On Life and Death

by Marcus Tullius Cicero, John Davie (Translator), Miriam T. Griffin (Editor)

Marcus Tullius Cicero (106-43 BC), Rome's greatest orator, had a career of intense activity in politics, the law courts and the administration, mostly in Rome. His fortunes, however, followed those of Rome, and he found himself driven into exile in 58 BC, only to return a year later to a city paralyzed by the domination of Pompey, Crassus, and Caesar. Cicero, though a senior statesman, struggled to maintain his independence and it was during these years that, frustrated in public life, he first started to put his excess energy, stylistic brilliance, and superabundant vocabulary into writing these works of philosophy. The three dialogues collected here are the most accessible of Cicero's works, written to his friends Atticus and Brutus, with the intent of popularizing philosophy in Ancient Rome. They deal with the everyday problems of life; ethics in business, the experience of grief, and the difficulties of old age.

Genres: Philosophy, Nonfiction, Roman, Ancient History, Ebooks

288 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 46

About the author

Born 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.

Reviews

[شمس · Rating 5 out of 5]

"It was to philosophy's bosom I was driven from my earliest years by my wishes and interests, and in these dire misfortunes, buffered by a great storm, I have sought refuge in the same harbour from which I first hoisted sail. O philosophy, guide to life, you who search out virtue and drive out vice! . . . to you I entrust myself, as once in large measure, so now deeply and entirely. A single day spent well and in accordance with your lessons is to be preferred to an unending life of error."

"And yet, so far from receiving the praise its services to human life have deserved that it is ignored by most men and even traduced by many . . . But, in my opinion, this misconception, this darkness has blinded the minds of the uneducated, because they are incapable of looking back sufficiently far into the past, and do not consider that the men who were the first to furnish the life of man with its needs were philosophers."

". . . the story goes that Pythagoras came to Philus and in the company of Leon, that town's leading citizen, discussed certain topics learnedly and at length. Leon was struck by his intellect and eloquence, and asked him what art he relied on especially. The reply that Pythagoras gave was that he knew no 'art' but was a philosopher. Surprised at the novelty of the term, Leon asked who philosophers were and what was the difference between them and the rest of men." —Tusculan Disputations, Book V

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This book contains three works from Cicero:
• Tusculan Disputations Books I, II, V* (with the prefaces of Books III & IV)
• Cato the Elder; On Old Age
• Laelius; On Friendship

Given the name of the book, On Life and Death, this is an appropriate selection of works, and I would highly recommend it (along with Cicero's Letters) as a starting point for exploring Cicero's moral philosophy; these three dialogues, along with De Oficiis (On Duties/Obligations), being his major ethical works.

The translation is excellent.

By the by, the Tusculan Disputations are the locus classicus of the legend of The Sword of Damocles , which can be found at Book V. 61

* Being the completionist I am, I decided to read books III & IV of the Tusculan Disputations elsewhere. Book III deals entirely with grief, whilst Book IV deals with other perturbations of the mind. I can see why book III is commonly left out of most copies, but book IV does contain some interesting discussion, and I would say the latter is worth reading.
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"I am speaking of a learned and educated man, for whom to live is to think . . . This is the man who has secured the best way of living . . . and can be compared with nothing else except with God himself, if that is not a blasphemous statement." —Tusculan Disputations, Book V

[Matthew Bloomquist · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cicero on Friendship was a great read. Cicero is to eloquence as Caesar is to power. Virtue creates and protects friendship.

[Brent · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was pretty difficult to get through. Cicero was a master orator, albeit reading him in English did not make this apparent. Reading him in Latin would have
been more enjoyable, probably. The Tusculum Disputations were conversations he had with his friends, rather, him recounting the conversations and then writing about the aforementioned.

The best dialogue was the last one “On Friendship.” I have some thoughts on it as I will admit his advice was quite applicable even today.

Taking a break from Greek Philosophy for a while after two years of reading from Socrates onwards.
-b

[Samuel Sadler · Rating 4 out of 5]

This collection was difficult to read, but rewarding. Cicero demonstrates the Roman ability to assimilate the thought of Greece into Roman history, and in some ways anticipates Christianity in his reflections on Life and Death.
My primary critique is the minuscule margins in this edition...no room for annotation!

[Nathan Albright · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is not one of Cicero's strongest, but it the reasons for that are rather complicated. There are no doubt some readers who will really appreciate this work, as it is an obscure work by a noted Roman politician who also fancied himself to be a philosopher, even if he was largely aping the Greek models he knew. And for me, as a reader, it is the obvious Greek aspect of the author's philosophizing that comes off somewhat less than triumphantly, not least because it is far from original, but also because I happen to disagree quite strongly with the author about some of his assumptions, not least the assumption that mankind has an immortal soul, a complex subject of conversation which is far beyond the scope of a book review, but which has a major influence on the way that I see a book in which this particular idea is front and center and assumed as a given in the author's thinking. It is often the case that where a reader and writer do not meet in agreement, that the reader is likely to be less than kind to a writer, and while I do not wish to be unkind to the author, I certainly cannot walk with him in agreement, and that diminished my own enjoyment of the book.

This book is mercifully a rather short one at less than 200 short pages. It begins with an introduction, a note on the text, a select bibliography, as well as a chronology of Cicero, all of which make for excellent starting material that is very well worth having in any book by the author. Following this, the main part of the book, about 3/4 or so of the total contexts, is made up of the five books of the Tusculan Disputations, which is set up as a discussion about the matter of how one should live and die, where the author sets himself up as an expert whose thoughts are supposed to matter and supposed to carry a great deal of weight, making critical comments about the Greek schools of philosophy like the stoics and epicureans. This particular book does not include the complete version of this, having books 1 and 2 as well as 5, but only the preface to books 3 and 4, for some reason. After that the book contains two generally good essays from the author on Old Age (which the author was sadly not to enjoy because his own life was cut short), as well as on the subject of friendship. The appendix includes two letters to friends that demonstrates his own warmth as a friend and then some explanatory notes.

There are, to be sure, other reasons why I do not feel that this book is the author's strongest. One of those is the generally high standard of Cicero's rhetoric when it is devoted to practical ends, such as his letters to his brother as well as his efforts to make speeches in court as well as in the Senate, where he remains one of the most notable and influential leaders of Rome during the dark last days of the Roman Republic, where he was a martyr to the Republican cause. This also hints at one of the other aspects of the book which is less than entirely satisfying, in that the book does not make the reader any wiser about the writer's on dealings with death. The writer approaches the subject matter of life and death in a very lofty and abstract manner, and does not really get to brass tacks about how it is one goes about dealing with the reality of one's demise, which for the author was in an unexpected and deeply unpleasant way. At any rate, if you want to see Cicero as a philosopher in the tradition of the Greek philosophers who came before him, this book is certainly about a worthwhile subject even if the author is not particularly original or accurate in his musings.

[Elliot Gates · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting foray into the psyche of Rome's favorite orator.

The prose of Cicero's writing style can be somewhat tiring, particularly in chapters were he references his friends (and believe me, there's a lot of them).

Despite this, there are some good takeaways for any reader wishing to mentally prepare for old age or the loss of a friend.

"On Old Age" written by Cicero from the perspective of Cato was my favorite and seemingly Cicero's too, remarking "as I read my own work, I am sometimes so struck that I imagine that it is Cato, not I, who speaks".

[George Rolls · Rating 4 out of 5]

This collection of works by Rome's greatest orator includes 3/5ths of his Tusculum Disputations, the sections on death, pain and happiness (inexplicably not parts 3 and 4, which as the sections about distress and mental illness were probably quite interesting), an essay on old age, and an essay on friendship.

Cicero's stated intention was to popularise Greek philosophy to his Roman contemporaries, and we could have him to thank for some of the later Roman philosophers. He dabbles in different schools of thought, giving some (the Stoics, the Peripatetics) a fairer go than others (the Epicureans) and there are some genuine nuggets of good advice.

The context of when the works were written is pretty interesting too. Cicero wrote these works between 45-44 B.C., in the aftermath of the death of his beloved daughter Tullia, and his beloved Republic - during Caesar's reign as dictator of Rome.

On the other hand, there are a lot of references to sift through which do often break the flow of reading. Through no fault of his own, Cicero makes references to things which, I'm sure, were commonly known events in his time, which now require the translator to spell out exactly what he means. Some of Cicero's opinions and metaphysical logic also comes across as pretty silly in our modern mindset, but this too, is no fault of his own.

[Christos]

I will not rate this because I did not read the whole thing attentively and as a reminder to myself. I find philosophy boring. Especially the classical stuff. It is good for me to go out there and try to learn something from it, appreciate the method and perhaps think about a few ideas but I cannot commit to this. It is just grueling and stale and slow. So note to self. Once in a while try to read something like this. It will push you and frustrate you but that is how you become a better reader. However, that does not mean that you should force yourself to read something you do not enjoy for hours on end just to prove that you can read. It is not worth your time. Of course this review says nothing about the book or the man at all because who am I to review this timeless contribution. I mean come on.

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Works read: On Old Age and On Friendship. These were a delight! Cicero was highly enjoyable to read. Practical, amusing, and persuasive. I agreed with all of his lovely sentiments on aging gracefully and the importance of friendship.

I found it remarkable that almost no cultural adaptation is needed to apply his principles in the current date--despite being written 2,000 years ago, his principles are completely relevant today.

[Antonis · Rating 3 out of 5]

Δεν μπορώ να κρίνω τη μετάφραση. Τα σχόλια όμως είναι επαρκή για ένα μέσο αναγνώστη (μη ειδικό).
Ο Κικέρων μου θυμίζει περισσότερο ρήτορα, παρά φιλόσοφο. Αγορεύει μάλλον, παρά επιχειρηματολογεί. Κάποιες φορές τα κάνει ταυτόχρονα με μια δόση ορατής αυταρέσκειας. Προτιμώ τον Σενέκα.

[Daniel · Rating 2 out of 5]

Why need I speak of the usefulness of manuring? - Cicero, On Old Age

Everything he wrote was manure.