On Duties (Paperback)

Marcus Tullius Cicero

ISBN 10: 1944482113 / ISBN 13: 9781944482114

Verlag: Roman Roads Media, 2016

Beschreibung

Paperback. ON DUTIES deserves more attention than it gets, and it rewards the attention it receives, because it deals with the question of the well-lived life in a clear, thoughtful, accessible, and compelling manner. Cicero believed On Duties to be his magnum opus, and much of history has agreed with him on this. Of On Duties, the French philosopher Voltaire wrote: "No one will ever write anything more wise, more true, or more useful." And Martin Luther, in his Table Talk says this of Cicero: "Let those who wish to see a true philosophy read Cicero. Cicero was a wise and industrious man, and he suffered much and accomplished much." On Duties was the second book to be printed by Gutenberg's press. Parts of it served as inspiration for Dante Alighieri's Divine Comedy. St. Ambrose was so enamored with the work that he wrote his On the Duties of the Clergy with Cicero's On Duties as the model, and refers to it throughout his own book. The three books that make up On Duties are full of historical examples which are worth their weight in gold. They, like Homeric similes, are marvelous windows into an age that is not described in any ancient texts since the audience of the texts are written to people who shared the age and therefore needed no descriptions. But they also give us Cicero's own culturally conservative interpretations of the events of his time, and this is very valuable indeed. On Duties, by Marcus Tullius Cicero, with a new foreword by Wesley J Callihan, deals with the question of the well-lived life in a clear, thoughtful, accessible, and compelling manner. Voltaire wrote concerning this work: "No one will ever write anything more wise, more true, or more useful." This item is printed on demand. Shipping may be from multiple locations in the US or from the UK, depending on stock availability.

Bestandsnummer des Verkäufers 9781944482114

Bibliografische Details

• Titel: On Duties (Paperback)
• Verlag: Roman Roads Media
• Erscheinungsjahr: 2016
• Sprache: Englisch
• ISBN-10: 1944482113
• ISBN-13: 9781944482114
• Einband: Paperback
• Illustrator: Harrell, George
• Zustand: new

Über diesen Titel

Inhaltsangabe

With a new Foreword by Wesley J Callihan, author of Old Western Culture Great Books curriculum, published by Roman Roads Media. ON DUTIES deserves more attention than it gets, and it rewards the attention it receives, because it deals with the question of the well-lived life in a clear, thoughtful, accessible, and compelling manner. Cicero believed On Duties to be his magnum opus, and much of history has agreed with him on this. Of On Duties, the French philosopher Voltaire wrote: "No one will ever write anything more wise, more true, or more useful." And Martin Luther, in his Table Talk says this of Cicero: "Let those who wish to see a true philosophy read Cicero. Cicero was a wise and industrious man, and he suffered much and accomplished much." On Duties was the second book to be printed by Gutenberg's press. Parts of it served as inspiration for Dante Alighieri's Divine Comedy. St. Ambrose was so enamored with the work that he wrote his On the Duties of the Clergy with Cicero's On Duties as the model, and refers to it throughout his own book. The three books that make up On Duties are full of historical examples which are worth their weight in gold. They, like Homeric similes, are marvelous windows into an age that is not described in any ancient texts since the audience of the texts are written to people who shared the age and therefore needed no descriptions. But they also give us Cicero's own culturally conservative interpretations of the events of his time, and this is very valuable indeed.

Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor

Marcus Tullius Cicero (3 January 106 BC - 7 December 43 BC) was a Roman statesman, orator, lawyer and philosopher, who served as consul in the year 63 BC. He came from a wealthy municipal family of the Roman equestrian order, and is considered one of Rome's greatest orators and prose stylists. His influence on the Latin language was immense: it has been said that subsequent prose was either a reaction against or a return to his style, not only in Latin but in European languages up to the 19th century. Cicero introduced the Romans to the chief schools of Greek philosophy and created a Latin philosophical vocabulary (with neologisms such as evidentia, humanitas, qualitas, quantitas, and essentia), distinguishing himself as a translator and philosopher. Though he was an accomplished orator and successful lawyer, Cicero believed his political career was his most important achievement. It was during his consulship that the second Catilinarian conspiracy attempted to overthrow the government through an attack on the city by outside forces, and Cicero suppressed the revolt by summarily and controversially executing five conspirators. During the chaotic latter half of the 1st century BC marked by civil wars and the dictatorship of Gaius Julius Caesar, Cicero championed a return to the traditional republican government. Following Julius Caesar's death, Cicero became an enemy of Mark Antony in the ensuing power struggle, attacking him in a series of speeches. He was proscribed as an enemy of the state by the Second Triumvirate and consequently executed by soldiers operating on their behalf in 43 BC after having been intercepted during an attempted flight from the Italian peninsula. His severed hands and head were then, as a final revenge of Mark Antony, displayed on the Rostra.