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{{short description|44 BC philosophical work by Cicero}}

{{Infobox book 
| name          = De Officiis
| image         = Cicero de officiis.jpg
| caption       = Title page of ''De Officiis''. Christopher Froschouer – 1560.
| author        = [[Cicero]]
| language      = [[Classical Latin]]
| country       = [[Roman Republic]]
| subject       =  Ethics
| genre         =  Philosophy
| release_date  =  44 BC
| preceded_by   = 
| followed_by   = 
| native_wikisource = De officiis
| orig_lang_code = la
| wikisource     = 
| dewey= 
}}
'''''De Officiis''''' ('''''On Duties''''', '''''On Obligations''''', or '''''On Moral Responsibilities''''') is a 44 BC treatise by [[Cicero|Marcus Tullius Cicero]] divided into three books, in which Cicero expounds his conception of the best way to live, behave, and observe [[obligation#Obligation and morality|moral obligations]]. The posthumously published work discusses what is honorable (Book I), what is to one's advantage (Book II), and what to do when the honorable and private gain apparently conflict (Book III). For the first two books Cicero was dependent on the Stoic philosopher [[Panaetius]], but wrote more independently for the third book.

== Background ==
''De Officiis'' was written in October–November 44 BC, in under four weeks.<ref>Marcus Tullius Cicero and P. G. Walsh. ''On Obligations''. 2001, p. ix</ref> This was Cicero's last year alive, and he was 62 years of age. Cicero was at this time still active in politics, trying to stop revolutionary forces from taking control of the [[Roman Republic]]. Despite his efforts, the republican system failed to revive even upon the [[assassination of Caesar]], and Cicero was himself assassinated shortly thereafter.

== Writing ==
''De Officiis'' is written in the form of a letter to his son [[Cicero Minor]], who studied philosophy in [[Athens]]. Judging from its form, it is nonetheless likely that Cicero wrote with a broader audience in mind. The essay was published posthumously.

Although Cicero was influenced by the [[New Academy|Academic]], [[Peripatetic school|Peripatetic]], and [[Stoicism|Stoic]] schools of Greek philosophy, this work shows the influence of the Stoic philosopher [[Panaetius]].<ref name="atkinsxix">{{Harvnb|Atkins|Griffin|1991|p=xix}}</ref><ref name=Loeb>Cicero, Miller: [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A2007.01.0048%3Abook%3Dpos%3D3%3Asection%3D23 ''On Duty''], iii. 23</ref>  Panaetius was a Greek philosopher who had resided in Rome around eighty years previously.<ref name="dunlop257">{{Harvnb|Dunlop|1827|p=257}}</ref> He wrote a book ''On Duties'' ({{langx|el|Περὶ Καθήκοντος}}) in which he divided his subject into three parts but had left the work unfinished at the third stage.<ref name="dunlop257"/> Although Cicero draws from many other sources, for his first two books he follows the steps of Panaetius fairly closely.<ref name="millerxiv">{{Harvnb|Miller|1913|p=xiv}}</ref> The third book is more independent,<ref name="millerxiv"/> and Cicero disclaims having been indebted to any preceding writers on the subject.<ref name="dunlop258">{{Harvnb|Dunlop|1827|p=258}}</ref> [[Michael Grant (classicist)|Michael Grant]] tells us that "Cicero himself seems to have regarded this treatise as his spiritual testament and masterpiece."<ref>Cicero, Grant: "Selected Works", p. 158</ref>

Cicero urged his son Marcus to follow nature and wisdom, as well as politics, and warned against pleasure and indolence. Cicero's essay relies heavily on [[anecdote]]s, much more than his other works, and is written in a more leisurely and less formal style than his other writings, perhaps because he wrote it hastily. Like the [[satire]]s of [[Satires of Juvenal|Juvenal]], Cicero's ''De Officiis'' refers frequently to current events of his time.

==Contents==
[[File:Houghton Typ 520.31.282 - De officiis, 1531.jpg|thumb|From a German edition – 1531]]
''De Officiis'' discusses what is [[honor]]able (Book I), what is expedient or to one's advantage (Book II), and what to do when the honorable and expedient conflict (Book III). Cicero says they are the same and that they only appear to be in conflict. In Book III, Cicero expresses his own ideas.<ref>Cicero, Grant: "Selected Works", p. 157</ref>

===Book I===
The first book treats of what is honorable in itself.<ref name="dunlop258"/> He shows in what true manner our duties are founded in honor and virtue.<ref name="dunlop258"/> The four constituent parts of virtue are truth, justice, fortitude, and decorum, and our duties are founded in the right perception of these.<ref name="dunlop258"/>

===Book II===
The second book enlarges on those duties which relate to private advantage and the improvement of life.<ref name="dunlop258"/> The book focuses on political advancement, and the means employed for the attainment of wealth and power.<ref name="dunlop258"/> The honorable means of gaining popularity include generosity, courtesy, and eloquence.<ref name="dunlop258"/>

===Book III===
The third book discusses the choice to be made when there is an apparent conflict between virtue and expediency.<ref name="dunlop258"/> True virtue can never be put in competition with private advantage.<ref name="dunlop258"/> Thus nothing should be accounted useful or profitable if not strictly virtuous, and there ought to be no separation of the principles of virtue and expediency.<ref name="dunlop258"/>

Cicero proposes some rules for cases of doubt, where seeming utility comes into competition with virtue.<ref name="dunlop258"/> He examines in what situations one may seek private gain with honour.<ref name="dunlop258"/> He takes his examples from Roman history, such as the case of [[Marcus Atilius Regulus]] who was released by the [[Carthaginians]] to negotiate a peace, advised the [[Roman Senate]] to reject the proposals, and fulfilled his oath by returning to [[Ancient Carthage|Carthage]].<ref name="dunlop258"/>

==Themes==
''De Officiis'' has been characterized as an attempt to define ideals of public behavior.<ref>Marcus Tullius Cicero and P. G. Walsh. ''On Obligations''. 2001, p. xxx</ref> It criticizes the recently overthrown dictator [[Julius Caesar]] in several places, and his dictatorship as a whole. Cicero claims that the absence of political rights corrupts moral virtues. Cicero also speaks of a [[natural law]] that is said to govern both humans<ref name="atkinsxxvi">{{Harvnb|Atkins|Griffin|1991|p=xxvi}}</ref> and [[deity|gods]] alike.<ref name="Loeb b">Cicero, Miller: [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A2007.01.0048%3Abook%3Dpos%3D3%3Asection%3D23 ''On Duty''], Book III. v. 23</ref>

== Legacy ==
The legacy of ''De Officiis'' is profound. Although not a [[Christianity|Christian]] work, in 390 [[St. Ambrose]] declared it legitimate for the [[Christianity|Church]] to use (along with everything else Cicero, and the equally popular Roman philosopher [[Seneca the Younger|Seneca]], had written). It became a [[moral authority]] during the [[Middle Ages]]. Of the [[Church Fathers]], [[Augustine of Hippo|St. Augustine]], [[St. Jerome]] and even more so [[St. Thomas Aquinas]], are known to have been familiar with it.<ref>Hannis Taylor, ''Cicero: A Sketch of His Life and Works'', A.C. McClurg & Co. 1916, p. 9</ref> Illustrating its importance, some 700 handwritten copies remain extant in libraries around the world dating back to before the [[movable type|invention of the printing press]]. Though this does not surpass the Latin grammarian [[Priscian|Priscian's]] 900 extant handwritten copies, it places ''De Officiis'' far above many classical works. Following the invention of the [[printing press]], ''De Officiis'' was the third book to be printed—third only to the [[Gutenberg Bible]] and [[Aelius Donatus|Donatus's]] ''Ars Minor'', which was the first printed book.{{efn|"The first printed book was not Gutenberg's famed forty-two-line Bible but rather Donatus's ''Ars Mino'', which Gutenberg, correctly sizing up the market, hoped to sell in class sets to schools."<ref>[[Jürgen Leonhardt]], ''Latin: A World Language'' (Belknap Press 2013) p. 99.</ref>}}

[[Petrarch]], the father of humanism and a leader in the revival of Classical learning, championed Cicero. Several of his works build upon the precepts of ''De Officiis''.<ref name=WalshIntro/> Prince [[Peter, Duke of Coimbra]], member of the Order of the Garter, translated the treatise to Portuguese in 1437, signal of the wide spread of the work in medieval courts.<ref>Manuel Cadafaz de Matos, "[https://www.uc.pt/fluc/eclassicos/publicacoes/ficheiros/humanitas46/16_Cadafaz_Matos.pdf A PRESENÇA DE CÍCERO NA OBRA DE PENSADORES PORTUGUESES NOS SÉCULOS XV E XVI (1436-1543)]", ''Humanitas'' 46 (1994)</ref> The Catholic humanist [[Erasmus]] published his own edition in Paris in 1501. His enthusiasm for this moral treatise is expressed in many works.<ref name=WalshIntro/><ref>Erasmus' Epistolae 152</ref> The German humanist [[Philip Melanchthon]] established ''De Officiis'' in Lutheran humanist schools.<ref name=WalshIntro/>

[[File:Thys Boke Is Myne.jpg|thumb|[[Henry VIII of England|Henry VIII]]'s childhood copy of ''De Officiis'', bearing the inscription "Thys boke is myne" in his hand, from the collection of the [[Folger Shakespeare Library]]]]
T. W. Baldwin said that "in Shakespeare's day ''De Officiis'' was the pinnacle of moral philosophy".<ref>T. W. Baldwin, "William Shakspere's Small Latine & lesse Greeke", Vol. 2, University of Illinois Press, 1944, p. 590, [http://durer.press.illinois.edu/baldwin/vol.2/html/index.html Available online] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120303013212/http://durer.press.illinois.edu/baldwin/vol.2/html/index.html |date=2012-03-03 }}</ref> [[Thomas Elyot|Sir Thomas Elyot]], in his popular ''[[The Book of the Governor|Governour]]'' (1531), lists three essential texts for bringing up young gentlemen: [[Plato]]'s works, [[Nicomachean Ethics|Aristotle's ''Ethics'']], and ''De Officiis''.<ref>Sir Thomas Elyot, ''The Boke named the Governour'', Vol. 1, Kegan Paul, Trench, & Co. 1883 pp. 91–94</ref>

In the 17th century it was a standard text at English schools ([[Westminster School|Westminster]] and Eton) and universities (Cambridge and Oxford). It was extensively discussed by [[Hugo Grotius]] and [[Samuel von Pufendorf]].<ref name=Marschall1994/> Grotius drew heavily on ''De Officiis'' in his major work, ''[[De jure belli ac pacis|On the Law of War and Peace]]''.<ref name=WalshIntro>Cicero; Walsh: "On Obligations" pp. xliii–xliv</ref> It influenced [[Robert Sanderson (theologian)|Robert Sanderson]] and [[John Locke]].<ref name=Marschall1994>[[John Marshall (historian)|John Marshall]], "John Locke: Resistance, Religion, and Responsibility", Cambridge University Press, 1994, pp. 162, 164, 299</ref>

In the 18th century, [[Voltaire]] said of ''De Officiis'' "No one will ever write anything more wise".<ref>Voltaire, ''Cicero'', Philosophical Dictionary Part 2 Orig. Published 1764</ref> [[Frederick the Great]] thought so highly of the book that he asked the scholar [[Christian Garve]] to do a new translation of it, even though there had been already two German translations since 1756. Garve's project resulted in 880 additional pages of commentary.

In 1885, the city of [[Perugia]] was shaken by the theft of an [[illuminated manuscript]] of ''De Officiis'' from the city's [[Biblioteca Augusta|Library Augusta]]. The chief librarian [[Adamo Rossi]], a well-known scholar, was originally suspected but exonerated after a lengthy administrative and judicial investigation. The culprit in the theft was never found. Suspicion fell on a janitor who a few years later became well-to-do enough to build for himself a fine house. The former janitor's house was nicknamed "Villa Cicero" by residents of Perugia.

The 2002 [[George Mason Memorial]] in Washington, D.C., includes ''De Officiis'' as an element of the statue of a seated Mason.

''De Officiis'' continues to be one of the most popular of Cicero's works because of its style, and because of its depiction of Roman political life under the Republic.

==Footnotes==
{{notelist}}

{{clear}}

== Citations ==
{{reflist}}

== References ==
*{{Citation|author1-last=Atkins|author1-first=E. M.|author2-last=Griffin|author2-first=M. T.|title=Cicero: On Duties (Cambridge Texts in the History of Political Thought)|year=1991|publisher=Cambridge University Press}}
*Cicero, Marcus Tullius; Grant, Michael, "Selected Works", Penguin Classics (1960)
*{{Citation|last=Dunlop|first=John|title=History of Roman literature from its earliest period to the Augustan age|volume=1|year=1827|publisher=E. Littell|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iRkOAAAAYAAJ&pg=RA1-PA257}}
*{{Citation|last=Miller|first=Walter|title=Cicero: de Officiis |publisher= Loeb Classical Library, Harvard University Press|year=1913|url=https://archive.org/details/deofficiiswithen00ciceuoft}}

== Further reading ==
* [http://www.stoics.com/why_stoics.html#WhyCicero Why Cicero's ''De Officiis''?] By Ben R. Schneider Jr. Professor Emeritus of English at Lawrence University.
* Atkins, E. M.; Cicero, Marcus Tullius; Griffin, M. T., ''Cicero: On Duties'' (''Cambridge Texts in the History of Political Thought''), Cambridge University Press (1991)
* Cicero, Marcus Tullius; Grant, Michael, "Selected Works", Penguin Classics (1960)
* Cicero, Marcus Tullius; Miller, Walter, "On Duties", Loeb Classical Library No. 30 (1913)
* Cicero; Walsh, P. G., ''On Obligations'', Oxford University Press (2001)
* Dyck, Andrew R., ''A Commentary on Cicero, De Officiis'', Ann Arbor, The University of Michigan Press (1996)
* Griffin, Miriam T. and Margaret E. Atkins, ''Cicero. On Duties'', Cambridge University Press (1991)
* Nelson, N. E., ''Cicero's ''De Officiis'' in Christian Thought'', University of Michigan Studies in Language and Literature 10 (1933)
* Newton, Benjamin Patrick, ''Marcus Tullius Cicero: On Duties'' (''Agora Editions''), Cornell University Press (2016)
* {{cite book |last1=Woolf |first1=Raphael |title=Cicero's De Officiis: a critical guide |date=2023 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |location=Cambridge|isbn=9781316518014}}

== External links ==
* {{Commons category-inline}}
* {{wikisourcelang-inline|la|De officiis|''De Officiis''}}
* [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A2007.01.0048 ''De Officiis'' in Latin and English] at the [[Perseus Project]]
* [https://archive.org/details/deofficiiswithen00ciceuoft ''De Officiis'' – Latin with English translation by Walter Miller (1913)] – [[Loeb Classical Library]] edition, Internet Archive
* [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Cicero/de_Officiis/home.html ''De Officiis''], English translation by Walter Miller (1913), [[LacusCurtius]]
* {{Gutenberg|no=47001}}
* {{librivox book | stitle=On Duties | dtitle=''De Officiis'', English translation by Walter Miller | author=Marcus Tullius Cicero}}
* [http://www.thelatinlibrary.com/cicero/off.shtml ''De Officiis'' online in Latin] at [[The Latin Library]]
* [http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.rbc/rosenwald.0034.1 ''De Officiis''] – From the [https://www.loc.gov/rr/rarebook/ Rare Book and Special Collections Division] at the [[Library of Congress]]

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[[Category:Philosophical works by Cicero]]
[[Category:44 BC]]