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Cicero
Marcus Tullius Cicero
Roman statesman who gave Latin its philosophical vocabulary and preserved Greek thought.
Overview
Rome's greatest orator and a leading statesman (consul in 63 BCE), Cicero was philosophically an Academic skeptic who weighed the arguments of every school. In an extraordinary late burst of writing he rendered Greek philosophy into Latin — coining much of the West's philosophical vocabulary — and defended natural law, moral duty, the republic, and a reasoned approach to religion. His works became the main channel through which ancient philosophy reached the Middle Ages and Renaissance. He was killed in the proscriptions of 43 BCE for opposing Mark Antony.
What they supported — and why
Academic probabilism
SupportedAdopt the most probable view after weighing all sides, without claiming dogmatic certainty.
WhyNo school proves its case beyond doubt, so the wise course is to follow the likeliest argument while remaining open.
Natural law and duty
SupportedThere is a true, universal law of reason above human statutes, from which our duties (officia) derive.
WhyReason is shared by gods and all humans, so it grounds a justice and obligation binding everywhere and always.
The mixed constitution
SupportedA balance of monarchic, aristocratic, and popular elements best secures liberty and stability.
WhyPure constitutions decay into their corrupt forms; mixing them checks each against the others.
Causes championed
- The Roman republic and its liberty
- Natural law and universal justice
- Reasoned tolerance among the schools
- Philosophy written in Latin
Issues wrestled with
- What are justice and law?
- How should we live, age, and die?
- What can we know of the gods?
Hurdles faced
- Political exile and the collapse of the republic he loved
- Assassinated for his speeches against Antony
Works & books
6 catalogued. Status shows how much survives to today.
On Duties
SurvivesHis influential treatise on moral obligation and practical ethics.
On the Nature of the Gods
SurvivesA dialogue weighing Stoic, Epicurean, and skeptical views of religion.
On the Republic & On the Laws
PartialPolitical philosophy on the best constitution and on natural law; the Republic survives partly (including the Dream of Scipio).
Tusculan Disputations
SurvivesFive books on death, pain, grief, and how virtue secures happiness.
Academica; On the Ends of Good and Evil
SurvivesSurveys of epistemology and of the schools' theories of the highest good.
On Old Age; On Friendship
SurvivesBeloved short essays on aging well and on friendship.
Read the texts free
14 of Cicero’s works are free to read in full — public-domain English editions on Project Gutenberg, matched from Gutenberg’s own catalogue.
Every edition online — Open Library catalogues 3,502 works & editions, 642 of them free to read in full.
The influence network
See Cicero in the map →In their words
“The good of the people is the highest law.”
— De Legibus
“To live is to think.”
— Tusculan Disputations
Legacy
More than anyone, Cicero carried Greek philosophy into the Latin West; for centuries, to study philosophy in Europe meant to read Cicero.
Further reading
Cross-checked against these authoritative references.