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 DE AMICITIA
 
 
 
 
 
 ^1 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 CICERO 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 ' DE AMICITIA ] 
 
 (ON FRIENDSHIP) g 
 
 BY 
 
 I M.TULLIUS CICERO 
 
 •TRANSLATED FROM THE LATIN 
 BY BENJAMIN E. SMITH 
 
 WSX^rf**, 
 
 NEW YORK W 
 
 THE CENTURY CO. ^ 
 
 906 
 
 W?sJW?i>«4^W<w^^
 
 Copyright, 1897, 
 By The Century Co. 
 
 THE DEViNNE Press.
 
 stack 
 Anrtdx 
 
 A' 
 
 
 I, 
 
 DE AMICITIA 
 
 2057153
 
 DE AMICITIA 
 
 (ON FRIENDSHIP) 
 
 INTRODUCTION 
 
 QuiNTUs Mucius,' the Au- 
 gur, used to repeat very 
 entertainingly from mem- 
 ory many of the sayings 
 of Caius Laelius,^ his fa- 
 ther-in-law, to whom he 
 always gave without hesi- 
 tation the surname Wise. 
 As soon as I put on the 
 garb of manhood my father
 
 brought me to Scaevola,^ 
 that I might attend him, 
 and thereafter, as much as 
 was possible and permit- 
 ted, I remained at the old 
 man's side. It thus hap- 
 pened that I was able to 
 commit to memory many 
 of his longer discourses 
 as well as his brief and 
 pithy remarks, and to 
 devote myself to the in- 
 creasing of my own know- 
 ledge through his wisdom. 
 When he died I attached 
 myself to Scaevola,^ the 
 Pontifex Maximus, whom 
 I venture to call the most 
 distinguished of our citi- 
 zens both for intellect and 
 for integrity. But of him 
 I will speak in another
 
 place. I return now to the 
 Augur. 
 
 Among the many that 
 I remember, I recall in par- 
 ticular one occasion when, 
 seated, as was his custom, 
 in his hemicyclium^ with 
 myself and a few of his 
 most intimate friends about 
 him, he chanced to speak 
 of a matter that was then 
 attracting much attention, 
 and which you, Atticus,^ 
 surely recollect, since you 
 were well acquainted with 
 Publius Sulpicius,^ name- 
 ly, the bitter animosity with 
 which Sulpicius, when he 
 was Tribune of the people, 
 opposed Quintus Pom- 
 peius,^ then Consul, with 
 whom he had lived on
 
 terms of affectionate inti- 
 macy — a subject of much 
 surprise and general re- 
 gret. The mention of this 
 affair led Scaevola to re- 
 peat to us a conversation 
 about friendship which 
 Laelius had held with him 
 and with his other son-in- 
 law, Caius Fannius,9 the 
 son of Marcus, a few days 
 after the death of Afri- 
 canus.'° The substance 
 of this conversation I 
 committed to memory, 
 and I have set it forth in 
 my own words in this es- 
 say, casting the matter in 
 the form of a dialogue to 
 avoid the frequent repeti- 
 tion of " said I " and "said 
 he," and to make the reader
 
 feel that he has been list- 
 ening to the speakers them- 
 selves. 
 
 For you have often 
 urged me to write some- 
 thing on this topic, and it 
 appears to me also to be 
 one that is worthy of the 
 consideration of all, and 
 especially of such friends 
 as ourselves. I was, there- 
 fore, very willing to grant 
 your request, and in grant- 
 ing it to be of service to 
 others also. And as in 
 "Cato the Elder," or "Old 
 Age," which was inscribed 
 to you, I introduced the 
 aged Cato" as the chief 
 disputant, because no char- 
 acter seemed to me so 
 suited to one who should
 
 talk of old age as that of 
 this man who had been old 
 so long and in his age had 
 so far surpassed all others 
 in vigor; so it has seemed 
 to me fitting to assign to 
 Laelius the thoughts about 
 friendship which Scaevola 
 remembered that he ut- 
 tered, especially since we 
 have heard from our el- 
 ders that the intimacv that 
 existed between Laelius 
 and Publius Scipio ^^ was 
 very remarkable. Besides, 
 this method of presenting 
 the subject, resting as it 
 does on the authority of 
 illustrious men of former 
 times, seems, for some rea- 
 son, to produce a more 
 weighty impression. Even 
 
 6
 
 I, when I read my own 
 book on " Old Age," some- 
 times feel that it is not I 
 who am speaking, but 
 Cato himself. 
 
 As I, an old man, then 
 wrote to an old man of 
 old age, so now I write 
 lovingly of friendship to 
 the best of friends. Then 
 Cato spoke, a man older 
 than almost all his con- 
 temporaries and of greater 
 practical wisdom than any; 
 but now that friendship is 
 the theme, Laelius, a man 
 both wise — for so he was 
 esteemed — and notable 
 for all that makes friend- 
 ship glorious, shall lead the 
 debate. In the meanwhile 
 turn your thoughts from
 
 me and imagine that you 
 hear him speaking. 
 
 CaiusFannius and Ouin- 
 tus Mucius visit their fa- 
 ther-in-law after the death 
 of Africanus. The con- 
 versation is opened by 
 them and Laelius replies. 
 Their whole talk is of 
 friendship ; and in what 
 they say you will find 
 yourself portrayed.
 
 
 THE CONVERSATION 
 
 Fanmus. That is true, 
 Laelius. For there never 
 was a better man than Af- 
 ricanus, nor one more il- 
 lustrious. But you should 
 remember in your grief 
 that the eyes of all men 
 are now turned upon you, 
 whom they both think 
 and call the Wise. For al- 
 though, as we know, this 
 title was given by our fa- 
 thers to Lucius Atilius,'3 
 and recently to Marcus 
 Cato,'^ both of them re- 
 ceived it for reasons some-
 
 what different from those 
 that have led men to give 
 it to you — Atilius, be- 
 cause he was deemed ex- 
 pert in the law; Cato on 
 account of the variety of 
 his attainments : for so 
 much practical wisdom 
 both in the Senate and the 
 courts — so much foresight 
 in planning, energy in ex- 
 ecution, and skill in de- 
 fense — was credited to 
 him, that in his later years 
 "the Wise" became as it 
 were his distinguishing 
 name. You, on the other 
 hand, are so esteemed, not 
 only on account of your 
 disposition and character 
 but also because of your 
 knowledge and learning:
 
 you are wise, not as the 
 crowd reckons wisdom, 
 but in that higher sense, 
 understood only by the 
 truly learned, in which it 
 was said that in all Greece 
 no one was wise save that 
 one man '^ at Athens who 
 was declared to be the 
 wisest by the Delphic ora- 
 cle (for the Seven, though 
 so called, are not held to 
 belong to the number of 
 the truly wise by those who 
 think more profoundly). 
 
 This wisdom people 
 think you possess — a wis- 
 dom which teaches you to 
 seek the source of all hap- 
 piness in yourself alone, 
 and to esteem the haps and 
 mishaps of life as insignifi-
 
 cant in comparison with 
 virtue. , Accordingly they 
 are asking me, and Scae- 
 vola too, I suppose, how 
 you are bearing the death 
 of Africanus; and their 
 curiosity is increased by 
 the fact that recently when 
 we assembled, as usual, for 
 deliberation in the gardens 
 of Decimus Brutus, the 
 Augur, you were absent, 
 although you have always 
 been very careful to be 
 present at these meetings 
 and perform your official 
 duties. 
 
 ScAEvoLA. Indeed I am 
 asked this by many, Lae- 
 lius, as Fanniussays. But 
 I answer that I have noted 
 that you bear with great
 
 self-restraint the grief which 
 the death of this most ex- 
 cellent man and very dear 
 friend has caused you, 
 though you are too full of 
 human kindness not to suf- 
 fer keenly from the loss. I 
 tell them, however, that the 
 reason of your absence 
 from the official meeting 
 of the Augurs was not your 
 affliction but ill-health. 
 
 Laelius. And you an- 
 swered well, Scaevola, and 
 truly. For had I been 
 well I ought not on ac- 
 count of my unhappiness 
 to have neglected a duty 
 which I have always punc- 
 tually discharged ; nor do 
 I think that any mis- 
 fortune can cause a man 
 
 13
 
 of firm character to be 
 guilty of such shortcom- 
 ings. But, Fannius, when 
 you tell me that wisdom 
 and virtue are attributed 
 to me beyond what I can 
 admit or desire, you speak 
 as a friend ; and I do not 
 think that your judgment 
 does justice to Cato. For 
 if any one is truly wise, — 
 which I am disposed to 
 doubt, — he was a wise 
 man. How courageously 
 — to give only one illus- 
 tration — he bore the death 
 ofhissonl'^ I remembered 
 that Paulus ^^ had suffered 
 a similar affliction, and I 
 had seen Gallus '^ when the 
 same grief had come to 
 him ; but the sons these
 
 men lost were boys : Cato's 
 son was a mature and hon- 
 ored man. Wherefore do 
 not heedlessly prefer to 
 Cato even the man whom 
 Apollo declared to be the 
 wisest. For Socrates is, 
 indeed, famous for his 
 words; but Cato is illus- 
 trious through his deeds. 
 This in reply to Fannius : 
 as regards myself, I will 
 now answer you both. 
 
 If I were to deny that 
 I deeply feel the death of 
 Scipio, those who profess 
 to be wise in such matters^^ 
 must judge whether such 
 an attitude of mind is right 
 or wrong — but certainly I 
 should not be telling the 
 truth. For I do feel the 
 15
 
 loss of the best friend that 
 I know man ever had or, 
 I feel sure, ever will have. 
 But I need no external 
 remedy for my wound ; I 
 am able to heal myself, 
 especially with the consol- 
 ing thought that, unlike 
 most who are overwhelmed 
 with anguish when their 
 friends die, I do not grieve 
 without hope. For I do 
 not think that an evil thing 
 has happened to Scipio : 
 if there is any evil in the 
 event, I am the one who 
 suffers it ; but to be unduly 
 distressed by one's own af- 
 fliction is the part not of 
 one who loves his friend, 
 but of one who loves him- 
 self 
 
 i6
 
 As for him, who will 
 deny that his lot was a 
 glorious one? For unless 
 he had wished — what he 
 never thought of — to be 
 exempt from death, what 
 was there within the 
 proper limits of human 
 desire that he did not at- 
 tain '? — he who by the ex- 
 traordinary virtues of his 
 early manhood surpassed 
 even the highest hopes 
 that his fellow-citizens had 
 already formed of him in 
 his boyhood; who never 
 sought the Consulship, 
 yet was twice made Con- 
 sul — once before he had 
 reached the legal age, and 
 again at a time propitious 
 for himself but almost too 
 
 ' 17
 
 late for the safety of the 
 Republic ; and who by 
 the overthrow of two cities, 
 both fiercely hostile to our 
 state, not only put an end 
 to existing wars but also 
 prevented them for the fu- 
 ture. Why should I speak 
 of his gracious manners, of 
 his affection for his mother, 
 of his generosity to his 
 sisters, of his goodness to- 
 ward the rest of his fam- 
 ily, of his justice to all 
 men? These things you 
 both know well. How 
 much, also, he was loved 
 by the general public was 
 manifest in the grief that 
 was shown at his funeral. 
 Of what profit, then, 
 to him would have been 
 
 i8
 
 a few more years of life ? 
 For old age, even though 
 it may not be in itself 
 a burden, — as I remem- 
 ber Cato maintained in a 
 conversation with Scipio 
 and myself the year before 
 he died, — necessarily im- 
 pairs that vitality and vigor 
 which Scipio still pos- 
 sessed. Thus his life was 
 so complete, both in good 
 fortune and in fame, that 
 nothing could be added 
 to it: and even in dying 
 this good fortune followed 
 him, for the suddenness of 
 his death doubtless robbed 
 it of its pain. The exact 
 manner of it we cannot 
 tell with certainty : vari- 
 ous suspicions are, as you 
 19
 
 know, in the air. But this 
 we can say, that of the 
 many happy and famous 
 days that Pubhus Scipio 
 saw during his life, the 
 most glorious one was the 
 day before his death, when 
 toward evening, on the 
 adjournment of the Sen- 
 ate, he was escorted to his 
 home by the Conscript 
 Fathers, the Roman peo- 
 ple, the Latins, and the al- 
 lies. From this lofty plane 
 of honor he seems not to 
 have descended to the 
 shades but to have as- 
 cended to the gods. 
 
 For I do not agree with 
 those ''° who have of late 
 begun to argue that the 
 soul perishes with the
 
 body and that death ends 
 all. Of more weight with 
 me is the authority of the 
 ancients — of our ancestors, 
 who surely would not have 
 established religious rites 
 for the dead if they had 
 thought that the dead have 
 no concern in them ; of 
 those philosophers who 
 by their schools and in- 
 struction made Magna 
 Graecia ^' (now utterly de- 
 cayed but then flourishing) 
 famous for learning; and 
 of that sage, judged by the 
 oracle of Apollo to be 
 the wisest of men, whose 
 opinion was not now this 
 and now that, as with 
 most, but always the 
 same — that the souls of
 
 men are divine, that when 
 they leave the body they 
 find the return to heaven 
 open, and that this return 
 is easiest for the most up- 
 right and the best. And 
 this was also the behef of 
 Scipio who, almost pro- 
 phetically, a little while 
 before his death, in the 
 presence of Philus,^^ Man- 
 ilius, ^3 and several others, — 
 and of you, too, Scaevola, 
 for you had come with 
 me, — talked on three suc- 
 cessive days about the Re- 
 public, and toward the end 
 spoke almost wholly of the 
 immortality of the soul, 
 telling us what he had 
 heard in a dream ^^ from 
 Africanus.
 
 If this then is true, that 
 for each soul the escape, 
 as it were, from its im- 
 prisonment in the body is 
 easy in proportion to its 
 moral worth, for whom 
 can this flight to the gods 
 have been easier than for 
 Scipio ? I, therefore, fear 
 to lament his fate lest such 
 grief should show more of 
 envy than of friendship. 
 Even if the truth is with 
 the other belief, that soul 
 and body perish together 
 and that no consciousness 
 survives, it remains certain 
 that if death brings noth- 
 ing good it also brings 
 nothing evil. For if con- 
 sciousness be lost it is with 
 him exactly as if he had 
 23
 
 not been born at all — 
 though we rejoice that he 
 was born, and this State 
 also, as long as it ex- 
 ists, will rejoice. And so 
 to him, as I have said, 
 the best has happened ; 
 though not to me, for as 
 I came into the world be- 
 fore him I ought to have 
 been the first to leave it. 
 But so delightful is the 
 recollection of our friend- 
 ship that the happiness of 
 my life seems to me to 
 have been that I lived 
 with Scipio; for we were 
 united in domestic and 
 in public affiiirs, at home 
 and in military service, 
 and by that strongest bond 
 of love, harmony of de- 
 24
 
 sires, pursuits, and senti- 
 ments. I am, therefore, 
 not so much pleased by 
 that reputation for wisdom 
 which Fannius just men- 
 tioned — and which is 
 certainly not merited — as 
 by the hope that the 
 memory of our friendship 
 will never perish; and this 
 I have at heart the more 
 because in all the past 
 scarcely three or four pairs 
 of friends have become 
 famous — a group in 
 which I hope, the friend- 
 ship of Laelius and Scipio 
 will be known to pos- 
 terity. 
 
 Fannius. There can be 
 no doubt about that, Lae- 
 lius. But since you have 
 25
 
 mentioned the subject, and 
 we have nothing else on 
 hand, you will do a great 
 favor to me — and to Scae- 
 vola too, I am sure — if 
 you will talk to us about 
 friendship, just as you do 
 about other matters when 
 your opinion is sought, 
 telling us what are your 
 ideas about it, what, in 
 your opinion, is its char- 
 acter, and what rules you 
 would lay down with re- 
 gard to it. 
 
 ScAEvoLA. I shall be 
 very glad to listen ; and I 
 was about to ask you to 
 do this when Fannius an- 
 ticipated me. So you will 
 be conferring a favor on 
 us both. 
 
 26
 
 Laelius. I certainly 
 would not hesitate if I 
 felt confidence in my 
 ability; for the subject is 
 a very attractive and im- 
 portant one, and we are, 
 as Fannius has said, at 
 leisure. But who am I 
 that I should discuss this 
 theme or what capacity 
 have I to do it justice? 
 To speak without prepara- 
 tion on topics suggested 
 by others is a custom 
 among philosophers, espe- 
 cially the Greeks. But 
 the art is a difficult one, 
 and requires not a little 
 practice. It seems to me, 
 therefore, that you would 
 do better to seek what can 
 be said about friendship 
 27
 
 from those who possess 
 this accomplishment. 
 
 As for me, I can only 
 urge you to prefer friend- 
 ship to everything else in 
 life ; for there is nothing 
 else so fitted to nature — 
 so well suited both to pros- 
 perity and to adversity. 
 But I assert as a first prin- 
 ciple that friendship can 
 exist only between those 
 who are good ; nor would 
 I split hairs in defining 
 this word " good," as 
 some ^5 (Jo who discuss 
 these matters with sub- 
 tlety and perhaps cor- 
 rectly in theory, but with 
 little advantage to the un- 
 learned, for they deny that 
 any one can be good ex- 
 28
 
 cept the wise. This may 
 be true ; but they under- 
 stand by wisdom some- 
 thing that no mortal being 
 has yet attained ; while we 
 ought to have in view 
 those traits which have a 
 place in the experience 
 of common life, and not 
 those which are mere pro- 
 ducts of fancy or objects 
 of aspiration. For I will 
 never call Caius Fabri- 
 cius,^^ Manius Curius,^^ 
 or Tiberius Coruncanius,^^ 
 wise, though our ancestors 
 judged them to be so, if I 
 have to measure them by 
 the standard of wisdom 
 set up by these philoso- 
 phers. Let them keep, 
 then, for themselves that 
 
 29
 
 name of " wisdom," with 
 all its pretentiousness and 
 unintelligibility, if they 
 will only admit that these 
 men may have been good. 
 But this they will not do; 
 they will not for a moment 
 concede that any one can 
 be good who is not, in 
 their sense of the word, 
 wise. Let us appeal, then, 
 to plain common sense. 
 From this point of view it 
 is clear that those who so 
 act and live as to prove 
 their good faith, upright- 
 ness, justice, and gener- 
 osity, and show that they 
 harbor no covetousness, 
 licentiousness, or presump- 
 tion, and have great 
 strength of character, — as 
 30
 
 had those whom I have 
 mentioned, — ought to be 
 called the good men they 
 are esteemed to be, be- 
 cause, as far as men can, 
 they follow nature, which 
 is the best guide to a good 
 life. 
 
 For it seems to me evi- 
 dent that from the very 
 fact of our birth there ex- 
 ists among us all a certain 
 fellowship which is strong 
 in proportion to the near- 
 ness of our relationship. 
 Thus fellow-citizens are 
 more closely bound to- 
 gether than foreigners, rela- 
 tives than those who have 
 no tie of blood : between 
 such nature herself begets 
 friendship, though it is one 
 
 31
 
 that lacks strength. For true 
 friendship has this advan- 
 tage over mere closeness of 
 relationship, that from the 
 latter good will may be 
 taken away, but never 
 from friendship ; since 
 when good will is lost the 
 very name of friendship is 
 destroyed, while that of 
 relationship remains. How 
 great the power of friend- 
 ship is can best be seen 
 from this, that in human 
 fellowship, wide as it is, 
 and established as it is by 
 nature herself, the sphere 
 of true and tender affec- 
 tion, is so narrowed that 
 it exists only between two, 
 or at most a few. 
 
 For friendship is noth- 
 
 32
 
 ing else than harmony of 
 opinion and sentiment 
 about all things human 
 and divine, with good-will 
 and affection : and no bet- 
 ter thing than this, it seems 
 to me, — unless we except 
 wisdom, — has been given 
 to man by the immortal 
 gods. Some prefer wealth, 
 some health, some power, 
 some public honors, and 
 very many pleasure. But 
 the last is, as an end, worthy 
 only of beasts, while the 
 others are precarious and 
 transitory, and depend not 
 so much upon our own 
 devices as upon luck. 
 Some, on the other hand, 
 regard virtue as the high- 
 est good, and their opin- 
 
 ^ 33
 
 ion is a noble and true one; 
 but it is this very virtue 
 that begets and preserves 
 friendship, for without vir- 
 tue there can be no friend- 
 ship at all. 
 
 Nor would I, like some 
 philosophers,^'^ define vir- 
 tue, as I here employ the 
 word, in grandiloquent 
 terms, but rather in ac- 
 cordance with our ordin- 
 ary habits of life and 
 speech, citing as virtuous 
 men those who have been 
 esteemed to be so — the 
 Pauli, the Catos, the Galli, 
 the Scipios, the Phili. Or- 
 dinary human life finds 
 such men quite good 
 enough ; and we may, ac- 
 cordingly, disregard those 
 
 34
 
 ideal perfect beings 3° whom 
 nobody has ever seen. 
 
 Among these good men 
 of real Hfe, however, friend- 
 ship has advantages almost 
 more numerous than I can 
 name. For, in the first 
 place, what Hfe can be 
 worth living, as Ennius^' 
 says, which lacks the calm 
 joy which flows from the 
 mutual affection of friend- 
 ship ? What is sweeter 
 than the possession of a 
 friend with whom one can 
 commune as withone'sown 
 soul ^ What enjoyment 
 would there be in prosper- 
 ity without one to rejoice 
 in your good fortune as 
 much as you do yourself? 
 And adversity could hardly 
 
 35
 
 be endured without the 
 sympathetic friend who is 
 more grieved than you by 
 your misfortune. In short, 
 the other things that men 
 strive for are fitted, almost 
 always, for particular ends 
 only — wealth for use, 
 power for the securing of 
 homage, honors for ap- 
 plause, pleasures for de- 
 light, health for freedom 
 from pain and for the ex- 
 ercise of the bodily pow- 
 ers. Friendship, on the 
 other hand, combines many 
 advantages. Wherever 
 you turn it is at hand. 
 From no place is it shut 
 out. It is never unseason- 
 able. It never annoys. 
 And thus, as the proverb
 
 says, we have as many 
 uses for friendship as for 
 fire and water. Nor do I 
 speak now of friendship 
 of the common and ordin- 
 ary sort, — though this is 
 both pleasant and service- 
 able, — but of true and per- 
 fect love, like that of the 
 few whose mutual affec- 
 tion has become famous. 
 Friendship such as this 
 makes prosperity more 
 bright, and by dividing 
 and sharing adversity light- 
 ens its weight.'' 
 
 Friendship, moreover, 
 not only comprises the 
 most numerous and im- 
 portant practical advan- 
 tages, but is also preemin- 
 ent in this, that it throws 
 
 37
 
 the light of a good hope 
 forward into the future, and 
 does not suffer us to be- 
 come down-hearted or de- 
 pressed. For he who 
 beholds the face of a true 
 friend sees, as it were, a 
 duplicate of himself And 
 so, though absent, they are 
 present; though needy they 
 do not lack; though weak 
 they are strong; and, most 
 marvelous of all, though 
 dead they yet live: with 
 such regard, such fond 
 recollections, such tender 
 love are they followed by 
 their friends. Thus the 
 death of those who depart 
 seems blessed, and the life 
 of those who remain worthy 
 of praise. 
 
 38
 
 If you should take away 
 from nature the bond of 
 good-will no home or city 
 could survive, nor could 
 even the cultivation of the 
 fields go on. Indeed, if 
 there is any doubt about 
 the great power of friend- 
 ship and harmony, it can 
 be removed by a glance 
 at the obvious results of 
 strife and discord ; for 
 what house is so stable, 
 what state so firmly based, 
 that it cannot be over- 
 thrown to its foundations 
 by disaffection and malice? 
 From this you can judge 
 of the value of friendship. 
 A certain philosopher ^^ of 
 Agrigentum, it is said, 
 composed a poem, in 
 
 39
 
 Greek, in which he sang 
 that all things throughout 
 the universe that move 
 apart are dissevered by 
 discord, while those that 
 stand united are drawn to- 
 gether by love. But this 
 all mortals understand, and 
 prove its truth by their 
 conduct. ( For if some one 
 does a notable service to 
 a friend, either by seeking 
 to incur or by sharing his 
 dangers, who does not be- 
 stow upon such an act the 
 highest praise '?j What 
 shouts shook the whole 
 theater on the presentation 
 of the new play^^ of my 
 friend and guest Marcus 
 Pacuvius^^ when — the 
 king not knowing which 
 40
 
 was Orestes — Pylades de- 
 clared that he was Orestes 
 in order that he might be 
 slain in his friend's stead, 
 while Orestes insisted that 
 he was the true Orestes — 
 as in fact he was ! The 
 spectators rose to their feet, 
 and applauded to the echo 
 this unreal scene : what 
 may we suppose they 
 would have done if they 
 had seen the reality? In 
 this episode nature herself 
 showed her power when 
 men approved in another 
 conduct to which they 
 would not have been equal 
 themselves. 
 
 I have now stated, as 
 well, I think, as I can, my 
 thoughts about friendship. 
 41
 
 If I have left anything un- 
 said — and I think there 
 is much that might be ad- 
 ded — seek it, if you will, 
 from those who make 
 a business of such dis- 
 courses. 
 
 Fannius. We would 
 rather hear it from you : 
 though I have often put 
 questions to those philos- 
 ophers and heard their an- 
 swers with pleasure. Your 
 discourse, however, has a 
 somewhat different stamp. 
 
 ScAEVOLA. You would 
 say that more emphatic- 
 ally, Fannius, if you had 
 been present recently in 
 the gardens of Scipio when 
 the conversation turned 
 on the Republic. What 
 42
 
 an advocate of justice he 
 was when he answered the 
 studied speech of Philus ! 
 
 Fannius. It was easy 
 for the most just of men 
 to defend justice. 
 
 ScAEVOLA. And why 
 not friendship *? Is it not 
 easy for him to defend 
 it who has attained the 
 highest renown for pre- 
 serving it with the utmost 
 fidelity, constancy, and 
 equity? 
 
 Laelius. But this is to 
 employ force I For what 
 matters it how you com- 
 pel me ? — I amcompelled 
 beyond a doubt. For it is 
 not easy, nor is it right, 
 to refuse the earnest re- 
 quest of one's sons-in-law, 
 
 43
 
 especially when they have 
 so good a case. 
 
 In thinking of friend- 
 ship, then, the question 
 that has most often and 
 forcibly occurred to me is 
 this : whether friendship is 
 to be sought because of a 
 feeling of weakness and 
 need, in order that by the 
 giving and receiving of 
 favors, each may obtain 
 from his friend what he is 
 least able to do for himself, 
 and, in turn, may render 
 his friend the same aid; 
 or whether friendship — 
 though this mutual aid- 
 giving is one of its essen- 
 tial characteristics — has 
 not another cause which is 
 loftier, more lovely, and 
 
 44
 
 founded more deeply in 
 the very nature of man."^ 
 For the inner sentiment 
 of love, from which, in 
 Latin,35 ^h^ word " friend- 
 ship" is derived, is the 
 chief source of all outward 
 friendly conduct. Profit, 
 indeed, is often gained 
 from those who are hon- 
 ored in pretended friend- 
 ship only, and are esteemed 
 only because they relieve 
 the needs of their intim- 
 ates; in true friendship, on 
 the contrary, there is no 
 feigning, no deceit, but 
 whatever is done comes 
 from a true heart and a 
 free will. Wherefore it 
 seems to me to spring 
 from nature herself rather 
 
 45
 
 than from a feeling of 
 need — from a natural in- 
 clination together with a 
 certain consciousness of 
 loving rather than from 
 calculation of the advan- 
 tages that may flow from 
 it. 
 
 Its true character may, in 
 fact, be perceived even in 
 some brutes, for they love 
 their offspring for a time 
 and are, in turn, so loved 
 by them that this natural 
 affection is easily discerned. 
 In man, of course, this is 
 much more clear; first 
 of all in the natural af- 
 fection which exists be- 
 tween parents and chil- 
 dren, and which can be 
 dissolved only by some 
 46
 
 horrible crime; and then 
 in that similar feeling of 
 love which springs up 
 when we find some one 
 whose nature and habits 
 are in harmony with our 
 own and in whom we 
 think we see a bright ex- 
 ample of integrity and 
 virtue. For there is no- 
 thing more lovable than 
 virtue, nothing that more 
 quickly wins affection ; 
 in fact, for their virtue 
 and uprightness we love 
 even those whom we have 
 never seen. Who does 
 not hold the memory of 
 Caius Fabricius and Man- 
 ius Curius in affectionate 
 regard, though he never 
 saw them ? And who, on 
 
 47
 
 the other hand, does not 
 loathe Tarquinius Super- 
 bus 3^, Spurius Cassius37, 
 and Spurius MaeHus^^? 
 Two generals, Pyrrhus ^^ 
 and Hannibal ^° fought for 
 the conquest of Italy : the 
 former we respect for his 
 integrity, the latter we de- 
 test for his cruelty. But if 
 the power of uprightness 
 is so great that we are con- 
 strained to love it in those 
 whom we have never seen, 
 and even (which is more 
 striking) in an enemy, is it 
 wonderful that the souls of 
 men are moved when they 
 see the virtue and good- 
 ness of those with whom 
 they can be intimate? 
 Love is, of course, 
 48
 
 strengthened by the receipt 
 of favors, by the percep- 
 tion of affection, and by 
 habitual intercourse ; and 
 when these are added to 
 the original loving im- 
 pulse of the heart good 
 will begins to glow with 
 extraordinary ardor. But 
 if any think that it is be- 
 gotten by a sense of need 
 — in order to have a friend 
 who may give us what 
 we lack — they assign to 
 friendship, as it were, a 
 mean and ignoble origin 
 in tracing its birth to pov- 
 erty and want. If this 
 view of its origin were 
 true, then each one would 
 be fitted for friendship in 
 proportion to the scanti- 
 
 i 49
 
 ness of his resources; but 
 this is far from being the 
 case. For it is when one 
 relies chiefly upon him- 
 self and is so thoroughly 
 equipped with virtue and 
 wisdom that he has need 
 of no one, and regards 
 his fortunes as dependent 
 upon himself alone, that 
 he excels in seeking and in 
 preserving affection. How 
 absurd not to admit this I 
 Did Africanus have need 
 of me ? No, by Hercules I 
 — nor I of him. For I 
 was drawn to him by ad- 
 miration of his virtuCj'^and 
 he loved me for the good 
 opinion which, perhaps, 
 he had formed of my 
 character. J Habitual inter- 
 so
 
 course only strengthened 
 our mutual good-will. 
 
 But although the prac- 
 tical advantages that at- 
 tended it were many and 
 great, the true source of 
 our friendship did not lie 
 in the hope of obtaining 
 them. We are not kind 
 and generous in order that 
 we may exact a return — 
 for we do not put our 
 good-will out at usury, but 
 are by nature inclined to 
 generosity; and in the 
 same way, it seems to me, 
 friendship should be 
 sought not from the hope 
 of pay but for the profit 
 that is found in love it- 
 self 
 
 From this opinion 
 
 SI
 
 those '^^ who, like the 
 brutes, refer everything to 
 pleasure emphatically dis- 
 sent. Nor is this strange. 
 For men who have fixed 
 all their thoughts upon an 
 end so low and so ignoble 
 cannot lift them to what 
 is exalted, noble, and di- 
 vine. Accordingly, we may 
 dismiss these philosophers 
 from our discussion; and 
 we will assume it to be 
 granted that the sentiment 
 of love and the emotion 
 of affectionate good-will 
 are begotten in us by 
 human nature itself, as 
 soon as we clearly see up- 
 rightness of character in 
 others. Those who seek 
 this mutual affection are 
 
 52
 
 drawn together and devote 
 themselves to one another, 
 that each may enjoy the 
 character and companion- 
 ship of the one he has be- 
 gun to love.^ In love there 
 is equality in all respects, 
 and each is more eager to 
 confer favors upon his 
 friend than to demand 
 them from him ; in this 
 matter there is, indeed, an 
 honorable rivalry between 
 them./ 
 
 Thus will the greatest 
 advantages be obtained 
 from friendship, and its de- 
 rivation from nature, rather 
 than from need, will be 
 more noble and more real. 
 For if friendships were 
 cemented by utility, the 
 
 53
 
 impairment of their util- 
 ity by change of circum- 
 stances would dissolve 
 them; but true friendships 
 are eternal, because nature 
 cannot change. 
 
 This will suffice for the 
 origin of friendship, unless 
 you have something to 
 say in reply to my argu- 
 ment. 
 
 Fannius. Nay, go on, 
 Laelius ; and I say this, as 
 I have a right to do, both 
 for Scaevola and myself, 
 since he is the younger. 
 
 Scaevola. I assent to 
 that; and so let us listen. 
 
 Laelius. You shall hear, 
 then, best of men, the 
 opinions that Scipio and 
 I expressed in our fre- 
 
 54
 
 quent conversations on this 
 theme. He thought, it is 
 true, that nothing is more 
 difficult than to retain 
 friendship unimpaired un- 
 til the end of life. For it 
 may often happen that 
 the private interests of 
 friends conflict, or that 
 they differ in opinion on 
 public affairs. Our habits 
 and dispositions, too, he 
 used to say, change — a 
 result sometimes of ad- 
 versity, sometimes of ad- 
 vancing years. And as 
 an illustration of this he 
 would cite the experiences 
 of childhood, for boys who 
 love one another most ar- 
 dently often lay aside at 
 the same time the garb 
 
 55
 
 of youth and their mu- 
 tual affection. Even if 
 these early loves last un- 
 til the dawn of manhood, 
 they are apt to be de- 
 stroyed either by rivalry 
 in marriage, or competi- 
 tion for some other ad- 
 vantage which both the 
 friends cannot obtain. If 
 they endure still longer, 
 they are very likely to 
 come to grief if the friends 
 happen to contend for the 
 same public honors. For 
 there is, in many cases, no 
 greater enemy of friend- 
 ship than greed of gain ; 
 and between many excel- 
 lent men, who have been 
 the best of friends, bitter 
 hatred is engendered by 
 56
 
 the struggle for place and 
 fame. Strong and often 
 just dislikes, too, are be- 
 gotten, when friends are 
 asked for something that 
 they cannot rightly grant, 
 as, for example, aid in the 
 gratification of lust or as- 
 sistance in a crime. Those 
 who deny such requests, 
 however virtuously, are 
 charged, by the friends 
 they decline to aid, with 
 treason to friendship; while 
 those who make such de- 
 mands profess, by the very 
 fact, that they are willing 
 to do anything whatever 
 for a friend's sake. Such 
 quarrels, when habitual, 
 not only destroy intimacy 
 but also often beget un- 
 
 57
 
 dying hate. In fact, so 
 many chances of ship- 
 wreck, Scipiowouldsay, lie 
 before friendship, that to 
 escape them all, and come 
 safely into port, would 
 seem to depend not only 
 upon exceptional wisdom 
 but also upon rare good 
 luck. 
 
 Let us, then, f consider 
 first, if you will," how far 
 love of our friends ought 
 to influence our conductTj 
 For example, if Corio- 
 lanus'^^ had friends ought 
 they to have borne arms 
 with him against their na- 
 tive land*? Ought the 
 friends of Viscellinus^^ or 
 those of Maelius, both of 
 whom aimed at regal pow- 
 
 58
 
 er, to have aided them in 
 their designs? We have 
 seen how Tiberius Grac- 
 chus '^'^ was abandoned by 
 Quintus Tubero^5 ^iud 
 other friends when he dis- 
 turbed the peace of the 
 Republic. Yet Caius Blos- 
 sius^^ofCumse, — the guest 
 of your family, Scaevola, 
 — when he came to me, 
 then the legal adviser of 
 Laenatus and Rupilius the 
 consuls, seeking to avert 
 punishment, offered as the 
 reason why I should par- 
 don him that he was so 
 strongly attached to Tibe- 
 rius Gracchus that he 
 thought that he ought 
 to do whatever Gracchus 
 wished. But I said to him: 
 
 59
 
 " Even if he had wished 
 you to set fire to the Capi- 
 tol ? " " He would never 
 have desired such a thing," 
 he replied, "but if he had 
 desired it I would have 
 done it." That was the 
 answer of a scoundrel I 
 And, by Hercules, his con- 
 duct did not belie, but 
 rather surpassed, his words; 
 for instead of giving obe- 
 dient assent to the auda- 
 cious scheme of Gracchus 
 he took a commanding 
 part in it, showing himself 
 to be a leader rather than 
 a follower of his madness. 
 As a result of this folly, 
 terrified by the novel ju- 
 dicial proceedings which 
 were set on foot against 
 60
 
 him and his fellows, he 
 fled to Asia, took refuge 
 among our enemies, and 
 finally paid a heavy and 
 just penalty for his crime. 
 It is, then, no excuse 
 for wrong-doing to say that 
 you sinned for a friend's 
 sake; indeed, since the be- 
 lief of your friend in your 
 virtue may have been the 
 ground of his friendship, 
 it is hard for that friend- 
 ship to endure when you 
 have wandered from vir- 
 tue's ways. In fact, if we 
 should hold it to be right 
 to grant whatever our 
 friends wish, and to ask 
 from them whatever we 
 desire, we should all need 
 to be endowed with ab- 
 
 6i
 
 solute wisdom to keep 
 our friendships free from 
 blame. The friends we 
 are talking about, how- 
 ever, are not these ideal 
 wise men, but real men 
 whom we know, whom 
 we have seen with our _ 
 own eyes, or of whom we 
 have heard, and who are 
 familiar figures in com- 
 mon life. It is from these 
 that our examples must 
 be taken; and those should 
 be selected who approach 
 most closely to true wis- 
 dom. We know, from 
 what our fathers have 
 handed down to us, that 
 Aemilius'^^ was very inti- 
 mate with Luscinus,'^^ for 
 they were twice consuls to- 
 62
 
 gether, and colleagues in 
 the censorship ; and there 
 is a tradition, also, that 
 Manius Curius and Ti- 
 berius Coruncanius were 
 close friends of these men 
 and of each other. But 
 we cannot imagine that 
 either of these men would 
 have demanded from his 
 friend anything that was 
 contrary to good faith, to 
 the obligations of an oath, 
 or to the best interests of 
 the State. What need is 
 there of saying of such 
 men that if one of them 
 had demanded anything 
 of that kind from his friend 
 he would not have ob- 
 tained it? For they were 
 men of the utmost integ- 
 63
 
 rity ; and it is as wrong to 
 grant an evil request as to 
 make it. Yet Caius Car- 
 bo ^9 and Cai us Cato 5° sup- 
 ported Tiberius Gracchus, 
 as did also his brother 
 Caius,^' at the time with 
 Httle ardor, it is true, but 
 now most zealously. 
 
 Let this then be estab- 
 lished as a law of friend- 
 ship, that we should neither 
 ask of our friends, nor do 
 at their request, anything 
 that is dishonorable ; and 
 the plea that one has acted 
 in a friend's behalf is a 
 base excuse to offer for any 
 crime, and particularly for 
 an offense against the State. 
 For the present situation 
 of the republic is such, 
 64
 
 Fannius and Scaevola, that 
 we ought to look far ahead 
 for the dangers that may 
 threaten it. Already it 
 has, to some extent, occu- 
 pied a different ground 
 and followed a different 
 course from those pre- 
 scribed by the customs of 
 our ancestors. Tiberius 
 Gracchus attempted to be- 
 come king; and in fact he 
 did exercise regal power 
 for a few months. When 
 had the Roman people 
 heard or seen anything 
 like this? What, even af- 
 ter his death, the friends 
 and relatives who followed 
 him did to Publius Scipio^^ 
 I cannot mention without 
 tears. We have borne 
 5 65
 
 with Carbo " as well as we 
 could, on account of the 
 recent punishment of Ti- 
 berius Gracchus; but what 
 I anticipate from the trib- 
 unate of Caius Gracchus 
 I do not care to say. 
 
 Moreover, another evil 
 is creeping upon us; and 
 it is the tendency of such 
 evils, when once they have 
 sprung up, to move more 
 and more swiftly to the 
 catastrophe. For even be- 
 fore this you saw, in the 
 matter of the ballot, how 
 great degeneracy was 
 shown first in the Gabi- 
 nian law, and two years 
 later in the Cassian.^'^ Al- 
 ready I seem to see the 
 people alienated from the 
 
 66
 
 senate, and the most im- 
 portant affairs of state set- 
 tled by the caprice of the 
 mob; for more will know 
 how these revolutionary 
 movements may be effect- 
 ed than how to prevent 
 them. 
 
 But why do I mention 
 these things? Because no 
 one attempts to compass 
 such ends without the aid 
 of associates. Good men 
 should, therefore, be ad- 
 vised that if by any chance 
 they unwittingly contract 
 such friendships, they need 
 not feel so bound by them 
 that they cannot abandon 
 friends who are guilty of 
 a serious offense ; and pun- 
 ishment should be visited 
 67
 
 on all the guilty — as well 
 upon those who are merely 
 followers as upon those 
 who are leaders in the 
 crime. Who, in all Greece, 
 was more renowned than 
 Themistocles^ss who more 
 
 powerful? Yet when, as 
 commander in the Persian 
 war, he had freed Greece 
 from servitude, and 
 through envy had been 
 driven into exile, he did 
 not bear as he ought the 
 injuries inflicted by his un- 
 grateful country. He did 
 what twenty years before 
 Coriolanus had done at 
 Rome [sought refuge with 
 his country's enemies]. 
 But neither of these men 
 found any one among his 
 
 68
 
 fellow-citizens who would 
 aid him in his attack up- 
 on his native land; and so 
 both committed suicide. 
 Such association with evil- 
 doers, therefore, is not to be 
 protected by the plea of 
 friendship, but is rather to 
 be punished with the ut- 
 most severity lest any one 
 should imagine that it is 
 permissible to follow a 
 friend even to the point 
 of making war upon one's 
 country — a degree of 
 baseness which, as things 
 are going now, may, for 
 aught I know, be reached 
 in the future. For I am 
 no less anxious about the 
 course of public affairs 
 after my death than I 
 69
 
 am about their present 
 condition. 
 
 Let this, then, be held 
 to be the first law of 
 friendship, that we should 
 ask from our friends only 
 what is right, and should 
 do for them only what 
 can honorably be granted. 
 Nor should we wait until 
 we are asked; there should 
 be eagerness and no delay 
 in such service. fWe 
 should venture also to 
 give advice freely; for in 
 friendship the influence of 
 friends who advise wisely 
 may be of great value^ 
 Such admonition should^ 
 be given frankly, and even 
 sharply, if the occasion 
 demands severity, and 
 70
 
 when given should be 
 obeyed. 
 
 Certain philosophers, 
 who are regarded as wise 
 men, I am told, by the 
 Greeks, entertain strange 
 opinions on this topic — 
 for there is nothing which 
 they do not argue about 
 with subtlety : some, 
 namely, hold that very 
 close friendships are to be 
 avoided lest it should be- 
 come necessary for one to 
 be anxious about others; 
 that each has enough, and 
 more than enough, to do in 
 looki ng after h is own aifairs, 
 while to be involved over- 
 much in the concerns of 
 others is an annoyance; 
 that friendship is most 
 71
 
 pleasant when it is driven 
 with loose reins, which can 
 be tightened or relaxed at 
 pleasure; and that the chief 
 element in a happy life is 
 freedom from care, which 
 the soul cannot enjoy if 
 it is, as it were, in travail 
 for many friends. Others, 
 they say, express a view 
 which seems to me much 
 less worthy of human na- 
 ture, — and which I briefly 
 criticized a little while ago, 
 — namely, that friendships 
 are to be sought for the 
 sake of the protection and 
 aid which they furnish and 
 not of good-will and affec- 
 tion, and that the less self- 
 trust and vigor a man has 
 the more apt he is to look 
 72
 
 for friends; from which it 
 follows that women from 
 their feebleness are more 
 likely than men are to seek 
 the protection afforded by 
 friendships, as are also the 
 poor more than the rich, 
 and the unfortunate more 
 than those who are es- 
 teemed lucky. 
 
 O marvelous wisdom I 
 £To rob life of friendship — 
 the best and sweetest gift 
 of the immortal gods — 
 would be like robbing the 
 heavens of the sun I ] For 
 what is that boaste3 free- 
 dom from care ? It has 
 an alluring aspect, but it 
 often ought to be re- 
 nounced ; since it is not 
 right to refuse to support
 
 a good cause or do an 
 honorable act, or to aban- 
 don one that has been un- 
 dertaken, simply to avoid 
 trouble. If we are to shun 
 care, virtue also must be 
 shunned, since it is, of 
 necessity, at considerable 
 pains to spurn and hate 
 its opposites, as goodness 
 spurns and hates wicked- 
 ness, moderation lust, and 
 courage cowardice. Thus, 
 as you may see, the just 
 are most distressed by in- 
 justice, the brave by pusil- 
 lanimity, and the virtuous 
 by license. To rejoice in 
 goodness and be grieved 
 by its opposite is, in fact, 
 an essential mark of a well- 
 ordered mind. 
 
 74
 
 And so if grief of heart 
 and mind comes to the 
 wise man, — as come it 
 must, unless all human 
 kindness be torn from his 
 soul, — why should we to- 
 tally remove friendship 
 from our lives lest it bring 
 us some annoyance '? For 
 when the emotions of the 
 soul are taken away what 
 difference is there — I will 
 not say between men and 
 cattle, but between men 
 and stocks and stones'? 
 Wherefore give no heed 
 to those who pretend that 
 virtue is something hard 
 and, so to say, tough as 
 steel; it is in many matters, 
 and especially in friend- 
 ship, soft and so ductile 
 
 75
 
 that it can, as it were, ex- 
 pand to fit the good for- 
 tune of a friend or contract 
 to suit his griefs. Accord- 
 ingly even that profound 
 distress which must often 
 be incurred for a friend's 
 sake is not of sufficient 
 weight to drive friendship 
 out of our lives, any more 
 than the occasional cares 
 and annoyances which at- 
 tend the virtues are ade- 
 quate grounds for renounc- 
 ing them. 
 
 As I have already said, 
 ji the clear perception of a 
 virtuous characterto which 
 a kindred spirit can attach 
 and devote itself produces 
 friendship, and when this 
 happens love necessarily 
 76
 
 springs into beingi For 
 what can be so absurd 
 as to be delighted by 
 many intrinsically worth- 
 less things, such as public 
 honors, fame, fine houses, 
 and the clothingand adorn- 
 ment of the body, and not 
 to be entranced by a soul 
 endowed with virtue — one 
 that can love and return 
 love for love^ Nothing 
 is more delightful than 
 the repaying of good-will, 
 nothing sweeter than the 
 interchange of personal af- 
 fection and good offices. 
 Nay, if we add to this, as 
 we rightly may, that there 
 is nothing that so allures 
 and draws other things to 
 itself as similarity of char- 
 
 77
 
 acter does to friendship, it 
 must surely be granted 
 that the good love and at- 
 tract the good as if they 
 were joined to them by 
 kinship and by nature; for 
 nature is very desirous of 
 its like and quick to 
 grasp it. 
 
 This, then, in my opin- 
 ion, is certain, Fannius and 
 Scaevola, that between the 
 good mutual good-will is, 
 as it were, a necessity, and 
 has been decreed by nature 
 to be the fountain-head of 
 friendship. But the same 
 kindly feeling prevails 
 throughout the mass of 
 mankind. For virtue is 
 not a thing apart from 
 human nature, nor is it 
 78
 
 unserviceable, or proud. It 
 even guards whole nations 
 and gives them the wisest 
 counsel; and this it surely 
 would not do if it were 
 averse to the love of man- 
 kind in general. 
 
 Now the most lovely 
 bond of friendship is sev- 
 ered by those who falsely 
 base it on utility; for it is 
 not so much the benefit 
 that is obtained from a 
 friend that delights us as 
 that friend's love itself; 
 and what is done for us 
 by a friend gives pleasure 
 only when it is done from 
 affection. In fact, so far 
 is it from being true that 
 friendships are fostered by 
 a sense of need, that those 
 
 79
 
 who on account of their 
 wealth, resources, and espe- 
 cially their virtue — which 
 is the greatest safeguard — 
 have least need of others 
 are most generous and Hb- 
 eral. I am not sure, in- 
 deed, that it would be well 
 that our friends should 
 never have need of us at 
 all. For how could the 
 strength of our affection 
 have been shown if Scipio 
 had never, at home or in 
 the field, required my 
 counsel and assistance ^ 
 Our friendship, however, 
 did not spring from the 
 service, but rather the ser- 
 vice from our friendship. 
 
 Men whose lives are 
 devoted to pleasure ought 
 80
 
 not, therefore, to be list- 
 ened to when they talk 
 about friendship, of which 
 they know nothing either 
 in theory or in practice. 
 For who, by the faith of 
 gods and men, would be 
 willing to accept a life of 
 luxury and a superabund- 
 ance of all good things 
 on the condition that he 
 should love no one nor be 
 loved by any I Only ty- 
 rants live a life like that — 
 devoid of confidence, af- 
 fection, and belief in any 
 steadfast good-will : all is 
 suspicion and anxiety, and 
 there is no place for friend- 
 ship. For who can love 
 one whom he fears, or one 
 by whom he thinks that he 
 
 tJ 8i
 
 is feared? Yet tyrants 
 are flattered with a false 
 show of friendship as long 
 as they can be made of 
 use; but if, as often hap- 
 pens, they are overthrown, 
 their lack of true friends 
 is at once manifest. Thus 
 Tarquin, when he was ex- 
 iled, is said to have de- 
 clared that he could then 
 tell which of his friends 
 were faithful and which 
 false, since he could no 
 longer bestow favors upon 
 either; though I doubt 
 whether a man so proud 
 and insolent could have 
 had any friends at all. 
 
 While this man's evil 
 character made it impossi- 
 ble for him to have friends, 
 82
 
 it is also true that the 
 wealth and power of those 
 in high station often pre- 
 vent the formation of faith- 
 ful friendships. For not 
 only is Fortune herself 
 blind, but she also often 
 blinds those whom she em- 
 braces. And so her favor- 
 ites are almost always mad 
 with pride and insolence; 
 nor is there anything in 
 creation more unbearable 
 than a fool favored by for- 
 tune. One even sees many, 
 who once possessed a ge- 
 nial character, so changed 
 by the acquisition of pow- 
 er, civil authority, and 
 wealth, that they scorn old 
 friendships and become ab- 
 sorbed in new. But, when 
 83
 
 they have abundant re- 
 sources, ability, and v/ealth, 
 what can be more silly than 
 to procure horses, servants, 
 costly clothing, rare vases, 
 and everything else that 
 money can buy, yet not to 
 procure friends, who are, 
 so to say, the best and 
 choicest furniture of life ? 
 For when they buy those 
 other material things they 
 know not for whom they 
 buy them, nor 'for whose 
 sake they toil; since every- 
 thing of that kind belongs 
 to him who has the power 
 to take it. Friendships, on 
 the other hand, are for each 
 of us a fixed and absolute 
 possession ; so that even 
 with all the so-called gifts
 
 of fortune, a life unadorned 
 and deserted by friends 
 cannot be happy. But 
 enough on this topic. 
 
 We must now deter- 
 mine what are the limits of 
 friendship and, as it were, 
 the bounds of love. On 
 this point I find that three 
 opinions are proposed, 
 none of which commands 
 my approval. The first is, 
 that we should be disposed 
 toward our friends exact- 
 ly as we are toward our- 
 selves; the second, that we 
 should have precisely the 
 same amount of good-will 
 toward them that they 
 have toward us; and the 
 third, that at whatever 
 value one rates himself 
 85
 
 he should be rated by his 
 friends. 
 
 With no one of these 
 three opinions can I en- 
 tirely agree. It is not true, 
 as the first would have it, 
 that we should feel toward 
 a friend only just what we 
 feel toward ourselves; for 
 how many things we are 
 ready to do for our friends 
 which we would never do 
 for ourselves I In their 
 behalf we will request, and 
 even beg, favors of those 
 whom we despise, or at- 
 tack some one bitterly or 
 even with violence — acts 
 which would not be proper 
 if done for ourselves but 
 which are most honorable 
 when performed for our 
 
 86
 
 friends. There are also 
 many ways in which good 
 men diminish their own 
 comforts, and suffer them 
 to be diminished, in or- 
 der that their friends may 
 enjoy them instead. 
 
 The second opinion, 
 which limits friendship to 
 an exactly equal inter- 
 change of good-will and 
 good offices, is also inad- 
 missible ; for it minutely 
 and meanly reduces affec- 
 tion to a matter of reckon- 
 ing — a balancing of debits 
 and credits. True friend- 
 ship, on the other hand, 
 seems to me to be too rich 
 and liberal to consider 
 nicely whether it is return- 
 ing more than it has re- 
 87
 
 ceived. In filling the 
 measure of friendship there 
 should be no fear lest 
 something should leak out 
 or fall to the ground, or 
 lest more than the due 
 amount should be put in. 
 But the third rule — that 
 each should be valued by 
 his friends as he values 
 himself — is the meanest 
 of all ; for there are many 
 who are apt to become de- 
 pressed about themselves 
 and to have little hope of 
 bettering their fortunes. It 
 is the duty of a friend, 
 therefore, not to be to such 
 an one what he is to him- 
 self, but on the contrary 
 to endeavor to lighten his 
 disheartenment and give 
 
 88
 
 him fresh hope and pleas- 
 anter thoughts. 
 
 It remains, then, for us 
 to estabhsh another Hmit 
 for true friendship ; but 
 first let me tell you what 
 Scipio was wont to censure 
 most of all. He used to as- 
 sert that nothingmore inim- 
 ical to friendship could be 
 found than the saying that 
 we ought to love as if at 
 some future time we might 
 have occasion to hate; nor 
 could he be brought to be- 
 lieve that this — as is com- 
 monly supposed — was a 
 maxim of Bias ^^, who was 
 regarded as one of the - 
 seven wise men; but he 
 thought it to be rather the 
 opinion of some sordid 
 89
 
 seeker after honors who 
 would make everything 
 serve his own ends. For 
 how could anv one be a 
 friend to one to whom, at 
 the same time, he thought 
 he might be an enemy? 
 Nay, it would even be 
 necessary strongly to de- 
 sire that our friend might 
 offend as often as possible, 
 in order that he might 
 give us, as it were, many 
 handles for reproof; and, 
 on the other hand to be 
 distressed, pained, and of- 
 fended by everything 
 friends do that is right 
 and obliging. This maxim, 
 therefore, whoever origi- 
 nated it, amounts to the 
 destruction of friendship. 
 90
 
 The true rule, on the con- 
 trary, he said, is that we 
 should use such care in 
 selecting our friends that 
 we would never begin to 
 love one whom we could 
 ever hate. Even if we are 
 not very fortunate in our 
 choice of friends, it is bet- 
 ter, Scipio thought, to put 
 up with our bad luck, 
 than to consider the possi- 
 bility of future enmity. 
 
 These, in my opinion, 
 are to be taken as the terms 
 of friendship ; that when 
 the characters of the friends 
 are without blame, there 
 may be between them a 
 complete community of 
 all interests, plans, and de- 
 sires; and that if occasion 
 91
 
 comes to aid friends by 
 promoting wishes of theirs 
 that are not strictly right, 
 and their lives or reputa- 
 tions are at stake, it is per- 
 missible to deviate from 
 the path of rectitude, pro- 
 vided no great dishonor re- 
 sult : since there is a point 
 up to which such indul- 
 gence can be granted to 
 friendship. But our good 
 reputation ought not to 
 be neglected, nor should 
 we regard the good-will of 
 our fellow-citizens as an 
 unimportant aid in the 
 conduct of our affairs, 
 though it is base to seek 
 it by complaisance and 
 flattering assent; and vir- 
 tue, which wins the affec- 
 
 92
 
 tion of our fellows, ought 
 least of all to be sacrificed. 
 But he used to com- 
 plain — for I return often 
 to Scipio, who spoke on 
 every opportunity about 
 friendship — that men are 
 less painstaking in friend- 
 ship than in other mat- 
 ters. Every one knows, 
 he would say, how many 
 goats and sheep he has, 
 but he cannot tell the 
 number of his friends; and 
 men use care in choosing 
 their cattle, but are care- 
 less in selecting their 
 friends, nor have they any 
 criteria by which they can 
 distinguish those who are 
 suited to friendship from 
 those who are not. Those 
 
 93
 
 should be chosen as friends 
 who are firm, steadfast, and 
 unchangeable — a kind of 
 man of which there is a 
 great scarcity, and which 
 can hardly be distinguished 
 without considerable ex- 
 perience ; this experience, 
 however, can be obtained 
 only in friendship itself; 
 and so friendship outruns 
 the judgment, and makes 
 a fair experiment impossi- 
 ble. It is therefore the 
 part of a prudent man to 
 hold in check the impulse 
 of good-will, as one holds 
 a chariot in its course, 
 that, just as we use only 
 well-tried horses, we may 
 use in friendship only 
 friends whose characters 
 
 94
 
 have been in some meas- 
 ure tested. 
 
 The worthlessness of 
 some friends appears in 
 matters involving a little 
 money; while others, who 
 are not atfected by a small 
 pecuniary consideration 
 show their true character 
 when the amount is large. 
 And even if there are some 
 who regard it as sordid to 
 think more of money than 
 of their friends, where shall 
 we find men who will not 
 prefer to friendship public 
 honors, civil office, mili- 
 tary commands, power, and 
 resources, and, when the 
 claims of friendship are 
 placed on the one hand, 
 and these objects of ambi- 
 
 95
 
 tion on the other, will not 
 promptly choose the lat- 
 ter? For human nature 
 is too weak to despise 
 power; and those who 
 rise to place and power on 
 the ruins of friendship be- 
 lieve that their fault will 
 be overlooked, because 
 they neglected friendship 
 for so weighty a reason. 
 Accordingly, true friend- 
 ships are seldom found 
 among those who are in 
 public office and bear the 
 burdens and honors of 
 the state. For where will 
 you find one who will pre- 
 fer the advancement of 
 his friend in public office 
 and honors to his own ? 
 Why should I say more '? 
 96
 
 To pass over this adverse 
 influence of ambition, how 
 difficult and how burden- 
 some seems to most men 
 participation in the mis- 
 fortunes of others I — a fel- 
 lowship to which few con- 
 descend. Though Ennius 
 says rightly, " The faith- 
 ful friend is seen when 
 fortune wavers," yet by 
 one of two things are most 
 people convicted of fickle- 
 ness and weakness, — either 
 by despising their friends 
 in their own prosperity, 
 or by deserting them in 
 their adversity. Who- 
 ever, in either particular, 
 has proved himself noble, 
 unswerving, and steadfast 
 in friendship deserves to 
 
 7 97
 
 be regarded as belonging 
 to a very rare and almost 
 divine class of men. 
 
 The chief support of 
 that stability and con- 
 stancy which we seek in 
 friendship is good faith : 
 for nothing is stable that 
 is unfaithful. Moreover, 
 the choice of a friend 
 should fall upon one who 
 is sincere, congenial, and 
 interested in the same 
 things that interest us: and 
 all these things pertain to 
 fidelity, since a nature that 
 is faithful cannot also be 
 fickle and wily, nor can 
 one who does not share 
 his friend's interests, and is 
 not like-minded, be faith- 
 ful and steadfast. To this 
 98
 
 is to be added that one 
 should never take pleasure 
 in finding fault with one's 
 friends, nor be ready to 
 believe the charges that 
 may be brought against 
 them : this, too, is essential 
 to the constancy of which 
 I have just spoken. From 
 this it follows, as I said at 
 the beginning, that true 
 friendship can exist only 
 between the good. For it 
 is the part of a good man 
 — and we may also say of 
 a wise man, since they are 
 identical — to hold fast in 
 friendship to two things: 
 namely, first to avoid all 
 pretense and dissimula- 
 tion, since it is more 
 worthy of a frank man to 
 
 99
 
 hate openly than to hide 
 his feelings by his looks; 
 and second, not only to 
 repel accusations that are 
 brought against his friend 
 by others but also not to 
 be suspicious himself nor 
 be always thinking that 
 his friend has done some- 
 thing to offend him. There 
 should also be a certain 
 gentleness and courtesy of 
 manners and of conversa- 
 tion, for this gives friend- 
 ship not a little of its rel- 
 ish. For melancholy and 
 a prevailing austerity of 
 manner lend dignity, it is 
 true ; but friendship should 
 be more cheerful, more un- 
 constrained, more genial, 
 and more disposed to all
 
 that promotes good-fel- 
 lowship and affability. 
 
 At this point arises a 
 question of slight diffi- 
 culty, namely, whethernevv 
 friends who are worthy 
 of our friendship are ever 
 to be preferred to the old, 
 as we prefer young and 
 fresh horses to those that 
 are old and worn out. Un- 
 worthy doubt I For there 
 ought to be no satiety in 
 friendship as there is in 
 other things, but, like wines 
 that improve with age, the 
 older it is the more deli- 
 cious it should be ; and 
 the proverb is true, that 
 many pecks of salt must 
 be eaten together ere the 
 work of friendship is fully
 
 done. New friendships, if, 
 like thrifty plants, they 
 give promise of fruit, are 
 not, of course, to be re- 
 jected, but old friends 
 must keep their own 
 places in our hearts : for 
 great is the value of long- 
 continued companionship. 
 Nay, one would rather use 
 the horse — to recur to 
 that illustration — to which 
 he is accustomed, provided 
 he is still sound, than one 
 that is strange and ill 
 broken. Moreover, habit 
 has this power with regard 
 to inanimate as well as ani- 
 mate things, for we are de- 
 lighted by those scenes in 
 which we have long dwelt, 
 however rough and rugged
 
 they may be with moun- 
 tains and forests. 
 
 It is very important in 
 friendship to conduct one- 
 self as an equal with inti- 
 mates who are one's infe- 
 riors; for in a group of 
 friends it often happens 
 that some surpass the rest 
 in ability or character, as 
 did Scipio in our flock — 
 if I may use the word. 
 Yet he avoided all assump- 
 tion of superiority to Phi- 
 lus," or to Rupilius,^^ or 
 to Mummius, or to any 
 of his less distinguished 
 friends ; nay, he always re- 
 garded as his superior, on 
 account of greater age, his 
 brother Maximus,59 who 
 was a very excellent man, 
 103
 
 but by no means Scipio's 
 equal; and he wished all 
 his friends to become 
 richer and more distin- 
 guished through his aid. 
 In this all ought to copy 
 him, and if they have at- 
 tained some preeminence 
 in virtue, talent, or for- 
 tune, ought to impart it to, 
 and share it with, those to 
 whom they are most closely 
 related. Thus, if one is 
 born of humble parents, or 
 has relatives who are infe- 
 rior in ability or fortune, 
 he ought to increase their 
 wealth and bestow honor 
 and dignity upon them ; 
 just as in legends those 
 who have lived for a while 
 as menials, in ignorance of 
 104
 
 their true birth and de- 
 scent, and have been dis- 
 covered to be the sons of 
 kings or of the gods, retain 
 their affection for the shep- 
 herds whom for many years 
 they have supposed to be 
 their fathers. To act thus 
 toward fathers who are 
 known to be such in real- 
 ity there is, of course, much 
 greater obligation : for the 
 best fruits of talent, of vir- 
 tue, and of every kind of 
 preeminence, are really 
 ours only when we bestow 
 them upon our nearest and 
 dearest. 
 
 While those who pos- 
 sess this superiority in the 
 bond of friendship, or in 
 any other relationship, 
 105
 
 ought to put themselves 
 on an equaHty with their 
 inferiors, it is equally true 
 that the latter ought not 
 to be vexed on finding 
 themselves excelled by 
 their friends in talents, for- 
 tune, or rank ; yet most of 
 them are always finding 
 some reason for complaints, 
 or even for reproaches, es- 
 pecially if they think that 
 they can point to some 
 service which they have 
 rendered dutifully, with 
 affection, and with the ex- 
 penditure of considerable 
 effort. Men of this kind, 
 who are always casting in 
 your teeth the favors they 
 have done you, are, of 
 course, most offensive : for 
 
 io6
 
 favors ought to be remem- 
 bered by the one who has 
 received them, but they 
 should not be mentioned 
 by the one who conferred 
 them. Accordingly, in 
 friendship, those who are 
 superior ought to conde- 
 scend to those who are be- 
 low them, and ought also, 
 as far as possible, to raise 
 their inferiors up to their 
 own level. For there are 
 some who turn friendship 
 into a nuisance when they 
 think that their friends 
 hold them in low esteem; 
 though this is scarcely ever 
 the fact except in the case 
 of those who have but 
 a poor opinion of them- 
 selves. Those who feel 
 
 107
 
 thus should be raised in 
 their own esteem by 
 friendly words and deeds. 
 The amount, however, 
 that ought to be bestowed 
 on any one should be 
 measured first by what 
 you are yourself able to 
 accomplish, and secondly 
 by what the one whom 
 you love and would aid 
 has the capacity to receive ; 
 for however great may be 
 your abilities and influ- 
 ence, you cannot lift all 
 your friends to the high- 
 est dignities. Thus Scipio 
 was able to bring about 
 the election of Publius 
 Rupilius^° to the consul- 
 ship, but he could not do 
 as much for Rupilius' 
 
 io8
 
 brother Lucius.^' Buteven 
 if you are able to do any- 
 thing you wish for another, 
 you ought to consider his 
 capacity. 
 
 In general, friendships 
 can best be judged when 
 maturity of years and char- 
 acter has been reached; nor 
 need we think that we must 
 hold as fast friends all our 
 lives those who wxre, in 
 youth, our companions in 
 hunting or in games, and 
 to whom we were attached 
 because they liked the 
 same sports. For on such 
 grounds those who were 
 our nurses and slave atten- 
 dants in childhood would, 
 on account of long inti- 
 macy, demand the most 
 109
 
 affection ; nor ought they 
 to be neglected, though 
 they should occupy in our 
 regard a different position 
 from that which our friends 
 hold. Friendships which 
 do not thus receive the 
 sanction of mature judg- 
 ment, but are based merely 
 on early association, can- 
 not last. For unlike char- 
 acters result from unHke 
 pursuits, and such dispar- 
 ity destroys friendships; 
 nor is there any reason 
 why the good cannot be 
 friends of the bad, nor the 
 bad of the good, except 
 that the diversity between 
 them, both in character 
 and pursuits, is the very 
 greatest that is possible.
 
 It is well, also, to lay 
 down the rule that im- 
 moderate affection should 
 not, as often happens, be 
 permitted to stand in the 
 way of important ser- 
 vices that friends can ren- 
 der. Thus — to borrow 
 another illustration from 
 the legends — Neoptole- 
 mus^'' could not have taken 
 Troy if he had been will- 
 ing to listen to Lycome- 
 des^^ who had brought him 
 up, and who, with many 
 tears, attempted to dis- 
 suade himfromhisjourney. 
 There are also important 
 occasions when for a time 
 friends must part; and 
 whoever desires to prevent 
 this, because he cannot en-
 
 dure the grief which ab- 
 sence brings, is weak and 
 unmanly in character, and 
 for that very reason an im- 
 perfect friend. In short, one 
 should in all things con- 
 sider what one may ask 
 from a friend, and what 
 one can allow his friend 
 to obtain from him. 
 
 The breaking-off of 
 friendships is sometimes, 
 however, a misfortune that 
 cannot be avoided ; and 
 in saying this I descend 
 from the intimacies of the 
 wise to ordinary friend- 
 ships. Often faults are 
 committed by friends either 
 against their intimates or 
 against strangers, and in 
 the latter case the shame
 
 is reflected upon those who 
 are their friends. In such 
 cases it is well to get rid 
 of friendship by lessening 
 intercourse, and, as I have 
 heard that Cato said, by 
 drawing out the threads 
 rather than by cutting them 
 asunder; unless the offense 
 that has been committed 
 is so unendurable that it is 
 neither honorable nor right 
 that the separation should 
 not be effected at once. 
 But if some change of 
 character or of pursuits 
 has occurred, as is often 
 the case, or if a difference 
 of opinion with regard to 
 public affairs has arisen, 
 — I am speaking, as I 
 have just said, not of the 
 «* 113
 
 friendships of the wise 
 but of ordinary ones, — 
 one should take care lest 
 there may seem to be not 
 merely an abandonment 
 of friendship, but also a 
 kindling of enmity; for 
 nothing is more repul- 
 sive than to become an 
 enemy to one with whom 
 you have lived as an 
 intimate friend. Scipio, 
 as you know, gave up, on 
 my account, his friendly 
 relations with Quintus 
 Pompeius ; ^^ he was also 
 alienated by certain po- 
 litical differences from 
 our colleague Metellus ; ^^ 
 but in both cases he 
 acted with dignity, and 
 without an offensive use 
 
 114
 
 of his personal authority 
 or bitter hostiHty. 
 
 Accordingly, we should 
 first of all endeavor to pre- 
 vent disaffection from 
 coming between friends ; 
 but when anything of the 
 kind has happened, let 
 our friendships seem to die 
 a natural death rather than 
 to be destroyed with vio- 
 lence. See to it, also, that 
 friendships do not become 
 transformed into bitter en- 
 mities, from which spring 
 wranglings, abuse, and in- 
 sults; yet if these can in 
 any way be borne they 
 should be endured, and in 
 this way the friendship that 
 is gone should be honored, 
 that he who inflicts the 
 
 "5
 
 injury may be seen to be 
 in the wrong, not he who 
 suffers it. Against all these 
 errors and misfortunes 
 there is one preventive and 
 guaranty — the avoidance 
 of haste in forming attach- 
 ments and the choice of 
 worthy objects of affection. 
 Those, moreover, are 
 worthy of friendship in 
 whose very nature there is 
 a reason why they should 
 be loved. But how few 
 such men there are *? In- 
 deed all things that are 
 excellent are rare, and 
 nothing is harder than to 
 find anything that is, in 
 every respect, perfect of 
 its kind. The majority of 
 men, moreover, recognize 
 
 ii6
 
 nothing in human affairs 
 as good unless it yields 
 some return, and they love 
 those friends most — as 
 they do their cattle — from 
 whoQi they hope to obtain 
 the most profit. Thus they 
 lack that loveliest and 
 most natural form of friend- 
 ship which is sought for 
 its own sake only; nor do 
 they know from experience 
 how beautiful and how 
 lofty such friendship is. 
 One loves oneself not that 
 one may exact from one- 
 self pay for one's love, but 
 because each of us is by 
 nature dear to himself 
 But unless this same feel- 
 ing is transferred to friend- 
 ship, a true friend can 
 117
 
 never be found ; for such 
 a friend is, as it were, a 
 second self Now if we 
 find that all animals — 
 birds, fishes, and beasts, 
 tame and wild — first love 
 themselves (for that is an 
 instinct natural to every 
 living thing), and then de- 
 sire and seek others of 
 their kind to which they 
 may attach themselves, 
 and do this with affection 
 and something that looks 
 very much like human 
 love, how much more nat- 
 ural is this in man, who 
 both loves himself and also 
 demands another whose 
 heart shall be so blended 
 with his that the two shall 
 almost become one soul I 
 
 ii8
 
 Most, however, per- 
 versely — not to say shame- 
 lessly — desire to have 
 friends whose character is 
 what their own cannot be ; 
 and they demand from 
 them what they cannot 
 themselves give in return. 
 The right course, however, 
 is for one to be first of all a 
 good man and then to seek 
 out another like himself 
 Insuchmenthatstabilityof 
 friendship which I touched 
 upon a little while ago can 
 be perfected; since when 
 they are united in mutual 
 good-will they will curb 
 those lower desires by 
 which others are enslaved. 
 They will also delight in 
 uprightness and justice, 
 119
 
 and each will bear any- 
 thing for the other's sake, 
 nor will either ask from 
 the other anything that is 
 not honorable and right : 
 fthey will not only cherish 
 and love, they will even 
 reverence one another/^ 
 For to take away mutuaf 
 respect is to remove the 
 choicest ornament of 
 friendship. Accordingly, 
 they commit a most harm- 
 ful error w^ho suppose that 
 friendship opens the door 
 to lust and evil practices 
 of all kinds, ror nature 
 has given us friendship, 
 not as a companion to the 
 vices, but as an assistant 
 to the virtues, in order that 
 with its help virtue may
 
 reach heights to which un- 
 aided it could not attain. 
 If any now have, or have 
 possessed, or shall attain 
 such fellowship, it should 
 be regarded as the very 
 best and happiest compan- 
 ionship that is possible, 
 since it leads to the high- 
 est good that nature has to 
 give. This, I say, is the 
 fellowship in which are all 
 things that men deem wor- 
 thy of pursuit, — honorable 
 character, fame, peace of 
 mind, and joy, — so that 
 with these things life is 
 happy, but without them 
 it can have no happiness 
 at all. 
 
 But if we would attain 
 this highest and best of
 
 good things, we must be at 
 pains to cultivate virtue, 
 for without it we can se- 
 cure neither friendship nor 
 anything else that is worth 
 seeking. If it is neglected, 
 those who think that they 
 possess true friends find, 
 when some serious emer- 
 gency forces them to put 
 their friends to the test, that 
 they have made a grievous 
 mistake. Accordingly — 
 for this should often be re- 
 peated — it is best to love 
 after you have reached a 
 full and deliberate judg- 
 ment, and not to form 
 your judgment after you 
 have loved. But we are 
 blamable for negligence 
 in many things, and espe-
 
 cially in the choosing and 
 retaining ot friends : for we 
 adopt plans that begin at 
 the wrong end, and do 
 over again what has al- 
 ready been done, which 
 is forbidden by the old 
 proverb. After we have 
 formed a close mutual at- 
 tachment through daily in- 
 tercourse or interchange 
 of good offices, suddenly, 
 in mid career, some oc- 
 casion of offense arises 
 and our friendship is 
 broken off. 
 
 This great lack of care, 
 moreover, is especially 
 blameworthy in a matter 
 of such very great impor- 
 tance ; for friendship is the 
 only thing in human af- 
 123
 
 fairs about whose useful- 
 ness men agree unanim- 
 ously. Even virtue is 
 depreciated by many, who 
 say that it is a sort of os- 
 tentatious display and pre- 
 tense. Many scorn riches, 
 since they are content with 
 a little, and are satisfied 
 with frugal fare and a sim- 
 ple style of living; public 
 honors, also, which arouse 
 the eager desire of some, 
 are scorned by others who 
 think that nothing can be 
 more idle or more trifling; 
 and the same is true of all 
 the other things which to 
 some seem admirable, for 
 there are always very many 
 others who regard them as 
 of not the slightest account. 
 124
 
 About friendship, how- 
 ever, all, to the last man, 
 agree — whether they de- 
 vote themselves to politics 
 or take pleasure in philo- 
 sophical studies, or carry 
 on their business apart from 
 public affairs, or, finally, 
 are wholly absorbed in the 
 pursuit ot pleasure — that 
 without friendship there 
 can be no life worth liv- 
 ing, provided they desire 
 to live to any extent as 
 becomes men who are not 
 slaves. 
 
 For friendship entwines 
 itself somehow about the 
 lives of all; nor is any 
 mode of life unacquainted 
 with it. Nay, even when 
 one is so bitter and mis- 
 
 125
 
 anthropical that he hates 
 and shuns society, — like 
 Tiinon of Athens in the 
 legend, if there ever was 
 such a person, — he still 
 must have some one into 
 whose ears he can pour 
 his gall. As the best il- 
 lustration of this universal 
 need, suppose — if such a 
 thing could happen — that 
 some god should take us 
 away from the haunts of 
 men and place us some- 
 where in solitude, supply- 
 ing us with all and more 
 than all that human nature 
 craves, but denying us ab- 
 solutely the privilege of 
 looking upon the face of a 
 fellow-being. Who is of 
 metal tough enough to en- 
 126
 
 dure such a life ? Would 
 not this solitude destroy, 
 for anyone, the enjoyment 
 of every kind of pleasure ? 
 That saying, therefore, is 
 true which, if I am not 
 mistaken, was handed 
 down through our elders, 
 from those older than they, 
 as originating with Archy- 
 tas^^ of Tarentum — that 
 even if one should ascend 
 into the heavens, and see 
 clearly into the nature of 
 the universe and behold 
 the splendor of the stars, 
 all these wonderful and 
 entrancing things would 
 give him no delight unless 
 he had some friend to 
 whom he could describe 
 them, i Thus human na- 
 
 127
 
 ture loves not to be soli- 
 tary, but always leans, as 
 it were, on some support ; 
 and the sweetest of all such 
 supports is a very loving 
 friend. / But while nature 
 in so "'many ways makes 
 known what she wishes, 
 requires, and longs for, 
 we, somehow or other, 
 grow deaf and do not hear 
 her admonitions. 
 
 There are numeroiis and 
 diverse modes of inter- 
 course between friends, and 
 many causes of suspicion 
 aiid offense arise which it 
 is the part of a wise man 
 sometimes to avoid, some- 
 times to lessen, and some- 
 times to endure. One 
 cause of offense, however, 
 128
 
 must always be endured, 
 that friendship may retain 
 its utility and good faith 
 be kept between friends; 
 for friends should often 
 be admonished and even 
 sharply reproved, and such 
 reproof when kindly given 
 should be received in a 
 friendly spirit. Yet some- 
 how it is true, as my friend 
 Terence ^^ says in his " An- 
 dria," that " complaisance 
 begets friends, truth ha- 
 tred." Truth is, indeed, 
 troublesome if in fact ha- 
 tred, which is the bane of 
 friendship, is begotten by 
 it; but complaisance is 
 much more injurious be- 
 cause by weak indulgence 
 of wrong-doing it permits 
 
 9 129
 
 a friend to be borne head- 
 long into evil; the greatest 
 guilt, however, is his who 
 spurns the truth and lets 
 himself be carried away by 
 the complacency of his 
 friends into self-deception. 
 Accordingly, as regards 
 this whole matter, we 
 should be extremely care- 
 ful to keep our advice free 
 from harshness, and our 
 reproof from bitterness ; 
 in complacency (so far as 
 it is right) on the other 
 hand — for I use with plea- 
 sure the words of Terence 
 — let courtesy be present, 
 but let flattery, that hand- 
 maid of the vices, be kept 
 far away, since it is un- 
 worthy not only of a friend 
 130
 
 but of any man who is not a 
 slave. For it is one thing 
 to live with a tyrant, and 
 another to live with a 
 friend. 
 
 There is no salvation for 
 the man whose ears are so 
 tightly closed to the truth 
 that he will not hear it 
 from a friend. This say- 
 ing of Cato's — like many 
 others — is well-known : 
 " Many owe more to their 
 bitter enemies than to the 
 friends that seem sweet; 
 for the former often tell 
 them the truth, the latter 
 never." And it is absurd 
 for those who receive ad- 
 monition not to be troubled 
 by that which ought to 
 distress them, but, on the 
 131
 
 contrary, to be irritated by 
 that which ought to give 
 them no annoyance. That 
 they have done wrong 
 does not trouble them; it 
 is the reproof that they 
 find hard to bear; they 
 ought, on the contrary, to 
 grieve over their sins and 
 rejoice in correction. 
 
 Since, then, it is essen- 
 tial to true friendship both 
 to give and to receive ad- 
 monition, and to do the 
 one freely and kindly and 
 the other patiently and 
 willingly, it should be ad- 
 mitted that there is no 
 greater plague of friend- 
 ship than sycophancy, 
 complacency, and flattery; 
 for this vice of unprinci- 
 132
 
 pled and treacherous men, 
 who in all they say seek 
 to gratify the wishes of 
 their friends, and have no 
 regard for the truth, ought 
 to be branded under as 
 many names as possible. 
 While insincerity is in all 
 cases reprehensible, — be- 
 cause it defiles the truth 
 and takes away the power 
 of judging it, — it is es- 
 pecially antagonistic to 
 friendship, since it de- 
 stroys truthfulness, without 
 which the name of friend- 
 ship has no significance. 
 For the power of friend- 
 ship lies in this, that several 
 souls are, as it were, united 
 in one ; but how can this 
 be effected unless the mind 
 133
 
 of each and every one is 
 always one and the same, 
 and not variable, change- 
 able, and manifold? And 
 what can be so pliant, so 
 variable, as the mind of 
 one who is turned about 
 like a weathercock, not 
 only by the views and 
 wishes of another, but even 
 by his look and nod? 
 
 " If any one says no, I 
 say no ; if yes, I say yes ; 
 in short, my rule is to as- 
 sent to everything," as 
 Terence says, but in the 
 character of Gnatho.^^ To 
 have anything to do with 
 friends of this sort is utter 
 folly. Yet there are many 
 like Gnatho who are his 
 superiors in lineage, for- 
 
 134
 
 tune, and reputation, and 
 whose flattery Is more in- 
 jurious, since their influ- 
 ence gives weight to their 
 empty words. 
 
 Moreover, a smooth- 
 tongued friend may be 
 known and distinguished 
 from a true one, by the 
 use of proper care, as 
 readily as other disguised 
 and counterfeited things 
 can be discriminated from 
 what is real and genuine. 
 Even the popular assembly, 
 though it consists of peo- 
 ple without experience in 
 public affairs, is wont to 
 note the difference between 
 a demagogue — that is, one 
 who is a mere flatterer and 
 trifler — and a steadfast, 
 135
 
 weighty, and dignified 
 citizen. With what al- 
 luring words Caius Papi- 
 rius^9 lately filled the ears 
 of the assembly when he 
 proposed the law for the 
 reelection of the tribunes 
 of the people! I opposed 
 it; but I would rather 
 speak of Scipio than of 
 myself. So imposing, ye 
 immortal gods, was the 
 dignity of his manner, so 
 great was the majesty of 
 his address, that one might 
 easily have thought him 
 to be the leader of the 
 Roman people rather than 
 a private citizen ! But you 
 were present and his speech 
 is in everybody's hands. 
 The result was that the 
 136
 
 demagogical law was re- 
 jected by the votes of the 
 people. But, to return to 
 myself, you remember 
 how popular, in the con- 
 sulship of Quintus Maxi- 
 mus, the brother of Scipio, 
 and Lucius Mancinus, 
 seemed to be the law of 
 Caius Licinius Crassus^^ 
 about the priests, by which 
 the power of filling vacan- 
 cies in the colleges of 
 priests was to be taken 
 away from those bodies 
 and made a privilege of 
 the people. Crassus then 
 first introduced the custom 
 of turning toward the 
 forum 7^ to address the 
 people. Yet when I arose 
 in its defense, the religion 
 137
 
 of the immortal gods easily 
 overcame his plausible 
 speech. This happened 
 when I was praetor, five 
 years before I became con- 
 sul; hence the cause was 
 won more by its own 
 merits than through any 
 great influence of mine. 
 
 But if on the stage, — 
 that is, in the popular as- 
 sembly, which is much the 
 same thing, — where there 
 is the most favorable op- 
 portunity for the play of 
 fancy and illusion, the 
 truth produces such a 
 mighty effect when it is 
 presented clearly and 
 sharply, what ought to be 
 its effect in friendship 
 which depends entirely 
 138
 
 upon truthfulness ? For 
 in friendship you can have 
 nothing that can be trusted, 
 nothing sure, unless, as 
 they say, you can look 
 into the open heart of 
 yourfriend and reveal your 
 own ; you cannot even be 
 certain of loving or being 
 loved, since you cannot 
 know how much of reality 
 there may be in either. 
 And yet that flattery which 
 I last mentioned, harmful 
 as it is, can injure only the 
 one who accepts it and is 
 pleased by it. And so it 
 happens that he who flat- 
 ters himself and is exces- 
 sively pleased with him- 
 self is the one who most 
 readily turns a willing ear 
 139
 
 to flatterers. Virtue, to be 
 sure, loves itself, for it best 
 knows itself and under- 
 stands how lovable it is : 
 but I am not speaking 
 now of virtue, but of an 
 exaggerated belief in one's 
 own virtue : and the num- 
 ber of those endowed with 
 real virtue is not so great 
 as of those who desire to 
 appear to possess it. Such 
 men are delighted by flat- 
 tery; and when lying 
 words, chosen to suit their 
 wishes, are addressed to 
 them, they think that such 
 deceitful speeches bear 
 witness to their exalted 
 merits. 
 
 Friendship, therefore, in 
 which one party does not 
 140
 
 want to hear the truth and 
 the other is ready to lie is 
 not friendship at all. Nor 
 would the flatteries placed 
 in the mouths of parasites 
 on the comic stage amuse 
 us if there were not also 
 in the plays braggadocios ^^ 
 to be fooled by them. 
 
 " Heartily, of course, did 
 Thais thank me*?"73 It 
 would have been enough 
 to reply : " Yes, heartily." 
 But the parasite says: "Tre- 
 mendously I " The flat- 
 terer always exaggerates 
 what the one whose ear he 
 is tickling wishes to have 
 seem great. Yet, while 
 such glib deceitfulness in- 
 fluences only those who 
 themselves attract and in- 
 141
 
 vite it, even those who 
 have more sober and stead- 
 fast minds ought to be ad- 
 vised to beware less they 
 be caught by flattery 
 of a more cunning kind. 
 No one, unless he is very 
 stupid, fails to detect an 
 open flatterer; but it is 
 well to take care that the 
 clever and sly flatterer does 
 not worm his way into our 
 confidence. For it is not 
 easy to recognize him ; es- 
 pecially since he often flat- 
 ters by offering opposition 
 and pleases by feigning to 
 dispute, and then at the 
 end throws up his hands 
 and admits defeat in order 
 that the one he is deluding 
 may think himself the 
 142
 
 clearer-headed man. But 
 what is more shameful than 
 to be played with in this 
 fashion '? Look out that it 
 does not happen to you as 
 in the play:^^ "To-day 
 you've hoaxed and cheated 
 me beyondthe lot of stupid 
 old men in the comedies." 
 For in comic plays the 
 most ridiculous characters 
 are those of unwary and 
 credulous old men. 
 
 But in some way my 
 discourse has wandered 
 from the friendships of per- 
 fect men, that is, of the 
 wise — I speak, of course, 
 of such wisdom as can fall 
 to the lot of man — to 
 those of a less weighty 
 kind. Let us revert, then, 
 143
 
 briefly to the former topic, 
 and then bring this also 
 to a conclusion. 
 
 It is virtue, I say, Caius 
 Fannius and Ouintus Mu- 
 cius — it is virtue that 
 both induces and pre- 
 serves friendships; for in 
 it are agreement in all 
 things, stability, and stead- 
 fastness. When it has 
 exhibited itself, and has 
 shed abroad its beams, and 
 has perceived and recog- 
 nized the same light in 
 another, it approaches that 
 light and receives in turn 
 what the other has to im- 
 part; and from this inter- 
 change love or friendship 
 
 — call it which you will 
 
 — is enkindled. For both 
 
 144
 
 these words are, in Latin, 
 derived from " loving."" 
 Moreover^ to love is noth- 
 ing but to have affection 
 for the one you love, with- 
 out any thought of a need 
 on your part which he can 
 relieve, or of any service 
 that he can render; though 
 such service, however little 
 you may have sought it, 
 will blossom out the fairest 
 flower of friendship. 
 
 With such affection I, 
 in my youth, loved those 
 old men, Lucius Paulus, 
 Marcus Cato, Caius Gal- 
 lus, Publius Nasica, and 
 Tiberius Gracchus,7^ my 
 Scipio's father-in-law; yet 
 this affection is more not- 
 able when it exists be- 
 145
 
 tween those of the same 
 age, as it did between my- 
 self and Scipio, Lucius 
 Furius, Publius Rupilius 
 and Spurius Mummius. 
 As an old man, on the 
 other hand, I have, in my 
 turn, found repose and 
 pleasure in the attachment 
 of young men, as in yours 
 and in that of Quintus Tu- 
 bero; and I take delight 
 also in the intimacy of 
 Publius Rutilius and Au- 
 lus Virginius, who are al- 
 most boys. 
 
 Inasmuch as it is the 
 established order of nature 
 and of human life that a 
 generation different from 
 ours must take our places, 
 it is greatly to be desired 
 146
 
 that, if possible, we should 
 reach the goal, as it were, 
 with those of our own age 
 with whom we started in 
 the race; but since human 
 life is so frail and so uncer- 
 tain it is well to be always 
 on the watch for younger 
 men whom we may love 
 and who may love us ; for 
 if affection and kindness 
 are taken away from us 
 all the happiness of life 
 is lost. 
 
 For me, indeed, Scipio 
 yet lives and always will 
 live, torn from me though 
 he was suddenly by death; 
 for I loved the virtue of 
 that noble man, and over 
 this death has had no 
 power. 
 
 147
 
 Nor is It visible to me 
 alone, since I have always 
 had it close before me ; 
 it will always stand out 
 radiant and illustrious in 
 the sight of future ages. 
 Hereafter no one will ever 
 undertake or venture to 
 hope for what is great and 
 glorious without calling to 
 mind his character and 
 adopting it as a model. 
 Nay, there is not one of 
 all the gifts that nature 
 or good fortune has be- 
 stowed upon me that I 
 can compare with the 
 friendship of Scipio. It 
 gave me sympathy in pub- 
 lic affairs, wise counsel in 
 my private concerns, and 
 a repose that was full of 
 148
 
 all delight. Never in the 
 least did I offend him, as 
 far as I know ; not a word 
 did he speak that I was 
 unwilling to hear; we had 
 one home, one table, and 
 that a frugal one ; and we 
 were together not only in 
 our military campaigns, 
 but even in our journeys 
 and our vacations in the 
 country. 
 
 Need I speak of those 
 studious pursuits — that 
 eager quest of knowledge 
 and learning — in which, 
 secluded from public ob- 
 servation, we spent all our 
 leisure hours'? 
 
 If the memory of these 
 things, or the power to 
 recall them, had perished 
 149
 
 with him, I could not 
 now endure my intense 
 longing for that dear and 
 very loving friend. But 
 they have not perished ; 
 they rather grow stronger 
 and are increased in my 
 memory and reflections ; 
 and even if I were wholly 
 deprived of them, I should 
 still obtain great comfort 
 from the fact that I am 
 old, for I know that I shall 
 have to bear my grief only 
 for a little while. 
 
 All sorrows, even the 
 most intense, should be 
 endurable when they are 
 brief 
 
 This is what I had to 
 say to you about friend- 
 ship ; and I beg you to 
 150
 
 give to virtue so high a 
 place in your esteem that 
 it shall be the only thing 
 that you prefer to friend- 
 ship, which without virtue 
 cannot exist. 
 
 151
 
 NOTES 
 
 The ''De Amicitia," or 
 '*Laelius," was written in 44 
 B. c, a little later than the '' De 
 Senectute/' or *' Cato Major," 
 and at the request of Titus Pom- 
 ponius Atticus (see note 6), to 
 whom both these treatises were 
 addressed. It appeared at the 
 close of a period of political in- 
 action, but of great literary ac- 
 tivity, in the life of Cicero, fol- 
 lowing the defeat of Pompey (at 
 Pharsalus, August 9, 48 b. c), 
 whose cause he had espoused, 
 and just preceding his quarrel 
 with Antony and his assassination 
 (December 7, 43 b. c), by or- 
 der of the second Triumvirate. 
 Composed thus in a time of fierce 
 civil strife, when the choice of 
 party was often determined by 
 
 153
 
 personal relations toward the 
 various leaders, it was designed, 
 in part, to show both the im- 
 portance of friendship to the wel- 
 fare of the state, and the neces- 
 sity of subordinating it to virtue 
 and patriotism ; for the same 
 reason the scene of the dialogue 
 was fittingly placed in the age of 
 the Gracchi which was marked by 
 a like political unrest. Beyond 
 this the discussion of friendship 
 follows the lead of ancient ethics 
 (of which this subject formed an 
 essential part), considering and 
 refuting, in particular, the opin- 
 ions of the Stoics and Epicureans. 
 The more important names and 
 references are explained in the 
 following notes : 
 
 I. Quintus Mucins Scaevola, a 
 distinguished jurist and statesman. 
 He became tribune of the people 
 in 128 B. c, plebeian edile in 
 125, governor of the province 
 of Asia in 121, and consul, with 
 
 154
 
 L. Caecilius Metellus, in 117. 
 It was the function of the college 
 of Augurs, of which he was a 
 member, to interpret the aus- 
 pices (signs from the heavens, 
 the direction of the flight of birds, 
 etc.), with reference to pro- 
 posed action on the part of the 
 State, and to determine their 
 validity. The office, which was 
 for life, was one of great dignity 
 and importance (for it involved, 
 practically, a veto upon all public 
 acts), and was sought by the most 
 eminent men. 
 
 2. Caius Laelius Sapiens {the 
 Wisely eminent as a statesman 
 and orator, and especially as a 
 scholar and patron of learning, 
 was born about 186 b. c, be- 
 came tribune of the people in 
 151, pretor in 145, and consul 
 in 140. A successful campaign 
 against the Lusitanian chief 
 Viriathus gained him also con- 
 siderable reputation as a soldier. 
 
 155
 
 In politics, though he at first 
 favored various measures designed 
 to improve the condition of the 
 lower classes, he became an ar- 
 dent opponent of the popular 
 movement represented by the 
 Gracchi (see notes 44, 51). He 
 was an eager student of Greek 
 philosophy under the guidance 
 of the Stoic Panaetius, and in his 
 time was the exponent of Greek 
 culture at Rome. His friendship 
 for the younger Africanus was 
 paralleled by that of his father 
 (also Caius Laelius) for Scipio 
 Africanus the Elder. 
 
 3. The Quintus Mucius above 
 mentioned. 
 
 4. ^intus Mucius Scaevola, 
 a noted jurist, the author of the 
 first systematic treatise on the 
 civil law. He was tribune of 
 the people in 106 b. c, curule 
 edile in 104, and consul, with 
 L. Licinius Crassus, in 95. He 
 was proscribed by the party of 
 
 156
 
 Marius and was slain in 82 b. c. 
 As Pontifex Maximus he was 
 the head of the college of pon- 
 tiffs and the supreme religious 
 authority in the state. 
 
 5. A hall or colonnade pro- 
 vided with semicircular recesses, 
 and used for purposes of conver- 
 sation ; or a large semicircular 
 alcove. 
 
 6. Titus Pomponius Atticus, 
 a scholar and bookseller, author 
 of an epitome of Roman history, 
 but best known as the intimate 
 friend of Cicero. He was born 
 in 109 B. c, and died 32 b. c. 
 
 7. Publius Sulpicius Rufus, an 
 eminent orator and politician, 
 born in 124 b. c. Originally 
 an aristocrat in politics, after 
 his election to the tribunate in 
 88 B. c. he proposed reforms 
 which were fiercely opposed by 
 the senate, and finally went over 
 to Marius and the popular party. 
 In the same year he was pro- 
 
 157
 
 scribed by order of Sulla and put 
 to death. 
 
 8. ^intus Pompeius Rufus, 
 consul with L. Sulla in 88 b. c. 
 He adhered to the aristocratic 
 party and Sulla — a difference 
 in politics which caused the loss 
 of Sulpicius's friendship. 
 
 9. Caius Fannius Strabo, an 
 orator and scholar, author of a 
 history of his own time. He 
 served under Scipio in the last 
 war against Carthage, and with 
 Tiberius Gracchus was the first 
 to scale its walls. 
 
 10. Publius Cornelius Scipio 
 Aemilianus Africanus Minor^ a 
 famous general and statesman, 
 born about 185 b. c. He was 
 the son of L. Aemilianus Paulus, 
 the conqueror of Macedonia, and 
 was adopted by his cousin, P. 
 Scipio, a son of Scipio Africanus 
 Major, the conqueror of Hanni- 
 bal. He served with distinction 
 in Greece, Spain, and Africa, 
 
 158
 
 and captured Carthage in 146 
 and Numantia in 133. He be- 
 came consul in 147, and again in 
 134 ; in 142 he was chosen cen- 
 sor, an office which he adminis- 
 tered with the rigid and con- 
 servative spirit of Cato. In 
 politics he stood at the head of 
 the aristocratic party, though in 
 the earlier part of his career he 
 showed himself not averse to 
 certain popular reforms. The 
 excesses of the popular party 
 aroused in him the most earnest 
 and effective antagonism. On 
 the day before his death, in 129 
 B. c, he delivered an eloquent 
 oration in the Senate in support 
 of a measure which was favorable 
 to the allied communities of 
 Latins and Italians, but which 
 amounted to the abrogation of 
 the agrarian law of Tib. Grac- 
 chus (see note 44). On the 
 following morning he was found 
 in his room dead. He had 
 
 IS9
 
 doubtless been murdered. He 
 was also a scholar and a noted 
 orator. 
 
 1 1 . Marcus Porcius Cato (born 
 234 B. c. : died 149 b. c), 
 called Major (the Elder) to dis- 
 tinguish him from Cato Uticen- 
 sis (see note 14). He became 
 censor in 1 84, and is famous for 
 his efforts, in that office, to re- 
 store the morals and customs of 
 the earlier days of the Republic. 
 Cicero's treatise '*De Senec- 
 tute," or *'Cato Major" was 
 written 45-44 b. c. 
 
 1 2. The Africanus above men- 
 tioned (note 10). 
 
 13. A jurist (lived about 200 
 B. c), author of a commentary 
 on the Twelve Tables. He was 
 the first to receive the cognomen 
 Sapiens (the wise), a title after- 
 ward often given to jurists. 
 
 14. Marcus Porcius Cato Uti- 
 censis (**of Utica," the place of 
 his death), a soldier, statesman, 
 
 160
 
 and Stoic philosopher, born in 
 95 B. c. He supported Pompey 
 against Caesar, and committed 
 suicide in 46 b. c. after the vic- 
 tory of Caesar at Thapsus over 
 the troops led by Scipio Metel- 
 lus, Juba, and himselfo 
 
 15. Socrates. 
 
 16. M. Porcius Cato Licini- 
 anus. He attained distinction as 
 a jurist and a soldier, and died 
 about 152 B. c. 
 
 17. L. Aemilius Paulus Mace- 
 donicuSy conqueror of Perseus at 
 Pydna and subjugator of Mace- 
 donia (168 B. c). He w^as the 
 father of Scipio. He was born 
 about 229 B. c, became consul 
 in 168, and censor in 164, and 
 died in 160. 
 
 18. Caius Sulpicius Gallus, an 
 orator and scholar, noted particu- 
 larly for his knowledge of Greek 
 and astronomy. He was consul 
 in 166 B. c. 
 
 19. The Stoics, who taught 
 
 n 161
 
 that the wise man should not per- 
 mit his mind to be disturbed by 
 joy or grief. 
 
 20. The Epicureans, whose 
 materialistic doctrines, together 
 with those of the other Greek 
 schools of philosophy, began to 
 be taught at Rome about the time 
 of Laelius. 
 
 21. The Greek colonies in 
 southern Italy, the seats of fa- 
 mous schools of philosophy, 
 among them that of Pythagoras 
 which taught the continued ex- 
 istence of the soul after death. 
 
 2 2. Lucius Furius Philus, a 
 general in the Numantine war, 
 and consul b. c. 136. 
 
 23. Majiius Manilius, a jurist 
 and commander at the beginning 
 of the third Punic war. He was 
 consul in 149 b. c. 
 
 24. Somnium Scipionis (** Scip- 
 io's Dream "), a famous passage 
 in the sixth book of Cicero's 
 **De Republica." 
 
 162
 
 25- The Stoics. 
 
 26. Caius Fabricius LuscinuSy 
 who distinguished himself as a 
 general in the war against Pyr- 
 rhus, 280-275 B. c. 
 
 27. Manius Curius DentatuSy 
 noted as the conqueror of Pyr- 
 rhus in 275 b. c, and as the 
 builder of the tunnel from Lake 
 Velinus to the Nar. He was 
 three times chosen consul, and 
 was famous as a model of all the 
 Roman virtues. 
 
 28. Tiberius Coruncaniusy an 
 eminent jurist who held all the 
 high offices of state, includ- 
 ing those of consul (280 b. c.) 
 and Pontifex Maximus. 
 
 29. The Stoics. 
 
 30. The ideal wise men of 
 the Stoics. 
 
 31. Quintus Ennius (born 
 about 239 B. c. : died in 169), 
 an epic poet and dramatist, one 
 of the founders of Latin litera- 
 ture. His most celebrated work 
 
 163
 
 was the epic poem "Annals'* 
 (traditional Roman history), de- 
 signed as a supplement to the 
 Homeric Poems. 
 
 32. Empedocles, who called 
 the fundamental forces of attrac- 
 tion and repulsion friendship and 
 strife. He flourished early in 
 the fifth century b. c. 
 
 33. The '* Dulorestes," an 
 adaptation of the *' Iphigenia in 
 Tauris " of Euripides. The 
 reference is to that part of the 
 legend of Orestes in which, hav- 
 ing gone with his friend Pylades 
 to Tauris by order of the Del- 
 phic Oracle to carry off the sa- 
 cred image of Artemis and thus 
 purify himself from the guilt of 
 matricide, he is seized by King 
 Thoas and threatened with death. 
 
 34. M. PacuviuSy one of the 
 most celebrated of Roman drama- 
 tists, a nephew of Ennius. He 
 was born about 220 b. c, and 
 died about 132. 
 
 164
 
 3 5- Amor, love, Amicttiay 
 friendship. 
 
 36. Tarquin the Proud, the 
 last king of Rome, a tyrant famous 
 in Roman annals. The rape of 
 Lucretia by his son Sextus, led, 
 according to the legends, to his 
 overthrow and the establishment 
 of the Republic. 
 
 37. Spurius C as si us Viscelli- 
 nus, a patrician, proposer of the 
 first agrarian law, beheaded in 
 485 on the (doubtless false) 
 charge of aiming at regal power. 
 
 38. Spurius Maelius, a wealthy 
 plebeian. The charge of aspir- 
 ing to the kingship brought against 
 him was false, and was based 
 upon the fact that in 440 b. c, 
 during a famine, he sold corn to 
 the poor at a low price, or gave 
 it away. 
 
 39. Pyrrhus, king of Epirus. 
 He invaded Italy in 280 b. c. to 
 aid the Tarentines against Rome, 
 and was at first successful, but 
 
 16S
 
 was finally beaten at Beneventum 
 in 275. He treated his pris- 
 oners kindly and returned them 
 without ransom. 
 
 40. Hannibaly the great Car- 
 thaginian general. He conquered 
 Spain, crossed the Alps (218 
 B. c), and defeated the Roman 
 army in a series of famous bat- 
 tles. He was recalled to Carth- 
 age in 203, and was finally de- 
 feated by Scipio Africanus Major 
 at Zama, in 202. He died by 
 suicide about 1 86 b. c. His 
 character was unfairly judged by 
 the Romans. 
 
 41. The Epicureans. 
 
 42. Cnaeus (or Caius) Mar- 
 cius Coriolanus, in Roman legend 
 a patrician who was impeached 
 (490 B. c.) for proposing to 
 force the abolition of the tribu- 
 nate by suspending the public 
 sales of corn. He fled to the 
 Volscians, and, as their general, 
 marched against Rome, but was 
 
 166
 
 dissuaded from attacking it by the 
 entreaties of his wife and mother. 
 
 43. See notes 37 and 38. 
 
 44. Tiberius Sempronius Grac- 
 chus, a celebrated political re- 
 former and popular leader, born 
 about 163 B. c. He was the 
 grandson of Scipio Africanus 
 Major. On his election to the 
 tribunate in 133 b. c, he pro- 
 posed and carried, amid scenes of 
 violence, measures designed to 
 check the absorption of land in 
 the great estates of the rich, which 
 was rapidly going on, and to se- 
 cure its greater subdivision and its 
 wider distribution among the class 
 of small independent farmers. 
 At the end of his tribunate he 
 endeavored, contrary to the law, 
 to secure his reelection, and was 
 killed (133 B. c). 
 
 45. Qumtus Aelius Tubero, 
 called the Stoic. He was tribune 
 with Tib. Gracchus in 133 b. c, 
 and opposed his agrarian measures. 
 
 167
 
 46. Blossius fled to Aristoni- 
 cus, kingof Pergamos, and, when 
 his protector was conquered by 
 the Romans, committed suicide. 
 
 47. Quint us Aemilius Pap us, 
 a soldier and statesman, consul in 
 282 B. c, and 278, and censor 
 in 275. 
 
 48. See note 26. 
 
 49. Caius Papirius Car bo, a 
 popular leader, tribune in 131 
 B. c. He proposed a law for 
 the use of the ballot in enacting 
 and repealing laws, and was 
 thought to have had a hand in 
 the assassination of Scipio. He 
 also proposed a law permitting 
 the repeated reelection of tri- 
 bunes. 
 
 50. Caius Porcius Cato, grand- 
 son of Cato the censor. He was 
 consul in 1 14 b. c. 
 
 51. Caius Sempronius Grac- 
 chus, younger brother of Tib. 
 Gracchus. He became tribune 
 in 123 B. c, renewed his bro- 
 
 168
 
 ther's agrarian laws, and endeav- 
 ored to lay the foundations of a 
 pure democracy. He again be- 
 came tribune in 122, but was 
 defeated in 121, and slain in the 
 disturbance which followed. 
 
 52. Pubhus Scipio Nasica, the 
 leader of the aristocratic party 
 that assassinated Tib. Gracchus. 
 His course in this matter so en- 
 raged the people that his life was 
 in danger, and the Senate, to save 
 him, sent him on a pretended 
 mission to Asia. He died, prac- 
 tically an exile, at Pergamum. 
 
 53. See note 49. 
 
 54. The Gabinian law, en- 
 acted by Aulus Gabinius when 
 tribune in 139 b. c, introduced 
 the use of the ballot in the elec- 
 tion of magistrates, and its use 
 was extended to courts of justice 
 (except in certain cases) by the 
 Cassian law in 137. 
 
 55. The famous Athenian 
 statesman and general, conqueror 
 
 169
 
 of Xerxes at Salamis. He was 
 ostracized about 470 b. c, and 
 finally went to Persia. There 
 is little probability that, as Cicero 
 asserts, he committed suicide. 
 
 56. One of the Seven Wise 
 Men of Greece. He lived at 
 Priene in Ionia, probably in the 
 sixth century b. c. 
 
 57. See note 22. 
 
 58. Publius Rupilius, consul 
 in 132 B. c. He was a bitter 
 opponent of the party of the 
 Gracchi. 
 
 59. ^intus Fabius Maximus 
 Aemilianusy eldest son of L. Aem. 
 Paulus and adopted son of Quintus 
 Fabius Maximus Cunctator. He 
 was consul in 145 b. c, and de- 
 feated Viriathus, in Spain, in 144. 
 
 60. See note 58. 
 
 61. Lucius Rupilius y a man of 
 no especial distinction. 
 
 62. Son of Achilles the hero 
 of the Iliad, and grandson of 
 Lycomedes. After the death of 
 
 170
 
 his father, his presence with the 
 army before Troy was declared 
 by an oracle to be essential to the 
 capture of that city. He was 
 one of those who entered the 
 city in the wooden horse. 
 
 63. See note 62. 
 
 64. Chosen consul in 141 
 B. c, in opposition to Laelius. 
 He gained his election by trickery. 
 
 65. Qumtus Caecilius Metellus 
 Macedonicus, a noted general, col- 
 league of Scipio and Laelius in 
 the augurship. He was chosen 
 consul in 143 b. c. 
 
 66. A noted Greek Pythago- 
 rean philosopher and mathemati- 
 cian. He lived about 400 b. c. 
 
 67. Publius Terentius Afer, a. 
 celebrated writer of comedies. 
 He was born at Carthage about 
 185 B. c, and died about 159. 
 The *'Andria," which was first 
 exhibited about 166, is an adap- 
 tation of a play of the same name 
 by Menander. 
 
 171
 
 68. A parasite in Terence's 
 ** Eunuchus," a comedy based 
 on material borrowed from Me- 
 nander. 
 
 69. See note 49. 
 
 70. Tribune o£ the people in 
 145 B. c. 
 
 7 1 . The Rostra, on which the 
 orators stood, lay between the 
 Forum, where the plebeian as- 
 sembly met, and the Comitium or 
 meeting-place of the patricians, 
 and it had been customary, even 
 for the tribunes, to address the 
 latter. 
 
 72. Miiites gloriosi, bragging 
 soldiers — favorite characters in 
 the old comedies. The ** Miles 
 Gloriosus" was a well-known 
 play by Plautus. 
 
 73. This passage is from the 
 "Eunuchus" of Terence. Thra- 
 80, the *' braggart soldier," puts 
 the question about his mistress 
 Thais to Gnatho, the parasite. 
 
 74. A quotation from the 
 
 172
 
 "Epiclerus" of Caecilius Sta- 
 tius. 
 
 75. See note 35. 
 
 76. Tiberius Sempronius Grac- 
 chus, father of the famous tribunes 
 mentioned above, and son-in-law 
 to the elder Africanus. He was 
 tribune in 187 b. c, pretdr in 
 181, and consul in 177 and 163. 
 He attained great distinction as a 
 general in Spain. 
 
 173
 
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