serted them in his own treatise De Exilio; but
this calumny has been refuted by Tiraboschi in
This dialogue was written after the preceding, his history of Italian literature.
this calumny has been refuted by Tiraboschi in
This dialogue was written after the preceding, his history of Italian literature.
William Smith - 1844 - Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities - a
(Ad Att.
xii.
51,
to the ancient institutions of Rome. Attention is 52, xiii. 1, 27, 28, 31. )
first called to the laws which relate to religion and
C. PHILOSOPHY OF MORALS.
sacred observances, which are considered under the
different heads of divine worship in general, inclu-
). De Officiis Libri III.
ding the solemnities to be observed in the perform- A treatise on moral obligations, viewed not so
ance of ordinances, and the classification of the much with reference to a metaphysical investiga-
Gods according to the degrees of homage to which tion of the basis on which they rest, as to the
they are severally entitled ; the celebration of fes practical business of the world and the intercourse
tivals ; the duties of the various orders of priests ; of social and political life. It was composed and
the exhibition of public games; the maintenance published late in the year B. c. 44, certainly after
of ancient rites; the punishment of perjury and the end of August (iii. sub fin. ), and is addressed
impurity; the consecration of holy places and to young Marcus, at that time residing at Athens
things; and the respect to be paid to the spirits of under the care of Cratippus the Peripatetic. This
the departed.
being a work professedly intended for the purposes
The third book treated of Magistrates, com- of instruction, Cicero does not dwell upon the
mencing with a short exposition of the nature and conflicting doctrines of rival sects, but endeavours
importance of their functions as interpreters and rather to inculcate directly those views which he
enforcers of the laws. This is followed by a disser- regarded as the most correct; and, rejecting the
tation on the expediency of having one magistrate form of dialogue, enunciates the different pre-
in a state to whom all the rest shall be subordinate, cepts with the authority of a teacher addressing
which leads to certain reflections on the authority his pupil. The discipline of the Stoics is princi-
of the consuls, as controlled by the tribunes. Here, pally followed. In the first two books, the repl
however, there is a great blank, the part which is raonkortós of Panaetius served as a guide, and
lost having contained, it would appear, an inquiry not a little was borrowed from Diogenes of Babylon,
into the functions of all the chief officers of the Antipater of Tarsus, Hecato, Posidonius, Antipater
Roman republic. What remains consists of three of Tyre, and others enumerated in the commentary
discussions, one on the power exercised by tribunes of Beier and the tract of Lynden on Panaetius.
of the plebeians, a second on the propriety of sup- Notwithstanding the express declaration of Cicero
plying the vacancies in the senate from the number to the contrary, we cannot, from internal evidence,
of those who had held certain appointments, and, avoid the conclusion, that the Greek authorities
thirdly, on the advantages and drawbacks of voting have in not a few passages been translated ver-
by ballot.
batim, and translated not very happily, for the
The scene of these dialogues is laid in the villa unyielding character of the Latin language ren-
of Cicero, in the neighbourhood of his native Ar- dered it impossible to express accurately those nice
pinum, near the point where the Fibrenus joins the gradations of thought and delicate distinctions
Liris. The Editio Princeps forms part of the edi- which can be conveyed with so much clearness
tion of the philosophical works printed at Rome in and precision by the copious vocabulary and grace-
2 vols. fol. by Sweynheym and Pannartz, 1471; see ful flexibility of the sister tongue. (See the essay
above, p. 719, b. The editions of Davis, Camb. of Garve named at the end of the article. ) The
1727-8, containing the notes of the old commentators, third book, which is occupied with questions in
and an improved text, were long held in high esti casuistry, although it lays claim to greater origi-
mation, and frequently reprinted, but is now super- nality than those which precede it, was certainly
seded by those of Goerenz, Leip. 1809, 8vo. , forming formed upon the model of the mepl kaOnkouTÓS
the first volume of the collected philosophical works; of the Stoic Hecato. But while the skeleton of
of Moser and Creuzer, Frankf. 1824, 8vo. , contain the whole work unquestionably of foreign origin,
ing everything that the scholar can desire ; and of the examples and illustrations are taken almost
Bake, Leyden, 1842, 8vo. , which is the most recent. exclusively from Roman history and Roman litera-
3. De Jure Civili in Artem redigendo.
ture, and are for the most part selected with great
judgment and clothed in the most felicitous diction.
A. Gellius quotes a sentence from a work of Cicero In the first book, after a few preliminary re-
which he says bore the above title. The subject of marks, we find a threefold division of the subject.
civil law was also discussed in one of the last books When called upon to perform any action we must
De Legibus, but the words of Gellius can apply inquire, 1. Whether it is honestum, that is, good
only to an independent treatise. See Orelli's Cicero in itself, absolutely and abstractedly good ; 2.
vol. iv. st. ii. p. 478. (Gell. i. 22 ; Quintil. xii. 3. Whether it is utile, that is, good when considered
$ 10; Macrob. V. . 4; Cic. de Leg. iii. 20. ) with reference to external objects ; 3. What course
## p. 732 (#752) ############################################
732
CICERO.
CICERO.
we must pursue when the honestum and the utile | Libri II. , Hamb. 1610; R. G. Rath, Ciccro de
are at variance. Moreover, the honestum and the Officiis in brevi conspwctu, Hall. 1803 ; Thorbecke,
utile each admit of degrees which also fall to be Princip. phil. mor. e Ciceronis Op. , Leyden, 1817;
examined in order that we may make choice of the and the remarks which accompany the translation
highest. The general plan being thus sketched, it of Garve, of which a sixth edition was published
is followed out by a discussion of the four consti- at Breslau in 1819.
tuent elements into which the honestum may be
resolved : a. Sapientia, the power of discerning
2. Dc Virtutibus.
truth; 6. Justitia ct Beneficentia, which consist in This work, if it ever existed, which is far from
studying the welfare of those around us, in render- being certain, must have been intended as a sort
ing to every one his own, and in preserving con- of supplement to the De Officiis, just as Aristotle
tracts in violate; c. Fortitudo, greatness and strength added a tract, nepi dpetwv, to his Ethics. (Hieron.
of mind ; d. Temperantia, the faculty of doing and in Zachar. Prophet. Commcnt. i. 2; Charisius, ii.
saying everything in a becoming manner, in the
p. 186. )
proper place, and to the proper extent. Each of
ihese is explained at length, and the book closes
3. Cato Major s. De Scnectute.
with a debate on the degrees of the honestum, that This little tract, drawn up at the end of B. C.
is, the method of deciding, when each of two 45 or the commencement of B. C. 44, for the pur-
lines of conduct is honestum, which is to be pre-pose of pointing out how the burden of old age
ferred as superior (honcstius) to the other. may be inost easily supported, is addressed to
The second book is devoted to the utilc, and Atticus, who was now in his sixty-eighth year,
considers how we may best conciliate the favour of while Cicero himself was in his sixty-second or
our fellow-men, apply it to our own advancement, sixty-third. It is first mentioned in a letter
and thus arrive at wealth and public distinction, written from Puteoli on the 11th of May, B. C. there
enlarging peculiarly on the most pure and judicious (ad Att. xiv. 21, comp. xvii. 1l), and is there
mode of displaying liberality, whether by pecuniary spoken of as already in the hands of his friend.
gifts or by aid of any other description. This is in the short introductory dialogue, Scipio Aemili-
succeeded by a short notice of two utilitates passed anus and Laelius are supposed to have paid a visit
over by Papaetius--the care of the health and the during the consulship of T. Quinctius Flamininus
care of the purse, after which a few words are and M. ' Acilius Balbus (B. c. 150; see c. 5 and
added on the comparison of things expedient with 10) to Cato the censor, at that time 84 years old. .
each other.
Beholding with admiration the activity of body
In the third book it is demonstrated that there and cheerfulness of mind which he displayed, they
never can be any real collision between the hones request him to point out by what means the
tum and the utile; but that when an action is weight of increasing years may be most easily
viewed through a proper medium the homestum will borne. Cato willingly complies, and coinmences a
invariably be found to be inseparable from the dissertation in which he seeks to demonstrate how
utile and the utile from the honestum, a proposition unreasonable are the complaints usually urged re-
which had been briefly enunciated at the beginning garding the miseries which attend the close of a
of book second, but is here fully developed and protracted life. The four principal objections are
largely illustrated. A number of difficult cases stated and refuted in regular succession. It is
are then stated, which serve as exercises in the held that old age is wretched, 1. Because it in-
application of the rules laid down, among which a capacitates men for active business ; 2. Because it
prominent place is assigned to the story of Regulus. renders the body feeble ; 3. Because it deprives
The Editio Princeps of the De Oficiis is one of them of the enjoyment of almost all pleasures ;
the oldest specimens of classical typography in 4. Because it heralds the near approach of death.
existence, having been printed along with the The first three are met by producing examples of
Paradora by Fust and Schöffer at Mayence in many illustrious personages in whom old age was
1465 and again in 1466, both in small 4to. These not attended by any of these evils, by arguing that
are not of excessive rarity, and occur more fre such privations are not real but imaginary mis-
quently upon vellum than upon paper. Next fortunes, and that if the relish for some pleasures
comes an edition in 4to. , without date or name of is lost, other delights of a more desirable and sub-
place or of printer, but generally recognised as from stantial character are substituted. The fourth ob-
the press of Ulric Zell, at Cologne, about 1467, jection is encountered still more boldly, by an
which were followed by that of Ulric Hann, fol. , eloquent declaration that the chief happiness of old
Rome, 1468-9, also without name or date, that of age in the eyes of the philosopher arises from the
Sweynheym and Pannartz, Rome, fol. , 1469, of conviction, that it indicates the near approach of
Vindelin de Spira, Venice, fol. , 1470, and of death, that is, the near approach of the period
Eggesteyn, Strasburg, 4to. , 1770. Many of these when the soul shall be released from its debasing
have given rise to lengthened controversies among connexion with the body, and enter unfettered
bibliographers, the substance of which will be upon the paths of immortality.
found in Dibdin's “ Introduction to the Classics," This piece has always been deservedly esteemed
Lond. 1827. Among the almost countless editions as one of the most graceful moral essays bequeath-
which have appeared since the end of the 15th ed to us by antiquity. The purity of the language,
century, it is sufficient to specify those of Heusinger, the liveliness of the illustrations, the dignity of the
Brunswick, 8vo. , 1783, which first presented a really sentiments, and the tact with which the character
pure text and has been repeatedly reprinted ; of of the strong-minded but self-satisfied and garru-
Gernhard, Leipzig, 80. , 1811 ; and of Beier, 2 lous old man is maintained, have excited universal
vols. 8vo. , Leipzig, 1820-21, which may be con- applause. But however pleasing the picture here
sidered as the best.
presented to us, every one must perceive that it is
Literature :--A. Buscher, Ethicae Ciceronianar |å fancy sketch, not the faithful copy of a scelk
## p. 733 (#753) ############################################
CICERO.
733
CICERO.
from naturc. In fact the whole treatise is a tissue served in order to render it permanent and mu:u-
of special pleading on a question which is discussed ally advantageous. The most pleasing feature in
in the same tone of extravagance on the opposite this essay is the simple sincerity with which it is
side by Juvenal in his tenth satire. The logic impressed. The author casts aside the affectation
also is bad, for in several instances general propo- of learning, and the reader feels convinced through-
sitions are attacked by a few specious particular out that he is speaking from his heart.
In giving
cases which are mere exceptions to the rule. No full expression to the most amiable feelings, his
one can doubt the truth of the assertions, that old experience, knowledge of human nature, and sound
age does incapacitate us for active business, that it sense, enabled him to avoid all fantastic exaggera-
does render the body feeble, and that it does blunt tion, and, without sacrificing his dignified tone, or
the keenness of our senses ; but while it is a per- pitching his standard too low, he brings down the
fectly fair style of argument to maintain that these subject to the level of ordinary comprehension, and
are imaginary and not real ills, it is utterly absurd sets before us a model which all may iinitate.
to deny their existence, because history affords a The exordium is taken from the Theaetetus, and
few instances of favoured individuals who have in the 8th chapter we detect a correspondence with
been exempted from their influence.
a passage in the Lysis of Plato; the Ethics of
Cicero appears to have been indebted for the Aristotle, and the Memorabilia of Socrates by Xen-
idea, if not for the plan, of this work to Aristo of ophon afforded some suggestions; a strong resem-
Chios, a Stoic philosopher (c. 1); much has been blance can be traced in the fragments of Theo-
translated almost literally from the Republic of phrastus Tepl Pirías, and some hints are supposed
Plato (see cc. 2, 3, 14), and more freely from the to have been taken from Chrysippus περί φιλίας
Oeconomics and Cyropaedeia of Xenophon. The and Tepl Toù Olká červ. (Kühner, p. 118. )
passage with regard to the immortality of the soul The Editio nceps was printed at Cologne by
is derived from the Tiinaeus, the Phaedon, the Joh. Guldenschaff, the second, which includes the
Phaedrus, and the Menon (see Kühner, p. 116), Paradoxa, at the same place by Ulric Zell; neither
and some editors have traced the observations upon bears any date, but both are older than the collec-
the diseases of young men (c. 19) to Hippocrates. tion of the philosophical works printed at Rome
It must be remarked, that although Cato was a in 2 vols. fol. by Sweynheym and Pannartz, 1471,
rigid follower of the Porch, the doctrines here pro- which contains the Laelius. The best modern
pounded have little of the austerity of that sect, editions are those of Gernhard, Leipzig, 8vo. 18:25,
but savour more of the gentle and easy discipline and of Beier, Leipzig, 12mo. 1828.
of the Peripatetics. (Kühner, l. c. )
5. De Gloria Libri II.
The five earliest editions of the Cato Major
were all printed at Cologne, the first three by Cicero completed a work under the above title,
Ulric Zell, the fourth by Winter de Homborch, in two books dedicated to Atticus, on the 4th of
the fifth by Arnold Therhoernen, not one of which July, B. C. 44. A few words only having been
hears a date, but some of them are certainly older preserved, we have no means of determining the
than the edition of the collected philosophical works manner, or tone in which the subject was handled.
printed at Rome, in 2 vols. fol. , by Sweynbeym Petrarch was in possession of a MS. of the De
and Pannartz, which contains the De Senectute. Gloria, which afterwards passed into the hands of
[See above, p. 719, b. ) The best modern editions Bernardo Giustiniani, a Venetian, and then disap-
S
are those of Gernhard, which include the Paradoxa peared. Paulus Manutius and Jovius circulated a
also, Leipzig, 8v0. , 1819, and of Otto, Leipzig, story that it had been destroyed by Petrus Alcyo-
1830.
nius, who had stolen numerous passages and in-
4. Laelius s. De Amicitia.
serted them in his own treatise De Exilio; but
this calumny has been refuted by Tiraboschi in
This dialogue was written after the preceding, his history of Italian literature. (See Orelli's Ci-
to which it may be considered as forming a com- cero, vol. iv. pt. ii. p. 487: Cic. de of: ii. 9, ad Att.
panion. Just as the dissertation upon old age was xv. 27, xvi. 2. )
placed in the mouth of Cato because he had been
6. De Consolatione s. De Luctu minuendo.
distinguished for energy of mind and body pre
served entire to the very close of a long life, so the
This treatise was written B. C. 45, soon after
steadfast attachment which existed between Scipio the death of his beloved daughter, Tullia, when
and Laelius pointed out the latter as a person pe seeking distraction and relief in literary pursuits.
culiarly fitted to enlarge upon the advantages of We learn from Pliny (praef. H. N. ), that the work of
friendship and the mode in which it might best be Crantor the Academician was closely followed. A
cultivated. To no one could Cicero dedicate such few inconsiderable fragments have been preserved
a treatise with more propriety than to Atticus, the chiefly by Lactantius, and will be found in Orelli's
only individual among his contemporaries to whom Cicero, vol. iv. pt. ii. p. 489. The tract published
he gave his whole heart.
at Venice in 1583 under the title Consolatio Cice-
The imaginary conversation is supposed to have ronis is a notorious forgery, executed, as is gene
taken place between Laelius and his two sons-in- rally believed, by Sigonius or Vianellus. (Cic. al
law, C. Fannius and Q. Mucius Scaevola, a few Att. xii
. 20, 23, Tuscul. iii. 28, 31 ; Augustin, de
days after the death of Africanus (B. c. 129), and Civ. Dei, xix. 4; Hieron. Epitaph. Nepot. )
to have been repeated, in after times, by Scaevola
D. SPECULATIVE PHILOSOPHY.
to Cicero. Laelius begins by a panegyric on his
friend. Then, at the request of the young men,
1. Academicorum Libri II.
he explains his own sentiments with regard to the The history of this work before it finally quitted
origin, nature, limits, and value of friendship; the hands of its author is exceedingly curious and
traces its connexion with the higher moral virtues, somewhat obscure, but must be clearly understood
and lays down the rules which ought to be ob- I before we can explain the relative position of those
## p. 734 (#754) ############################################
734
CICERO.
CICERO.
portions of it which have been transmitted to mo narrative of the rise and progress of the Academic
dern times. By comparing carefully a series of Philosophy, to point out the various modifications
letters written to Atticus in the course of B. c. 45 introduced by successive professors, and to demon-
(ad Att. xiii. 32, 12-14, 16, 18, 19, 21-23, 25, 35, strate the superiority of the principles of the New
44), we find that Cicero had drawn up a treatise | Academy, as taught by Philo, over those of the
upon the Academic Philosophy in the form of a Old Academy, as advocated by Antiochus of Asca-
dialogue between Catulus, Lucullus, and Horten- lon. It is manifestly impossible, under existing
sius, and that it was comprised in two books, the circumstances, to determine with certainty the
first bearing the name of Catulus, the second that amount of difference between the two editions.
of Lucullus. A copy was sent to Atticus, and That there was a considerable difference is cerunin,
soon after it had reached him, two new introduc- for, although Cicero was in the first instance in-
tions were composed, the one in praise of Catulus, duced to depart from his plan merely because he
the other in praise of Lucullus. Scarcely had this considered the topics discussed out of keeping with
been done, when Cicero, from a conviction that the character of the individuals who were repre-
Catulus, Lucullus, and Hortensius, although men sented as discussing them, still the division of the
of highly cultivated minds, and well acquainted two books into four necessarily implies some im-
with general literature, were known to have been portant change in the arrangement if not in the
little conversant with the subtle arguments of ab- substance of the subject matter. We are, moreover,
struse philosophy, determined to withdraw them expressly informed, that many things were omitted,
altogether, and accordingly substituted Cato and and that the four books of the second edition, al-
Brutus in their place. (Ad. Att. xiii. 16. ) Imme- though more concise than the two of the first,
diately after this change had been introduced, he were at the same time better and more brilliant
received a communication from Atticus represent (splendidiora, breviora, meliora). It is probable
ing that Varro was much offended by being passed that the first book of the first edition, after giving
over in the discussion of topics in which he was a sketch of the leading principles of the different
deeply versed. Thereupon, Cicero, catching eagerly branches of the Academy as they grew out of each
at the idea thus suggested, resolved to recast the other in succession, was occupied with a detailed
whole piece, and quickly produced, under the old investigation of the speculations of Carneades, just
title, a new and highly improved edition, divided as those of Philo, which were adopted to a certain
into four books instead of two, dedicating the whole extent by Cicero himself, form the leading theme
to Varro, to whom was assigned the task of de of the second. What remains of the first book of
fending the tenets of Antiochus of Ascalon, while the second edition enables us to discover that it
the author himself undertook to support the views was devoted to the history of Academic opinions
of Philo, Atticus also taking a share in the con- from the time of Socrates and Plato, who were re-
versation. But although these alterations were garded as the fathers of the sect, down to Antiochus,
effected with great rapidity, the copy originally from whom Cicero himself had in his youth received
sent to Atticus had in the meantime been repeat- instruction while residing at Athens. The second
edly transcribed : hence both editions passed into book may have been set apart for an inquiry into
circulation, and a part of each has been preserved. the theories of Arcesilas, who, although the real
One section, containing 12 chapters, is a short founder of the New Academy, appears to have
fragment of the first book of the second or Varro been alluded to in the former edition only in an
nian edition ; the other, containing 49 chapters, is incidental and cursory manner; while the third
the entire second book of the first edition, to which and fourth books would embrace the full and clear
is prefixed the new introduction noticed above (ad development and illustration of his pregnant though
Att
. xiii. 32), together with the proper title of obscure doctrines, as explained in the eloquent dis-
Lucullus. Thus it appears that the first book of quisitions of Carneades and Philo. Such is the
the first edition has been altogether lost, and the opinion of Goerenz, and although it does not ad-
whole of the second edition, with the exception of mit of strict proof, yet it is highly plausible in it-
the fragment of the first book already mentioned self, and is fully corroborated by the hints and
and a few scraps quoted by Lactantius, Augustin, indications which appear in those portions of the
and the grammarians. Upon examining the dates dialogue now extant.
of the letters referred to, it will be seen that the The scene of the Catulus was the villa of that
first edition bad been despatched to Atticus about statesman at Cumae, while the Lucullus is supposed
the middle of June, for the new introductions were to have been held at the mansion of Hortensius
written by the 27th (ad Att. xiii. 32); that the near Bauli. The dialogues of the second edition
second edition, which is spoken of with great com- commence at the Cumanum of Varro; but, as we
placency—“Libri quidem ita exierunt (nisi forte learn from a fragment of the third book quoted by
me communis pilavtía decipit), ut in tali genere Nonius Marcellus, the parties repaired during the
ne apud Graecos quidem simile quidquam” course of the conference to the shores of the Lu-
fully completed towards the close of July (ad Att. crine lake.
xiii. 15), a few days before the last touches had The Editio Princeps is included in the collection
been given to the De Finibus (xiii. 19); and that of Cicero's philosophical works printed in 2 vols.
it was actually in the possession of Varro before fol. by Sweynheym and Pannarız, Rome, 1471,
the ides of August. (xiii. 35, 44. ) Goerenz has see above, p. 719, b. The edition of Davis, Camb.
taken greai pains to prove that these books were 8vo. 1725, was frequently reprinted, and for a long
published under the title of Academica, and that period remained the standard, but is now super-
the appellation Academicae Quaestiones, or Acade- seded by those of Goerenz, Leipzig, 8vo. 1810,
micae Disputationes, by which they are frequently forming the first volume of his edition of the philom
distinguished, are without authority and altogether sophical works of Cicero; and of Orelli, Zurich,
inappropriate.
8vo. 1827
The object proposed was, to give an accurate
--was
## p. 735 (#755) ############################################
CICERO.
735
CICERO.
tetics ; that the differences were merely verbal, and
2. De Finibus Bonorum et Malorum Libri V.
that Zeno had no excuse for breaking off from
A series of dialogues dedicated to M. Brutus, in Plato and Aristotle, and establishing a new school,
which the opinions of the Grecian schools, especi- which presented the same truths in a worse form.
ally of the Epicurcans, the Stoics, and the Peripa- These assertions are vigorously combated by Cato,
tetics, on the Supreme Good, that is, the finis, who argues, that the principles of his sect were
object, or end, towards which all our thoughts, essentially distinct, and descants with great energy
desires, and actions are or ought to be directed, - on the superior purity and majesty of their ideas
the kernel, as it were, of practical wisdom,—are concerning the Supreme Good; in reply to which
expounded, compared, and discussed. The style Cicero, in the fourth book, employs the weapons
is throughout perspicuous and highly polished, the with which the New Academy attacked the Stoics.
doctrines of the different sects are stated with ac- The second discourse is supposed to have been
curate impartiality according to the representations held in B. C. 52, for we find a reference (iv. 1) to
contained in accredited authorities ; but, from the the famous provision for limiting the length of
abstruse nature of many of the points investigated, speeches at the bar contained in a law passed by
and the subtilty of the arguments by which the Pompey against bribery in his second consulship,
different positions are defended, this treatise must an enactment here spoken of as having recently
be regarded as the most difficult, while it is the come into force. This was the year also in which
most perfect and finished, of all the philosophical L. Lucullus the elder died and left his son under
performances of Cicero.
the guardianship of Cato.
These conversations are not supposed to have In the fifth book we are carried back to B. c. 79
been all held at the same period, nor in the same and transported from Italy to Athens, where Ci-
place, nor between the same parties. They agree cero was at that time prosecuting his studies. (Sec
in this, that, after the fashion of Aristotle (ud Att. above, p. 709,b. ) The dramatis personae are Cicero
xiii. 19), the author throughout assumes the most himself, his brother Quintus, his cousin Lucius,
prominent place, and that the rest of the actors, Pomponius Atticus, and M. Pupius Piso. These
at least those to whom important parts are as- friends having met in the Academia, the genius of
signed, were dead at the time of publication--a the place calls up the recollection of the mighty
precaution taken to avoid giving umbrage to living spirits who had once trod that holy ground, and
men by exciting jealousy in reference to the cha- Piso, at the request of his companion, enters into a
racters which they are respectively represented as full exposition of the precepts inculcated by Aris-
supporting (anaotúintov, id före putaram, ad totle and his successors on the Summum Bonum,
Att. l. c. ), but the time, the scene, and the per- the whole being wound up by a statement on the
formers are twice changed. In the third and fourth part of Cicero of the objections of the Stoics, and a
books they are different from those in the first and reply from Piso. The reason which induced Cicero
second, and in the fifth from those in any of the to carry this last dialogue back to his youthful
preceding
days was the difficulty he experienced in finding a
The first book opens with an apology for the fitting advocate for the Peripatetic doctrines, which
study of philosophy; after which Cicero relates, bad made but little progress among his country-
for the information of Brutus, a debate which took men. M. Brutus and Terentius Varro were both
place at his Cumanum, in the presence of C. Vale- alive, and therefore excluded by his plan ; L. Lu-
rius Triarius, between Cicero himself and L. Man-cullus, although dead, was not of sufficient weight
lius Torquatus, who is represented as being praetor to be introduced with propriety on such an occa-
elect and just about to enter upon his officema sion; Piso alone remained, but in consequence of
circumstance which fixes this imaginary colloquy the quarrel between Cicero and himself arising out
to the close of the year B. c. 50, a date agreeing of his support of Clodius, it was necessary to choose
perfectly with the allusion (ii. 18) to the excessive an epoch when their friendship was as yet unsha-
power then wielded by Pompey. Cicero, being ken. (See Goerenz, introd. xix. ) It will be ob-
challenged by Torquatus to state his objections to served that throughout, the author abstains entirely
the discipline of Epicurus, briefly impugns in ge- from pronouncing any judgment of his own. The
neral terms his system of physics, his imperfect opinions of the Epicureans are first distinctly ex-
logic, and, above all, the dogma that the Supreme plained, then follows the refutation by the Stoics ;
Good is Pleasure, and the Supreme Evil, Pain. the opinions of the Stoics are next explained, then
This elicits from Torquatus a lengthened explana- follows the refutation by the New Academy; in
tion of the sentiments really entertained by Epi- the third place, the opinions of the Peripatetics are
curus and the worthiest of his followers respecting explained, then follows the refutation by the Stoics.
room, sentiments which he contends had been in setting forth the opinions of Epicurus, in addi-
misunderstood and misrepresented, but whose truth tion to the writings of that sage enumerated by
he undertakes to demonstrate in a series of propo- Diogenes Laërtius, much use seems to have been
sitions; in opposition to which Cicero, in the se- made of his epistle to Menoeceus and his tepi
cond book, sets in array the reasonings by which kupiv dośw, and not unfrequently the very words
the Stoics assailed the whole system. In the of the original Greek have been literally translated;
third book we find ourselves in the library of while the lectures of Phaedrus and Zeno ( see above,
young Lucullus in his Tusculan villa, to which p. 709) would supply accurate information as to
Cicero had repaired for the purpose of consulting a the changes and additions introduced by the suc-
work of Aristotle, and there meets Cato, immersed cessive disciples of the Garden after the death of
in study and surrounded by the books of the Stoics. their master. The Stoical refutation of Epicurus,
In this way a controversy arises, in which Cicero in book second, was probably derived from Chry
maintains, that there was no real discordance be- sippus nepl Toù Kaloû kal tñs soovñs and from the
Iween the ethics of the Porch and those previously writings and oral communications of Posidonius
promulgated by the Old Academy and the Peripa- | [see above, p. 709,b. ); the Stoical doctrines in book
## p. 736 (#756) ############################################
736
CICERO.
CICERO.
third were taken from Zeno, from Diogenes, and numerous circle of friends and visitors by whom he
from Chrysippus tepl Tedwv; the refutation of the was surrounded, to propose some subject for demate
Stoics in book fourth probably proceeds from Car- which he then proceeded to examine as he sat or
neades. The Peripatetical doctrines in book fifth walked about. These exercises were continued for
are from Aristotle and Theophrastus, as explained five days, a new topic being started and exhausted
and enlarged by Antiochus of Ascalon; while the at each successive conference. There is an utter
Stoical objections are in all probability due to Dio- want of dramatic effect in this collection of dialo
dotus (see above p. 709, a. ], who, we are told else- gues, for the antagonist is throughout anonymous,
where, was strongly opposed to Antiochus. (Acad. and is not invested with any life or individuality,
ii. 36. )
but is a sort of a man of straw who brings forward
In determining the precise date at which the a succession of propositions which are bowled down
work before us was completed and published, we by Cicero as fast as they are set up. This person-
cannot agree with Goerenz, that the expression age is usually designated in MSS. by the letter A,
“ duo magna ouvrayuata absolvi” (ad Att. xii. and editors have amused themselves by quarrelling
45, Ilth June, B. c. 45) can with certainty be about the import of the symbol which they have
made to comprehend both the De Finibus and the variously interpreted to mean Atticus, Adolescens,
Academica. No distinct notice of the former oc- | Auditor, and so forth. There is little room for
curs until the 27th of June, when, in a letter to doubt as to the period when this work was actually
Atticus, (xiii. 32,) we find “Torquatus Romae est. composed, since it abounds in allusions to historical
Misi ut tibi daretur," where Torquatus denotes events and to former treatises which enable us,
the first book. On the 24th of July (ad Att. when taken in connexion with other circuinstances,
xiii. 12), the treatise is spoken of as finished. to determine the question within very narrow limits.
“ Nunc illam nep? Telv oúvtativ, sane mihi pro Thus, in the eleventh chapter of the fifth book, we
batam, Bruto, ut tibi placuit, despondimus. " Again, have a reference to the De Finibus which was not
on the 30th of the same month, “ Ita confeci quin- published until the month of August, B. C. 45,
que libros repl tenúv, ut Epicurea L. Torquato, while the dissertations before us were familiarly
Stoica M. Catoni, Tepinatitirá M. Pisoni darem. known before the middle of May in the following
'Αζηλοτύπητον id fore putaram, quod omnes illi year (ad Atl. xv. 24), and must consequently bave
decesserant" (ad Att. xiii. 19); and we learn from been given to the world early in B. C. 44, since the
an epistle, despatched only two days afterwards task appears to have been undertaken just at the
(ad Att. xiii. 21, comp. 22), that it had been for time when the Academica were completed (ad Athe
some time in the hands of Atticus, through whom xiii. 32). Schütz (Proleg. ) has satisfactorily proved
Balbus had obtained a copy of the fifth book, while that Tusculanae Disputationes is the true title, and
the widow Caerellia, in her philosophic zeal, had not Tusculanae Quaestiones as a few MSS.
to the ancient institutions of Rome. Attention is 52, xiii. 1, 27, 28, 31. )
first called to the laws which relate to religion and
C. PHILOSOPHY OF MORALS.
sacred observances, which are considered under the
different heads of divine worship in general, inclu-
). De Officiis Libri III.
ding the solemnities to be observed in the perform- A treatise on moral obligations, viewed not so
ance of ordinances, and the classification of the much with reference to a metaphysical investiga-
Gods according to the degrees of homage to which tion of the basis on which they rest, as to the
they are severally entitled ; the celebration of fes practical business of the world and the intercourse
tivals ; the duties of the various orders of priests ; of social and political life. It was composed and
the exhibition of public games; the maintenance published late in the year B. c. 44, certainly after
of ancient rites; the punishment of perjury and the end of August (iii. sub fin. ), and is addressed
impurity; the consecration of holy places and to young Marcus, at that time residing at Athens
things; and the respect to be paid to the spirits of under the care of Cratippus the Peripatetic. This
the departed.
being a work professedly intended for the purposes
The third book treated of Magistrates, com- of instruction, Cicero does not dwell upon the
mencing with a short exposition of the nature and conflicting doctrines of rival sects, but endeavours
importance of their functions as interpreters and rather to inculcate directly those views which he
enforcers of the laws. This is followed by a disser- regarded as the most correct; and, rejecting the
tation on the expediency of having one magistrate form of dialogue, enunciates the different pre-
in a state to whom all the rest shall be subordinate, cepts with the authority of a teacher addressing
which leads to certain reflections on the authority his pupil. The discipline of the Stoics is princi-
of the consuls, as controlled by the tribunes. Here, pally followed. In the first two books, the repl
however, there is a great blank, the part which is raonkortós of Panaetius served as a guide, and
lost having contained, it would appear, an inquiry not a little was borrowed from Diogenes of Babylon,
into the functions of all the chief officers of the Antipater of Tarsus, Hecato, Posidonius, Antipater
Roman republic. What remains consists of three of Tyre, and others enumerated in the commentary
discussions, one on the power exercised by tribunes of Beier and the tract of Lynden on Panaetius.
of the plebeians, a second on the propriety of sup- Notwithstanding the express declaration of Cicero
plying the vacancies in the senate from the number to the contrary, we cannot, from internal evidence,
of those who had held certain appointments, and, avoid the conclusion, that the Greek authorities
thirdly, on the advantages and drawbacks of voting have in not a few passages been translated ver-
by ballot.
batim, and translated not very happily, for the
The scene of these dialogues is laid in the villa unyielding character of the Latin language ren-
of Cicero, in the neighbourhood of his native Ar- dered it impossible to express accurately those nice
pinum, near the point where the Fibrenus joins the gradations of thought and delicate distinctions
Liris. The Editio Princeps forms part of the edi- which can be conveyed with so much clearness
tion of the philosophical works printed at Rome in and precision by the copious vocabulary and grace-
2 vols. fol. by Sweynheym and Pannartz, 1471; see ful flexibility of the sister tongue. (See the essay
above, p. 719, b. The editions of Davis, Camb. of Garve named at the end of the article. ) The
1727-8, containing the notes of the old commentators, third book, which is occupied with questions in
and an improved text, were long held in high esti casuistry, although it lays claim to greater origi-
mation, and frequently reprinted, but is now super- nality than those which precede it, was certainly
seded by those of Goerenz, Leip. 1809, 8vo. , forming formed upon the model of the mepl kaOnkouTÓS
the first volume of the collected philosophical works; of the Stoic Hecato. But while the skeleton of
of Moser and Creuzer, Frankf. 1824, 8vo. , contain the whole work unquestionably of foreign origin,
ing everything that the scholar can desire ; and of the examples and illustrations are taken almost
Bake, Leyden, 1842, 8vo. , which is the most recent. exclusively from Roman history and Roman litera-
3. De Jure Civili in Artem redigendo.
ture, and are for the most part selected with great
judgment and clothed in the most felicitous diction.
A. Gellius quotes a sentence from a work of Cicero In the first book, after a few preliminary re-
which he says bore the above title. The subject of marks, we find a threefold division of the subject.
civil law was also discussed in one of the last books When called upon to perform any action we must
De Legibus, but the words of Gellius can apply inquire, 1. Whether it is honestum, that is, good
only to an independent treatise. See Orelli's Cicero in itself, absolutely and abstractedly good ; 2.
vol. iv. st. ii. p. 478. (Gell. i. 22 ; Quintil. xii. 3. Whether it is utile, that is, good when considered
$ 10; Macrob. V. . 4; Cic. de Leg. iii. 20. ) with reference to external objects ; 3. What course
## p. 732 (#752) ############################################
732
CICERO.
CICERO.
we must pursue when the honestum and the utile | Libri II. , Hamb. 1610; R. G. Rath, Ciccro de
are at variance. Moreover, the honestum and the Officiis in brevi conspwctu, Hall. 1803 ; Thorbecke,
utile each admit of degrees which also fall to be Princip. phil. mor. e Ciceronis Op. , Leyden, 1817;
examined in order that we may make choice of the and the remarks which accompany the translation
highest. The general plan being thus sketched, it of Garve, of which a sixth edition was published
is followed out by a discussion of the four consti- at Breslau in 1819.
tuent elements into which the honestum may be
resolved : a. Sapientia, the power of discerning
2. Dc Virtutibus.
truth; 6. Justitia ct Beneficentia, which consist in This work, if it ever existed, which is far from
studying the welfare of those around us, in render- being certain, must have been intended as a sort
ing to every one his own, and in preserving con- of supplement to the De Officiis, just as Aristotle
tracts in violate; c. Fortitudo, greatness and strength added a tract, nepi dpetwv, to his Ethics. (Hieron.
of mind ; d. Temperantia, the faculty of doing and in Zachar. Prophet. Commcnt. i. 2; Charisius, ii.
saying everything in a becoming manner, in the
p. 186. )
proper place, and to the proper extent. Each of
ihese is explained at length, and the book closes
3. Cato Major s. De Scnectute.
with a debate on the degrees of the honestum, that This little tract, drawn up at the end of B. C.
is, the method of deciding, when each of two 45 or the commencement of B. C. 44, for the pur-
lines of conduct is honestum, which is to be pre-pose of pointing out how the burden of old age
ferred as superior (honcstius) to the other. may be inost easily supported, is addressed to
The second book is devoted to the utilc, and Atticus, who was now in his sixty-eighth year,
considers how we may best conciliate the favour of while Cicero himself was in his sixty-second or
our fellow-men, apply it to our own advancement, sixty-third. It is first mentioned in a letter
and thus arrive at wealth and public distinction, written from Puteoli on the 11th of May, B. C. there
enlarging peculiarly on the most pure and judicious (ad Att. xiv. 21, comp. xvii. 1l), and is there
mode of displaying liberality, whether by pecuniary spoken of as already in the hands of his friend.
gifts or by aid of any other description. This is in the short introductory dialogue, Scipio Aemili-
succeeded by a short notice of two utilitates passed anus and Laelius are supposed to have paid a visit
over by Papaetius--the care of the health and the during the consulship of T. Quinctius Flamininus
care of the purse, after which a few words are and M. ' Acilius Balbus (B. c. 150; see c. 5 and
added on the comparison of things expedient with 10) to Cato the censor, at that time 84 years old. .
each other.
Beholding with admiration the activity of body
In the third book it is demonstrated that there and cheerfulness of mind which he displayed, they
never can be any real collision between the hones request him to point out by what means the
tum and the utile; but that when an action is weight of increasing years may be most easily
viewed through a proper medium the homestum will borne. Cato willingly complies, and coinmences a
invariably be found to be inseparable from the dissertation in which he seeks to demonstrate how
utile and the utile from the honestum, a proposition unreasonable are the complaints usually urged re-
which had been briefly enunciated at the beginning garding the miseries which attend the close of a
of book second, but is here fully developed and protracted life. The four principal objections are
largely illustrated. A number of difficult cases stated and refuted in regular succession. It is
are then stated, which serve as exercises in the held that old age is wretched, 1. Because it in-
application of the rules laid down, among which a capacitates men for active business ; 2. Because it
prominent place is assigned to the story of Regulus. renders the body feeble ; 3. Because it deprives
The Editio Princeps of the De Oficiis is one of them of the enjoyment of almost all pleasures ;
the oldest specimens of classical typography in 4. Because it heralds the near approach of death.
existence, having been printed along with the The first three are met by producing examples of
Paradora by Fust and Schöffer at Mayence in many illustrious personages in whom old age was
1465 and again in 1466, both in small 4to. These not attended by any of these evils, by arguing that
are not of excessive rarity, and occur more fre such privations are not real but imaginary mis-
quently upon vellum than upon paper. Next fortunes, and that if the relish for some pleasures
comes an edition in 4to. , without date or name of is lost, other delights of a more desirable and sub-
place or of printer, but generally recognised as from stantial character are substituted. The fourth ob-
the press of Ulric Zell, at Cologne, about 1467, jection is encountered still more boldly, by an
which were followed by that of Ulric Hann, fol. , eloquent declaration that the chief happiness of old
Rome, 1468-9, also without name or date, that of age in the eyes of the philosopher arises from the
Sweynheym and Pannartz, Rome, fol. , 1469, of conviction, that it indicates the near approach of
Vindelin de Spira, Venice, fol. , 1470, and of death, that is, the near approach of the period
Eggesteyn, Strasburg, 4to. , 1770. Many of these when the soul shall be released from its debasing
have given rise to lengthened controversies among connexion with the body, and enter unfettered
bibliographers, the substance of which will be upon the paths of immortality.
found in Dibdin's “ Introduction to the Classics," This piece has always been deservedly esteemed
Lond. 1827. Among the almost countless editions as one of the most graceful moral essays bequeath-
which have appeared since the end of the 15th ed to us by antiquity. The purity of the language,
century, it is sufficient to specify those of Heusinger, the liveliness of the illustrations, the dignity of the
Brunswick, 8vo. , 1783, which first presented a really sentiments, and the tact with which the character
pure text and has been repeatedly reprinted ; of of the strong-minded but self-satisfied and garru-
Gernhard, Leipzig, 80. , 1811 ; and of Beier, 2 lous old man is maintained, have excited universal
vols. 8vo. , Leipzig, 1820-21, which may be con- applause. But however pleasing the picture here
sidered as the best.
presented to us, every one must perceive that it is
Literature :--A. Buscher, Ethicae Ciceronianar |å fancy sketch, not the faithful copy of a scelk
## p. 733 (#753) ############################################
CICERO.
733
CICERO.
from naturc. In fact the whole treatise is a tissue served in order to render it permanent and mu:u-
of special pleading on a question which is discussed ally advantageous. The most pleasing feature in
in the same tone of extravagance on the opposite this essay is the simple sincerity with which it is
side by Juvenal in his tenth satire. The logic impressed. The author casts aside the affectation
also is bad, for in several instances general propo- of learning, and the reader feels convinced through-
sitions are attacked by a few specious particular out that he is speaking from his heart.
In giving
cases which are mere exceptions to the rule. No full expression to the most amiable feelings, his
one can doubt the truth of the assertions, that old experience, knowledge of human nature, and sound
age does incapacitate us for active business, that it sense, enabled him to avoid all fantastic exaggera-
does render the body feeble, and that it does blunt tion, and, without sacrificing his dignified tone, or
the keenness of our senses ; but while it is a per- pitching his standard too low, he brings down the
fectly fair style of argument to maintain that these subject to the level of ordinary comprehension, and
are imaginary and not real ills, it is utterly absurd sets before us a model which all may iinitate.
to deny their existence, because history affords a The exordium is taken from the Theaetetus, and
few instances of favoured individuals who have in the 8th chapter we detect a correspondence with
been exempted from their influence.
a passage in the Lysis of Plato; the Ethics of
Cicero appears to have been indebted for the Aristotle, and the Memorabilia of Socrates by Xen-
idea, if not for the plan, of this work to Aristo of ophon afforded some suggestions; a strong resem-
Chios, a Stoic philosopher (c. 1); much has been blance can be traced in the fragments of Theo-
translated almost literally from the Republic of phrastus Tepl Pirías, and some hints are supposed
Plato (see cc. 2, 3, 14), and more freely from the to have been taken from Chrysippus περί φιλίας
Oeconomics and Cyropaedeia of Xenophon. The and Tepl Toù Olká červ. (Kühner, p. 118. )
passage with regard to the immortality of the soul The Editio nceps was printed at Cologne by
is derived from the Tiinaeus, the Phaedon, the Joh. Guldenschaff, the second, which includes the
Phaedrus, and the Menon (see Kühner, p. 116), Paradoxa, at the same place by Ulric Zell; neither
and some editors have traced the observations upon bears any date, but both are older than the collec-
the diseases of young men (c. 19) to Hippocrates. tion of the philosophical works printed at Rome
It must be remarked, that although Cato was a in 2 vols. fol. by Sweynheym and Pannartz, 1471,
rigid follower of the Porch, the doctrines here pro- which contains the Laelius. The best modern
pounded have little of the austerity of that sect, editions are those of Gernhard, Leipzig, 8vo. 18:25,
but savour more of the gentle and easy discipline and of Beier, Leipzig, 12mo. 1828.
of the Peripatetics. (Kühner, l. c. )
5. De Gloria Libri II.
The five earliest editions of the Cato Major
were all printed at Cologne, the first three by Cicero completed a work under the above title,
Ulric Zell, the fourth by Winter de Homborch, in two books dedicated to Atticus, on the 4th of
the fifth by Arnold Therhoernen, not one of which July, B. C. 44. A few words only having been
hears a date, but some of them are certainly older preserved, we have no means of determining the
than the edition of the collected philosophical works manner, or tone in which the subject was handled.
printed at Rome, in 2 vols. fol. , by Sweynbeym Petrarch was in possession of a MS. of the De
and Pannartz, which contains the De Senectute. Gloria, which afterwards passed into the hands of
[See above, p. 719, b. ) The best modern editions Bernardo Giustiniani, a Venetian, and then disap-
S
are those of Gernhard, which include the Paradoxa peared. Paulus Manutius and Jovius circulated a
also, Leipzig, 8v0. , 1819, and of Otto, Leipzig, story that it had been destroyed by Petrus Alcyo-
1830.
nius, who had stolen numerous passages and in-
4. Laelius s. De Amicitia.
serted them in his own treatise De Exilio; but
this calumny has been refuted by Tiraboschi in
This dialogue was written after the preceding, his history of Italian literature. (See Orelli's Ci-
to which it may be considered as forming a com- cero, vol. iv. pt. ii. p. 487: Cic. de of: ii. 9, ad Att.
panion. Just as the dissertation upon old age was xv. 27, xvi. 2. )
placed in the mouth of Cato because he had been
6. De Consolatione s. De Luctu minuendo.
distinguished for energy of mind and body pre
served entire to the very close of a long life, so the
This treatise was written B. C. 45, soon after
steadfast attachment which existed between Scipio the death of his beloved daughter, Tullia, when
and Laelius pointed out the latter as a person pe seeking distraction and relief in literary pursuits.
culiarly fitted to enlarge upon the advantages of We learn from Pliny (praef. H. N. ), that the work of
friendship and the mode in which it might best be Crantor the Academician was closely followed. A
cultivated. To no one could Cicero dedicate such few inconsiderable fragments have been preserved
a treatise with more propriety than to Atticus, the chiefly by Lactantius, and will be found in Orelli's
only individual among his contemporaries to whom Cicero, vol. iv. pt. ii. p. 489. The tract published
he gave his whole heart.
at Venice in 1583 under the title Consolatio Cice-
The imaginary conversation is supposed to have ronis is a notorious forgery, executed, as is gene
taken place between Laelius and his two sons-in- rally believed, by Sigonius or Vianellus. (Cic. al
law, C. Fannius and Q. Mucius Scaevola, a few Att. xii
. 20, 23, Tuscul. iii. 28, 31 ; Augustin, de
days after the death of Africanus (B. c. 129), and Civ. Dei, xix. 4; Hieron. Epitaph. Nepot. )
to have been repeated, in after times, by Scaevola
D. SPECULATIVE PHILOSOPHY.
to Cicero. Laelius begins by a panegyric on his
friend. Then, at the request of the young men,
1. Academicorum Libri II.
he explains his own sentiments with regard to the The history of this work before it finally quitted
origin, nature, limits, and value of friendship; the hands of its author is exceedingly curious and
traces its connexion with the higher moral virtues, somewhat obscure, but must be clearly understood
and lays down the rules which ought to be ob- I before we can explain the relative position of those
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734
CICERO.
CICERO.
portions of it which have been transmitted to mo narrative of the rise and progress of the Academic
dern times. By comparing carefully a series of Philosophy, to point out the various modifications
letters written to Atticus in the course of B. c. 45 introduced by successive professors, and to demon-
(ad Att. xiii. 32, 12-14, 16, 18, 19, 21-23, 25, 35, strate the superiority of the principles of the New
44), we find that Cicero had drawn up a treatise | Academy, as taught by Philo, over those of the
upon the Academic Philosophy in the form of a Old Academy, as advocated by Antiochus of Asca-
dialogue between Catulus, Lucullus, and Horten- lon. It is manifestly impossible, under existing
sius, and that it was comprised in two books, the circumstances, to determine with certainty the
first bearing the name of Catulus, the second that amount of difference between the two editions.
of Lucullus. A copy was sent to Atticus, and That there was a considerable difference is cerunin,
soon after it had reached him, two new introduc- for, although Cicero was in the first instance in-
tions were composed, the one in praise of Catulus, duced to depart from his plan merely because he
the other in praise of Lucullus. Scarcely had this considered the topics discussed out of keeping with
been done, when Cicero, from a conviction that the character of the individuals who were repre-
Catulus, Lucullus, and Hortensius, although men sented as discussing them, still the division of the
of highly cultivated minds, and well acquainted two books into four necessarily implies some im-
with general literature, were known to have been portant change in the arrangement if not in the
little conversant with the subtle arguments of ab- substance of the subject matter. We are, moreover,
struse philosophy, determined to withdraw them expressly informed, that many things were omitted,
altogether, and accordingly substituted Cato and and that the four books of the second edition, al-
Brutus in their place. (Ad. Att. xiii. 16. ) Imme- though more concise than the two of the first,
diately after this change had been introduced, he were at the same time better and more brilliant
received a communication from Atticus represent (splendidiora, breviora, meliora). It is probable
ing that Varro was much offended by being passed that the first book of the first edition, after giving
over in the discussion of topics in which he was a sketch of the leading principles of the different
deeply versed. Thereupon, Cicero, catching eagerly branches of the Academy as they grew out of each
at the idea thus suggested, resolved to recast the other in succession, was occupied with a detailed
whole piece, and quickly produced, under the old investigation of the speculations of Carneades, just
title, a new and highly improved edition, divided as those of Philo, which were adopted to a certain
into four books instead of two, dedicating the whole extent by Cicero himself, form the leading theme
to Varro, to whom was assigned the task of de of the second. What remains of the first book of
fending the tenets of Antiochus of Ascalon, while the second edition enables us to discover that it
the author himself undertook to support the views was devoted to the history of Academic opinions
of Philo, Atticus also taking a share in the con- from the time of Socrates and Plato, who were re-
versation. But although these alterations were garded as the fathers of the sect, down to Antiochus,
effected with great rapidity, the copy originally from whom Cicero himself had in his youth received
sent to Atticus had in the meantime been repeat- instruction while residing at Athens. The second
edly transcribed : hence both editions passed into book may have been set apart for an inquiry into
circulation, and a part of each has been preserved. the theories of Arcesilas, who, although the real
One section, containing 12 chapters, is a short founder of the New Academy, appears to have
fragment of the first book of the second or Varro been alluded to in the former edition only in an
nian edition ; the other, containing 49 chapters, is incidental and cursory manner; while the third
the entire second book of the first edition, to which and fourth books would embrace the full and clear
is prefixed the new introduction noticed above (ad development and illustration of his pregnant though
Att
. xiii. 32), together with the proper title of obscure doctrines, as explained in the eloquent dis-
Lucullus. Thus it appears that the first book of quisitions of Carneades and Philo. Such is the
the first edition has been altogether lost, and the opinion of Goerenz, and although it does not ad-
whole of the second edition, with the exception of mit of strict proof, yet it is highly plausible in it-
the fragment of the first book already mentioned self, and is fully corroborated by the hints and
and a few scraps quoted by Lactantius, Augustin, indications which appear in those portions of the
and the grammarians. Upon examining the dates dialogue now extant.
of the letters referred to, it will be seen that the The scene of the Catulus was the villa of that
first edition bad been despatched to Atticus about statesman at Cumae, while the Lucullus is supposed
the middle of June, for the new introductions were to have been held at the mansion of Hortensius
written by the 27th (ad Att. xiii. 32); that the near Bauli. The dialogues of the second edition
second edition, which is spoken of with great com- commence at the Cumanum of Varro; but, as we
placency—“Libri quidem ita exierunt (nisi forte learn from a fragment of the third book quoted by
me communis pilavtía decipit), ut in tali genere Nonius Marcellus, the parties repaired during the
ne apud Graecos quidem simile quidquam” course of the conference to the shores of the Lu-
fully completed towards the close of July (ad Att. crine lake.
xiii. 15), a few days before the last touches had The Editio Princeps is included in the collection
been given to the De Finibus (xiii. 19); and that of Cicero's philosophical works printed in 2 vols.
it was actually in the possession of Varro before fol. by Sweynheym and Pannarız, Rome, 1471,
the ides of August. (xiii. 35, 44. ) Goerenz has see above, p. 719, b. The edition of Davis, Camb.
taken greai pains to prove that these books were 8vo. 1725, was frequently reprinted, and for a long
published under the title of Academica, and that period remained the standard, but is now super-
the appellation Academicae Quaestiones, or Acade- seded by those of Goerenz, Leipzig, 8vo. 1810,
micae Disputationes, by which they are frequently forming the first volume of his edition of the philom
distinguished, are without authority and altogether sophical works of Cicero; and of Orelli, Zurich,
inappropriate.
8vo. 1827
The object proposed was, to give an accurate
--was
## p. 735 (#755) ############################################
CICERO.
735
CICERO.
tetics ; that the differences were merely verbal, and
2. De Finibus Bonorum et Malorum Libri V.
that Zeno had no excuse for breaking off from
A series of dialogues dedicated to M. Brutus, in Plato and Aristotle, and establishing a new school,
which the opinions of the Grecian schools, especi- which presented the same truths in a worse form.
ally of the Epicurcans, the Stoics, and the Peripa- These assertions are vigorously combated by Cato,
tetics, on the Supreme Good, that is, the finis, who argues, that the principles of his sect were
object, or end, towards which all our thoughts, essentially distinct, and descants with great energy
desires, and actions are or ought to be directed, - on the superior purity and majesty of their ideas
the kernel, as it were, of practical wisdom,—are concerning the Supreme Good; in reply to which
expounded, compared, and discussed. The style Cicero, in the fourth book, employs the weapons
is throughout perspicuous and highly polished, the with which the New Academy attacked the Stoics.
doctrines of the different sects are stated with ac- The second discourse is supposed to have been
curate impartiality according to the representations held in B. C. 52, for we find a reference (iv. 1) to
contained in accredited authorities ; but, from the the famous provision for limiting the length of
abstruse nature of many of the points investigated, speeches at the bar contained in a law passed by
and the subtilty of the arguments by which the Pompey against bribery in his second consulship,
different positions are defended, this treatise must an enactment here spoken of as having recently
be regarded as the most difficult, while it is the come into force. This was the year also in which
most perfect and finished, of all the philosophical L. Lucullus the elder died and left his son under
performances of Cicero.
the guardianship of Cato.
These conversations are not supposed to have In the fifth book we are carried back to B. c. 79
been all held at the same period, nor in the same and transported from Italy to Athens, where Ci-
place, nor between the same parties. They agree cero was at that time prosecuting his studies. (Sec
in this, that, after the fashion of Aristotle (ud Att. above, p. 709,b. ) The dramatis personae are Cicero
xiii. 19), the author throughout assumes the most himself, his brother Quintus, his cousin Lucius,
prominent place, and that the rest of the actors, Pomponius Atticus, and M. Pupius Piso. These
at least those to whom important parts are as- friends having met in the Academia, the genius of
signed, were dead at the time of publication--a the place calls up the recollection of the mighty
precaution taken to avoid giving umbrage to living spirits who had once trod that holy ground, and
men by exciting jealousy in reference to the cha- Piso, at the request of his companion, enters into a
racters which they are respectively represented as full exposition of the precepts inculcated by Aris-
supporting (anaotúintov, id före putaram, ad totle and his successors on the Summum Bonum,
Att. l. c. ), but the time, the scene, and the per- the whole being wound up by a statement on the
formers are twice changed. In the third and fourth part of Cicero of the objections of the Stoics, and a
books they are different from those in the first and reply from Piso. The reason which induced Cicero
second, and in the fifth from those in any of the to carry this last dialogue back to his youthful
preceding
days was the difficulty he experienced in finding a
The first book opens with an apology for the fitting advocate for the Peripatetic doctrines, which
study of philosophy; after which Cicero relates, bad made but little progress among his country-
for the information of Brutus, a debate which took men. M. Brutus and Terentius Varro were both
place at his Cumanum, in the presence of C. Vale- alive, and therefore excluded by his plan ; L. Lu-
rius Triarius, between Cicero himself and L. Man-cullus, although dead, was not of sufficient weight
lius Torquatus, who is represented as being praetor to be introduced with propriety on such an occa-
elect and just about to enter upon his officema sion; Piso alone remained, but in consequence of
circumstance which fixes this imaginary colloquy the quarrel between Cicero and himself arising out
to the close of the year B. c. 50, a date agreeing of his support of Clodius, it was necessary to choose
perfectly with the allusion (ii. 18) to the excessive an epoch when their friendship was as yet unsha-
power then wielded by Pompey. Cicero, being ken. (See Goerenz, introd. xix. ) It will be ob-
challenged by Torquatus to state his objections to served that throughout, the author abstains entirely
the discipline of Epicurus, briefly impugns in ge- from pronouncing any judgment of his own. The
neral terms his system of physics, his imperfect opinions of the Epicureans are first distinctly ex-
logic, and, above all, the dogma that the Supreme plained, then follows the refutation by the Stoics ;
Good is Pleasure, and the Supreme Evil, Pain. the opinions of the Stoics are next explained, then
This elicits from Torquatus a lengthened explana- follows the refutation by the New Academy; in
tion of the sentiments really entertained by Epi- the third place, the opinions of the Peripatetics are
curus and the worthiest of his followers respecting explained, then follows the refutation by the Stoics.
room, sentiments which he contends had been in setting forth the opinions of Epicurus, in addi-
misunderstood and misrepresented, but whose truth tion to the writings of that sage enumerated by
he undertakes to demonstrate in a series of propo- Diogenes Laërtius, much use seems to have been
sitions; in opposition to which Cicero, in the se- made of his epistle to Menoeceus and his tepi
cond book, sets in array the reasonings by which kupiv dośw, and not unfrequently the very words
the Stoics assailed the whole system. In the of the original Greek have been literally translated;
third book we find ourselves in the library of while the lectures of Phaedrus and Zeno ( see above,
young Lucullus in his Tusculan villa, to which p. 709) would supply accurate information as to
Cicero had repaired for the purpose of consulting a the changes and additions introduced by the suc-
work of Aristotle, and there meets Cato, immersed cessive disciples of the Garden after the death of
in study and surrounded by the books of the Stoics. their master. The Stoical refutation of Epicurus,
In this way a controversy arises, in which Cicero in book second, was probably derived from Chry
maintains, that there was no real discordance be- sippus nepl Toù Kaloû kal tñs soovñs and from the
Iween the ethics of the Porch and those previously writings and oral communications of Posidonius
promulgated by the Old Academy and the Peripa- | [see above, p. 709,b. ); the Stoical doctrines in book
## p. 736 (#756) ############################################
736
CICERO.
CICERO.
third were taken from Zeno, from Diogenes, and numerous circle of friends and visitors by whom he
from Chrysippus tepl Tedwv; the refutation of the was surrounded, to propose some subject for demate
Stoics in book fourth probably proceeds from Car- which he then proceeded to examine as he sat or
neades. The Peripatetical doctrines in book fifth walked about. These exercises were continued for
are from Aristotle and Theophrastus, as explained five days, a new topic being started and exhausted
and enlarged by Antiochus of Ascalon; while the at each successive conference. There is an utter
Stoical objections are in all probability due to Dio- want of dramatic effect in this collection of dialo
dotus (see above p. 709, a. ], who, we are told else- gues, for the antagonist is throughout anonymous,
where, was strongly opposed to Antiochus. (Acad. and is not invested with any life or individuality,
ii. 36. )
but is a sort of a man of straw who brings forward
In determining the precise date at which the a succession of propositions which are bowled down
work before us was completed and published, we by Cicero as fast as they are set up. This person-
cannot agree with Goerenz, that the expression age is usually designated in MSS. by the letter A,
“ duo magna ouvrayuata absolvi” (ad Att. xii. and editors have amused themselves by quarrelling
45, Ilth June, B. c. 45) can with certainty be about the import of the symbol which they have
made to comprehend both the De Finibus and the variously interpreted to mean Atticus, Adolescens,
Academica. No distinct notice of the former oc- | Auditor, and so forth. There is little room for
curs until the 27th of June, when, in a letter to doubt as to the period when this work was actually
Atticus, (xiii. 32,) we find “Torquatus Romae est. composed, since it abounds in allusions to historical
Misi ut tibi daretur," where Torquatus denotes events and to former treatises which enable us,
the first book. On the 24th of July (ad Att. when taken in connexion with other circuinstances,
xiii. 12), the treatise is spoken of as finished. to determine the question within very narrow limits.
“ Nunc illam nep? Telv oúvtativ, sane mihi pro Thus, in the eleventh chapter of the fifth book, we
batam, Bruto, ut tibi placuit, despondimus. " Again, have a reference to the De Finibus which was not
on the 30th of the same month, “ Ita confeci quin- published until the month of August, B. C. 45,
que libros repl tenúv, ut Epicurea L. Torquato, while the dissertations before us were familiarly
Stoica M. Catoni, Tepinatitirá M. Pisoni darem. known before the middle of May in the following
'Αζηλοτύπητον id fore putaram, quod omnes illi year (ad Atl. xv. 24), and must consequently bave
decesserant" (ad Att. xiii. 19); and we learn from been given to the world early in B. C. 44, since the
an epistle, despatched only two days afterwards task appears to have been undertaken just at the
(ad Att. xiii. 21, comp. 22), that it had been for time when the Academica were completed (ad Athe
some time in the hands of Atticus, through whom xiii. 32). Schütz (Proleg. ) has satisfactorily proved
Balbus had obtained a copy of the fifth book, while that Tusculanae Disputationes is the true title, and
the widow Caerellia, in her philosophic zeal, had not Tusculanae Quaestiones as a few MSS.
