Public-domain ebook
De Officiis
Language: en4,125 downloads on Project Gutenberg
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Public-domain ebook sourced from Project Gutenberg #47001.
About this book
De Officiis is Cicero’s final philosophical treatise, composed in the turbulent years after Caesar’s assassination (46‑43 B.C.) when the Roman Senate had been dissolved and his public career stalled. The work opens with a letter to his son Marcus, who is studying philosophy in Athens, and immediately frames the discussion as a practical guide to moral duty. Cicero explains that his turn to Greek philosophy was not an idle pastime but a response to the loss of his political vocation, aiming to blend Roman practicality with the ethical teachings of the Greeks. The introduction situates the text within a broader cultural clash, Romans’ disdain for abstract speculation versus their need for ethical guidance, while noting Cicero’s eclectic allegiance to the New Academy and his eventual leaning toward Stoic ethics.
The prose reflects the polished oratorical style of a late‑Republic statesman, interweaving Latin rhetoric with English translation and occasional scholarly notes. Its tone is didactic yet conversational, addressing a young Roman audience while drawing on Socratic, Platonic, and Stoic sources. Readers who appreciate classical philosophy, Roman history, or the art of persuasive argument will find the work rewarding, especially those interested in how ethical theory was adapted for practical life in the ancient world.
Who appears in De Officiis
- MarcusYoung Roman man, early twenties, short curly hair, clean-shaven, wearing a white toga with a purple stripe
- CaesarOlder Roman leader, balding with a laurel wreath, sharp eyes, draped in a crimson toga with gold embroidery
- CiceroMiddle‑aged Roman statesman, bald with a thin fringe, thoughtful expression, in a white toga with a red border
The opening · free to read
Italic text has been marked with underscores. Inconsistencies in hyphenation have not been corrected, punctuation has been silently corrected. A list of other corrections to the text can be found at the end of the document. In the book the Latin text is printed on the left page, and the English translation on the right. Here, the text is split by sections starting with a roman numeral, and the Latin text is followed by its English translation. The section numbers that appeared in the margin are placed between asterisks. Sidenotes are placed between #hashtags# and are placed either above the paragraph they refer to or inline. Numbers printed in superscript are preceded by a ^.
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