On Duties

Introduction

In 44 BC, after Caesar's assassination and in the last months of his political life, Cicero wrote this ethical work in three books for his son, then studying in Athens. The first book treats the honourable, the duties required by the four cardinal virtues; the second the useful, how to win reputation, friendship and power; the third what to do when the two seem to conflict, concluding that nothing truly useful can ever be dishonourable. In the Middle Ages and the Renaissance it was Europe's most esteemed textbook of morals, and Voltaire said no more useful book had ever been written.