε πολλούς, και θα υπενθυμίσει αληθινές αξίες σε λίγους που μπορεί να τις ξέχασαν.
Κάποια μέρη του βιβλίου που βρηκα ιδιαίτερα.
"Ας αποδώσουμε λοιπόν στην φιλία τούτο τον ιερό νόμο: να μην απαιτούμε απο τον φίλο πράξεις ατικωτικες και να μην δεχόμαστε ουτε κι εμεις να κανουμε τίποτα το ατιμωτικο για χαρη του."
"Αρα λοιπόν το ιδιαίτερο πλεονέκτημα της πραγματικής φιλίας ειναι να δίνει κανείς και να δέχεται συμβουλές με ειλικρίνεια. Δίχως κακοτητα και αντιδραστική διάθεση."
"Αφού δεν υπάρχει φιλία διχως αρετή, σας προτρεπω να κανετε στην ψυχη σας τοπο για την αρερη, γιατι δεν υπάρχει τιποτα καλυτερο απο την πραγματική φιλία."
Θα το χώριζα το βιβλίο σε δύο μέρη. Στο πρώτο μέρος ειναι μια εισαγωγή εποχής, χαρακτήρων και διαφόρων απόψεων. Στο δεύτερο μέρος μπαινουμε στο δια ταύτα, στην ανάλυση της φιλίας.
Η σοφία που εμπεριέχει σίγουρα θα ανοίξει τα μάτια σε πολλούς, και θα υπενθυμίσει αληθινές αξίες σε λίγους που μπορεί να τις ξέχασαν.
Κάποια μέρη του βιβλίου που βρηκα ιδιαίτερα.
"Ας αποδώσουμε λοιπόν στην φιλία τούτο τον ιερό νόμο: να μην απαιτούμε απο τον φίλο πράξεις ατικωτικες και να μην δεχόμαστε ουτε κι εμεις να κανουμε τίποτα το ατιμωτικο για χαρη του."
"Αρα λοιπόν το ιδιαίτερο πλεονέκτημα της πραγματικής φιλίας ειναι να δίνει κανείς και να δέχεται συμβουλές με ειλικρίνεια. Δίχως κακοτητα και αντιδραστική διάθεση."
"Αφού δεν υπάρχει φιλία διχως αρετή, σας προτρεπω να κανετε στην ψυχη σας τοπο για την αρερη, γιατι δεν υπάρχει τιποτα καλυτερο απο την πραγματική φιλία."
February 6, 2018
Another of Cicero's handsomely articulated programmes for living the good life, but let us add, life ordered around our natural human limitations, the disciplining of our sensual appetites (not in the puritanical sense; but in the acknowledgement of life's manifold pleasures), and the graceful filling of our days with reflection, gratitude, joy and finally complete submission to the reality of ever present mortality.
February 2, 2019
20. A book about aging* In a culture obsessed with you it is refreshing to find a work of literature that look at the benefit of aging. It seems no one wants to look at the reality of death, in fact, we go to great lengths to avoid it. Cicero reminds us that it is a natural part of life and one that need not be ignored. I really enjoyed this one.
*VT Reading Challenge https://www.challies.com/resources/th...
*VT Reading Challenge https://www.challies.com/resources/th...
November 1, 2019
I enjoyed the essays on friendship and old age. How to choose friends when you are young and how to grow old well are the most important things one can do. On divination is a long disputation of determination of future events based upon random occurrences. This is superstition. His discussions on dreams is interesting.
October 23, 2020
While I would highly and widely recommended Cicero's "On Old Age," I found the other volumes in this book tiresome. While the writing seemed quite good, the content and conclusions did not seem profound or particularly enlightening.
I did enjoy this enough that I would be curious to read some other works Cicero put together.
I did enjoy this enough that I would be curious to read some other works Cicero put together.
June 1, 2022
The wisdom of the ancients still resonates down through the ages. It struck me how firmly he believed in the immortality of the soul; what a gift to know that early in life. That knowledge alone can change the trajectory of your life.
December 3, 2017
A good read. A book that makes you ponder the life that you live in.
January 11, 2020
Cicero, my man <333
February 1, 2020
Excelente libro! - El fundamento de estabilidad y constancia que buscamos en la amistad (y por consiguiente en el amor) es la lealtad. Nada es estable si es desleal.
July 16, 2023
One of the better classic works from this time I've ever had the pleasure of reading.
April 7, 2025
A hint of how a pious murderer reflects on youth and of old age. Provides insights on strengths throughout the human journey and the innate fears that poison minds.
September 18, 2025
Things really just don’t change
March 22, 2026
Written thousands of years ago, 100% relevant still today. Timeless.
March 10, 2015
Both De Senectute (On Old Age) and De Amicitia (On Friendship) are enjoyable reads (I have not read De Divinatione). I try to read these two works once every year or so. They are not terribly long, and the dialogue format makes it casual even while dispensing philosophical views on old age and friendship. Cicero does have the tendency to go on a bit long at times, and even get sidetracked, but what he has to say is well worth that rather minor annoyance. De Senectute is really an expansion of the discussion of old age between Socrates and Cephalus at the beginning of Republic book I, making many of the same points, but going into greater detail. It also includes some material on the nature of the soul, as an immaterial entity, along lines found in his discussion of the same topic in the Tusculan Disputations, written about the same time. De Amicitia is a wonderful read in part because its topic, which is rarely discussed philosophically in our own time, but was a standard topic in classical philosophy. The discussion draws its primary inspiration from Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics books VIII-IX, and has been immensely influential. A number of early church fathers, especially St. Jerome, were devotees of Cicero, and his discussion of friendship is one theme that recurs with frequency throughout not only the patrician era but also the middle ages and Renaissance. His discussion, along with his source material from Aristotle, turns up in later discussions by inter alia Boethius, Aquinas, Aelred of Rievaulx, and Montaigne. It is a lovely book that deservedly elevates one of the most redeeming features of human life. It certainly makes for a pleasant afternoon of quiet reading.
June 24, 2007
Too bad one only gets around to reading this late in life. There is a lot to be learned.
We know more about Cicero than any other Roman writer, and he was one of the most prolific. There is an unfortunate portrayal of him in the HBO series "Rome" that leaves the impression of his being a scheming, pedantic, intellectually effite weasel (I think that covers it), but he was an astonishingly deep thinker and the epitomy of Aristotle's virtue.
"Divination" is less revealing than "Old Age" and "Friendship." Both of the latter explain a lot about one's experience in life and provide a useful guidebook for the younger reader. Both are about choices and consequences, things we moderns like to avoid.
One of the best of the classics I have read, and the Loeb edition is a great translation with parallel Latin text.
We know more about Cicero than any other Roman writer, and he was one of the most prolific. There is an unfortunate portrayal of him in the HBO series "Rome" that leaves the impression of his being a scheming, pedantic, intellectually effite weasel (I think that covers it), but he was an astonishingly deep thinker and the epitomy of Aristotle's virtue.
"Divination" is less revealing than "Old Age" and "Friendship." Both of the latter explain a lot about one's experience in life and provide a useful guidebook for the younger reader. Both are about choices and consequences, things we moderns like to avoid.
One of the best of the classics I have read, and the Loeb edition is a great translation with parallel Latin text.
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