,illustration3 ,,marcus ,,tullius       
,,cicero  ,de ,amicitia1 ,scipio's      
,dream  ,by ,cicero   ,translated1 with 
an ,introduction and ,notes  ,by ,andrew
 ,p4 ,peabody    ,,synopsis4  99        
99       99       99       99  ,,de     
,,amicitia  #a4 ,introduction4  #b4     
,reputation of ,laelius for wisdom4 ,the
 curiosity to know how he bore the death
 of ,scipio4  #c4 ,his grounds of       
consolation in his bereavement  #d4 ,he 
expresses his faith in immortality4     
,desires perpetual memory in this world 
of the friendship between himself and   
,scipio4  #e4 ,true friendship can exist
 only among good men4  #f4 ,friendship  
defined4  #g4 ,benefits derived from    
friendship4  #h4 ,friendship founded not
 on need1 but on nature4  #i4 ,the      
relation of utility to friendship4  #aj4
 ,causes for the separation of friends4 
#aa4 ,how far love for friends may go4  
#ab4 ,wrong never to be done at a       
friend's request4  #ac4 ,theories that  
degrade friendship  #ad4 ,how           

friendships are formed4  #ae4           
,friendlessness wretched4  #af4 ,the    
limits of friendship4  #ag4 ,in what    
sense and to what degree friends are    
united4 ,how friends are to be chosen   
and tested4  #ah4 ,the qualities to be  
sought in a friend4  #ai4 ,old friends  
not to be forsaken for new4  #bj4 ,the  
duties of friendship between persons    
differing in ability1 rank1 or position4
  #ba4 ,how friendships should be       
dissolved1 and how to guard against the 
necessity of dissolving them4  #bb4     
,unreasonable expectations of friends4  
,mutual respect necessary in true       
friendship4  #bc4 ,friendship necessary 
for all men4  #bd4 ,truth-telling1      
though it often gives offence1 an       
essential duty from friend to friend4   
#be4 ,the power of truth4 ,the arts of  
flattery4  #bf4 ,flattery availing only 
with the feeble-minded4  #bg4 ,virtue   
the soul of friendship4 ,laelius        
describes the intimacy of the friendship
 between himself and ,scipio4   99      

99       99       99       99           
,,scipio',s ,,dream4  #a4 ,scipio's     
visit to ,masinissa4 ,circumstances     
under which the dream occurred4  #b4    
,appearance of the elder ,africanus1 and
 of his own father1 to ,scipio4         
,prophecy of ,scipio's successes and    
honors1 with an intimation of his death 
by the hands of his kindred4  #c4       
,conditions on which heaven may be won4 
#d4 ,the nine spheres that constitute   
the universe4  #e4 ,the music of the    
spheres4  #f4 ,the five zones of the    
earth4  #g4 ,brevity and worthlessness  
of earthly fame4  #h4 ,all souls        
eternal4  #i4 ,the soul to be trained   
for immortality4 ,the fate of those who 
merge their souls in sense4             
,,introduction  ,,de ,,amicitia4  ,the  
,de ,amicitia1 inscribed1 like the ,de  
,senectute1 to ,atticus1 was probably   
written early in the year #dd ,b4,c41   
during ,cicero's retirement1 after the  
death of ,julius ,caesar and before the 
conflict with ,antony4 ,the subject had 

been a favorite one with ,greek         
philosophers1 from whom ,cicero always  
borrowed largely1 or rather1 whose      
materials he made fairly his own by the 
skill1 richness1 and beauty of his      
elaboration1 ,some passages of this     
treatise were evidently suggested by    
,plato2 and ,aulus ,gellius says that   
,cicero made no little use of a now lost
 essay of ,theophrastus on ,friendship4 
,in this work ,i am especially impressed
 by ,cicero's dramatic power4 ,but for  
the mediocrity of his poetic genius1 he 
might have won pre-eminent honor from   
the ,muse of ,tragedy4 ,he here so      
thoroughly enters into the feelings of  
,laelius with reference to ,scipio's    
death1 that as we read we forget that it
 is not ,laelius himself who is         
speaking4 ,we find ourselves in close   
sympathy with him1 as if he were telling
 us the story of his bereavement1 giving
 utterance to his manly fortitude and   
resignation and portraying his friend's 
virtues from the unfading image         

phototyped on his own loving memory4 ,in
 other matters too ,cicero goes back to 
the time of ,laelius and assumes his    
point of view assigning to him just the 
degree of foresight which he probably   
possessed and making not the slightest  
reference to the very different aspect  
in which he himself had learned to      
regard and was wont to represent the    
personages and events of that earlier   
period4 ,thus while ,cicero traced the  
downfall of the republic to changes in  
the body politic that had taken place or
 were imminent and inevitable when      
,scipio died he makes ,laelius perceive 
only a slight though threatening        
deflection from what had been in the    
earlier time ,footnote #a4 ,so too      
though ,cicero was annoyed more than by 
almost any other characteristic of his  
age by the prevalence of the ,epicurean 
philosophy and ascribed to it in a very 
large degree the demoralization of men  
in public life with ,laelius the        
doctrines of this school are represented

 as they must have been in fact as new  
and unfamiliar4 ,in time ,laelius is    
here made to say not a word which he    
being the man that he was and at the    
date assumed for this dialogue might not
 have said himself2 and it may be       
doubted whether a report of one of his  
actual conversations would have seemed  
more truly genuine4  ,this is a rare    
gift often sought indeed yet sought in  
vain not only by dramatists who have    
very ,footnote #a ,deflexit jam         
aliquantul im seldom attained it but by 
authors of a very great diversity of    
type and culture4 ,one who undertakes to
 personate a character belonging to an  
age not his own hardly ever fails of    
manifest anachronisms4 ,the author finds
 it utterly impossible to fit the       
antique mask so closely as not now and  
then to show through its chinks his own 
more modern features1 while this form of
 internal evidence never fails to betray
 an intended forgery however skilfully  
wrought4 ,on the other hand there is no 

surer proof of the genuineness of a work
 purporting to be of an earlier but     
alleged to be of a later origin than the
 absence of all tokens of a time        
subsequent to the earliest date claimed 
for it4 ,footnote3 ,thus among the many 
proofs of the genuineness of our        
canonical ,gospels perhaps none is more 
conclusive than the fact that though    
evidently written by unskilled men they 
contain not a trace or token of certain 
opinions known to have been rife even   
before the close of the first ,christian
 century2 while the 7so called7         
apocryphal ,gospels bear1 throughout1   
such vestiges of their later origin as  
would neutralize the strongest testimony
 imaginable in behalf of their primitive
 antiquity4  ,in connection with this   
work it should be borne in mind that the
 special duties of friendship           
constituted an essential department of  
ethics in the ancient world and that the
 relation of friend to friend was       
regarded as on the same plane with that 

of brother to brother4 ,no treatise on  
morals would have been thought complete 
had this subject been omitted4 ,not a   
few modern writers have attempted the   
formal treatment of friendship but while
 the relation of kindred minds and souls
 has lost none of its sacredness and    
value1 the establishment of a code of   
rules for it ignores on the one hand the
 spontaneity of this relation1 and on   
the other hand1 its entire amenableness 
to the laws and principles that should  
restrict and govern all human           
intercourse and conduct4  ,shaftesbury1 
in his ',characteristics1' in his       
exquisite vein of irony sneers at       
,christianity for taking no cognizance  
of friendship either in its precepts or 
in its promises4 ,jeremy ,taylor1       
however1 speaks of this feature of      
,christianity as among the manifest     
tokens of its divine origin1 and ,soame 
,jenyns takes the same ground in a      
treatise expressly designed to meet the 
objections and cavils of ,shaftesbury   

and other deistical writers of his time4
 ,these authors are all in the right and
 all in the wrong1 as to the matter of  
fact4 ,there is no reason why           
,christianity should prescribe          
friendship which is a privilege1 not a  
duty1 or should essay to regulate it1   
for its only ethical rule of strict     
obligation is the negative rule which   
would lay out for it a track that shall 
never interfere with any positive duty  
selfward1 manward or ,godward4 ,but in  
the life of the ,founder of             
,christianity1 who teaches1 most of all1
 by example1 friendship has its         
apogee1--its supreme pre-eminence and   
honor4 ,he treats his apostles and      
speaks of and to them1 not as mere      
disciples but as intimate and dearly    
beloved friends1 among these there are  
three with whom he stands in peculiarly 
near relations1 and one of the three was
 singled out by him in dying for the    
most sacred charge that he left on the  
earth1 while at the same time that      

disciple shows in his ,gospel that he   
had obtained an inside view so to speak1
 of his ,master's spiritual life and of 
the profounder sense of his teachings   
which is distinguished by contrast      
rather than by comparison from the more 
superficial narratives of the other     
evangelists4  ,but ,christianity has    
done even more than this for friendship4
 ,it has superseded its name by         
fulfilling its offices to a degree of   
perfectness which had never entered into
 the ante-,christian mind4 ,man shrinks 
from solitude4 ,he feels inadequate to  
bear the burdens1 meet the trials1 and  
wage the conflicts of this mortal life1 
alone4 ,orestes always needed and craved
 a ,pylades1 but often failed to find   
one4 ,this inevitable yearning1 when it 
met no human response found still less  
to satisfy it in the objects of worship4
 ,its gods1 though in great part deified
 men1 could not be relied on for        
sympathy1 support or help4 ,the stronger
 spirits did not believe in them1 the   

feebler looked upon them only with awe  
and dread4 ,but ,christianity1 in its   
anthropomorphism1 which is its strongest
 hold on faith and trust1 insures for   
the individual man in a ,divine         
,humanity precisely what friends might  
essay to do yet could do but imperfectly
 for him4 ,it proffers the tender       
sympathy and helpfulness of ,him who    
bears the griefs and carries the sorrows
 of each and all2 while the near view   
that it presents of the life beyond     
death inspires the sense of unbroken    
union with friends in heaven1 and of the
 fellow-feeling of a cloud of witnesses 
beside4 ,thus while friendship in       
ordinary life is never to be spurned    
when it may be had without sacrifice of 
principle1 it is less a necessity than  
when man's relations with the unseen    
world gave no promise of strength1 aid1 
or comfort4  ,experience has deepened my
 conviction that what is called a free  
translation is the only fit rendering of
 ,latin into ,english2 that is1 the only

 way of giving to the ,english reader   
the actual sense of the ,latin writer4  
,this last has been my endeavor4 ,the   
comparison is1 indeed1 exaggerated2 but 
it often seems to me1 in unrolling a    
compact ,latin sentence1 as if ,i were  
writing out in words the meaning of an  
algebraic formula4 ,a single word often 
requires three or four as its ,english  
equivalent4 ,yet the language is not    
made obscure by compression4 ,on the    
contrary1 there is no other language in 
which it is so hard to bury thought or  
to conceal its absence by superfluous   
verbiage4  ,i have used ,beier's edition
 of the ,de ,amicitia1 adhering to it in
 the very few cases in which other good 
editions have a different reading4      
,there are no instances in which the    
various readings involve any            
considerable diversity of meaning4      
,,laelius4  ,caius ,laelius ,sapiens1   
the son of ,caius ,laelius1 who was the 
life-long friend of ,scipio ,africanus  
the ,elder1 was born ,b4,c4 #ahf1 a     

little earlier in the same year with his
 friend ,africanus the ,younger4 ,he was
 not undistinguished as a military      
commander1 as was proved by his         
successful campaign against ,viriathus1 
the ,lusitanian chieftain1 who had long 
held the ,roman armies at bay1 and had  
repeatedly gained signal advantages over
 them4 ,he was known in the ,state1 at  
first as leaning1 though moderately and 
guardedly1 to the popular side1 but     
after the disturbances created by the   
,gracchi1 as a strong conservative4 ,he 
was a learned and accomplished man1 was 
an elegant writer1--though while the    
,latin tongue retained no little of its 
archaic rudeness1--and was possessed of 
some reputation as an orator4 ,though   
bearing his part in public affairs1     
holding at intervals the offices of     
,tribune1 ,praetor1 and ,consul1 and in 
his latter years attending with         
exemplary fidelity to such duties as    
belonged to him as a member of the      
college of ,augurs1 he yet loved        

retirement1 and cultivated1 so far as he
 was able1 studious and contemplative   
habits4 ,he was noted for his wise      
economy of time4 ,to an idle man who    
said to him1 ,i have sixty years        
,sexaginta annos habeo4 7that is1 ,i am 
sixty years old71 he replied1 ,do you   
mean the sixty years which you have not8
 ,his private life was worthy of all    
praise for the virtues that enriched and
 adorned it2 and its memory was so fresh
 after the lapse of more than two       
centuries1 that ,seneca1 who well knew  
the better way which he had not always  
strength to tread1 advises his young    
friend ,lucilius to live with ,laelius2 
,vire cum ,laelio4 that is1 to take his 
life as a model4  ,the friendship of    
,laelius and the younger ,scipio        
,africanus well deserves the            
commemoration which it has in this      
dialogue of ,cicero4 ,it began in their 
boyhood1 and continued without          
interruption till ,scipio's death4      
,laelius served in ,africa1 mainly that 

he might not be separated from his      
friend4 ,to each the other's home was as
 his own4 ,they were of one mind as to  
public men and measures1 and in all     
probability the more pliant nature of   
,laelius yielded in great measure to the
 stern and uncompromising adherence of  
,scipio to the cause of the aristocracy4
 ,while they were united in grave       
pursuits and weighty interests1 we have 
the most charming pictures of their     
rural and seaside life together1 even of
 their gathering shells on the shore1   
and of fireside frolics in which they   
forgot the cares of the republic1 ceased
 to be stately old ,romans1 and played  
like children in vacation-time4         
,,fannius4  ,caius ,fannius ,strabo in  
early life served with high reputation  
in ,africa1 under the younger           
,africanus1 and afterward in ,spain1 in 
the war with ,viriathus4 ,like his      
father-in-law1 he was versed in the     
philosophy of the ,stoic school1 under  
the tuition of ,panaetius4 ,he was an   

orator1 as were almost all the ,romans  
who aimed at distinction2 but we have no
 reason to suppose that he in this      
respect rose above mediocrity4 ,he wrote
 a history1 of which ,cicero speaks     
well1 and which ,sallust commends for   
its accuracy2 but it is entirely lost1  
and we have no direct information even  
as to the ground which it covered4 ,it  
seems probable1 however1 that it was a  
history either of the third of the      
,punic wars1 or of all of them2 for     
,plutarch quotes from him--probably from
 his ,history --the statement that he1  
,fannius1 and ,tiberius ,gracchus were  
the first to mount the walls of         
,carthage when the city was taken4      
,,scaevola4  ,quintus ,mucius ,scaevola 
filled successively most of the         
important offices of the ,state1 and was
 for many years1 and until death1 a     
member of the college of ,augurs4 ,he   
was eminent for his legal learning1 and 
to a late and infirm old age was still  
consulted in questions of law1 never    

refusing to receive clients at any      
moment after daylight4 ,but while he was
 regarded as foremost among the jurists 
of his time1 he professed himself less  
thoroughly versed in the laws relating  
to mortgages than two of his coevals1 to
 whom he was wont to send those who     
brought cases of this class for his     
opinion or advice4 ,he was remarkable   
for early rising1 constant industry1 and
 undeviating punctuality1--at the       
meetings of the ,senate being always the
 first on the ground4  ,no man held a   
higher reputation than ,scaevola for    
rigid and scrupulous integrity4 ,it is  
related of him that when as a witness in
 court he had given testimony full1     
clear1 strong1 and of the most damnatory
 character against the person on trial1 
he protested against the conviction of  
the defendant on his testimony1 if not  
corroborated1 on the principle1 held    
sacred in the ,jewish law1 that it would
 be a dangerous precedent to suffer the 
issue of any case to depend on the      

intelligence and veracity of a single   
witness4 ,when1 after ,marius had been  
driven from the city1 ,sulla asked the  
,senate to declare him by their vote a  
public enemy1 ,scaevola stood in a      
minority of one2 and when ,sulla urged  
him to give his vote in the affirmative1
 his reply was3 ,although you show me   
the military guard with which you have  
surrounded the ,senate-house1 although  
you threaten me with death1 you will    
never induce me1 for the little blood   
still in an old man's veins1 to         
pronounce ,marius--who has been the     
preserver of the city and of ,italy--an 
enemy4  ,his daughter married ,lucius   
,licinius ,crassus1 who had such        
reverence tor his father-in-law1 that1  
when a candidate for the consulship1 he 
could not persuade himself in the       
presence of ,scaevola to cringe to the  
people1 or to adopt any of the usual    
self-humiliating methods of canvassing  
for the popular vote4     ,,scipio',s   
,,dream4  ,,palimpsests ,footnote3      

,rubbed again1--the parchment1 or       
papyrus1 having been first polished for 
use1 and then rubbed as clean as        
possible1 to be used a second time4--the
 name and the thing--are at least as old
 as ,cicero4 ,in one of his letters he  
banters his friend ,trebatius for       
writing to him on a                     
palimpsest1,footnote3 ,in palimpsesto4  
and marvels what there could have been  
on the parchment which he wanted to     
erase4 ,this was a device probably      
resorted to in that age only in the way 
in which rigid economists of our day    
sometimes utilize envelopes and         
handbills4 ,but in the dark ages1 when  
classical literature was under a cloud  
and a ban1 and when the scanty demand   
for writing materials made the supply   
both scanty and precarious1 such        
manuscripts of profane authors as fell  
into the hands of ecclesiastical        
copyists were not unusually employed for
 transcribing the works of the          
,christian ,fathers or the lives of     

saints4 ,in such cases the erasion was  
so clumsily performed as often to leave 
distinct traces of the previous letters4
 ,the possibility of recovering lost    
writings from these palimpsests was     
first suggested by ,montfaucon in the   
seventeenth century2 but the earliest   
successful experiment of the kind was   
made by ,bruns1 a ,german scholar1 in   
the latter part of the eighteenth1      
century4 ,the most distinguished laborer
 in this field has been ,angelo ,mai1   
who commenced his work in #ahad on      
manuscripts in the ,ambrosian ,library  
at ,milan1 of which he was then         
custodian4 ,transferred to the ,vatican 
,library at ,rome1 he discovered there1 
in #ahba1 a considerable portion of     
,cicero's ,de ,republica1 which had been
 obliterated1 and replaced by ,saint    
,augustine's ,commentary on the ,psalms4
 ,this latter being removed by          
appropriate chemical applications1 large
 portions of the original writing       
remained legible1 and were promptly     

given to the public4  ,this treatise    
,cicero evidently considered1 and not   
without reason1 as his master-work4 ,it 
was written in the prime of his mental  
vigor1 in the fifty-fourth year of his  
age1 after ample experience in the      
affairs of ,state1 and while he still   
hoped1 more than he feared for the      
future of ,rome4 ,his object was to     
discuss in detail the principles and    
forms of civil government1 to define the
 grounds of preference for a republic   
like that of ,rome in its best days1 and
 to describe the duties and             
responsibilities of a good citizen1     
whether in public office or in private  
life4 ,he regarded this treatise1 in its
 ethics1 as his own directory in the    
government of his province of ,cilicia1 
and as binding him1 by the law of       
self-consistency1 to unswerving         
uprightness and faithfulness1 ,he refers
 to these six books on the ,republic as 
so many hostages ,footnote3 ,praedibus4 
for his uncorrupt integrity and         

untarnished honor1 and makes them his   
apology to ,atticus for declining to    
urge an extortionate demand on the city 
of ,salamis4  ,the work is in the form  
of ,dialogues1 in which1 with several   
interlocutors beside1 the younger       
,africanus and ,laelius are the chief   
speakers2 and it is characterized by the
 same traits of dramatic genius to which
 ,i have referred in connection with the
 ,de ,amicitia4  ,the ,de ,republica was
 probably under interdict during the    
reigns of the ,augustan dynasty2 men did
 not dare to copy it1 or to have it     
known that they possessed it2 and when  
it might have safely reappeared1 the    
republic had faded even from regretful  
memory1 and there was no desire to      
perpetuate a work devoted to its service
 and honor4 ,thus the world had lost the
 very one of all ,cicero's writings for 
which he most craved immortality4 ,the  
portions of it which ,mai has brought to
 light fully confirm ,cicero's own      
estimate of its value1 and feed the     

earnest--it is to be feared the         
vain--desire for the recovery of the    
entire work4  ,scipio's ,dream1 which1  
is nearly all that remains of the ,sixth
 ,book of the ,de ,republica1 had       
survived during the interval for which  
the rest of the treatise was lost to the
 world4 ,macrobius1 a grammarian of the 
fifth century1 made it the text of a    
commentary of little present interest or
 value1 but much prized and read in the 
,middle ,ages4 ,the ,dream1             
independently of the commentary1 has in 
more recent times passed through        
unnumbered editions1 sometimes by       
itself1 sometimes with ,cicero's ethical
 writings1 sometimes with the other     
fragments of the ,de ,republica4  ,in   
the closing ,dialogue of the ,de        
,republica the younger ,africanus says3 
,although to the wise the consciousness 
of noble deeds is a most ample reward of
 virtue1 yet this divine virtue craves1 
not indeed statues that need lead to    
hold them to their pedestals1 nor yet   

triumphs graced by withering laurels1   
but rewards of firmer structure and more
 enduring green4 ,what are these8 says  
,laelius4 ,scipio replies by telling his
 dream4 ,the time of the vision was near
 the beginning of the ,third ,punic     
,war1 when ,scipio1 no longer in his    
early youth1 was just entering upon the 
career in which he gained pre-eminent   
fame1 thenceforward to know neither     
shadow nor decline4  99       99        
99       99       99  ,i have used for  
,scipio's ,dream1 ,creuzer and ,moser's 
edition of the ,de ,republica4          
,,cicero ,,de ,,amicitia  99       99   
99       99       99  #a ,quintus       
,mucius1 the ,augur1 used to repeat from
 memory1 and in the most pleasant way1  
many of the sayings of his father-in-law
 ,caius ,laelius1 never hesitating to   
apply to him in all that he said his    
surname of ,the ,wise4 ,when ,i first   
put on the robe of manhood ,footnote3   
,in the earliest time a boy put on the  
toga virilis when he had completed his  

sixteenth year1 in ,cicero's time       
pupilage ceased a year earlier and by   
,justinin's code the period at which it 
legally ceased was the commencement of  
the fifteenth year4 ,the ,scaevola to   
whom ,cicero was thus taken was ,quintus
 ,mucius 7,scaevola7 the ,augur1 already
 named4 my father took me to ,scaevola  
and so commended me to his kind offices1
 that thenceforward1 so far as was      
possible and fitting ,i kept my place at
 the old man's side4 ,footnote3 ,it was 
customary for youth in training for     
honorable positions in the ,state to    
attach themselves especially to men of  
established character and reputation1 to
 attend them to public places1 and to   
remain near them whenever anything was  
to be learned from their conversation1  
their legal opinions1 their public      
harangues1 or their pleas before the    
courts4 ,distinguished citizens deemed  
themselves honored by a retinue of such 
attendants4 ,cicero1 in the ,de         
,officiis1 says that a young man may    

best  commend himself to the early      
esteem and confidence of the community  
by such an intimacy4 ,i thus laid up in 
my memory many of his elaborate         
discussions of important subjects1 as   
well as many of his utterances that had 
both brevity and point1 and my endeavor 
was to grow more learned by his wisdom4 
,after his death ,i stood in a similar  
relation to the high-priest ,scaevola1  
,footnote3 ,as ,cicero says1 the most   
eloquent of jurists1 and the most       
learned jurist among the eloquent4 ,he  
was at the same time pre-eminent for    
moral purity and integrity4 ,it was he1 
who1 as ,cicero 7,de ,officiis1 iii4    
#ae7 relates1 insisted on paying for an 
estate that he bought a much larger sum 
than was asked for it1 because its price
 had been fixed far below its actual    
value4 whom ,i venture to call the      
foremost man of our city both in ability
 and in uprightness4 ,but of him ,i will
 speak elsewhere4 ,i return to the      
,augur4 ,while ,i recall many similar   

occasions1 ,i remember in particular    
that at a certain time when ,i and a few
 of his more intimate associates were   
sitting with him in the semicircular    
apartment ,footnote3 ,latin1 hemicyclio1
 perhaps1 a semicircular seat4 in his   
house where he was wont to receive his  
friends1 the conversation turned on a   
subject about which almost every one was
 then talking1 and which you1 ,atticus1 
certainly recollect1 as you were much in
 the society of ,publius ,sulpicius2    
namely1 the intense hatred with which   
,sulpicius1 when ,tribune of the people1
 opposed ,quintus ,pompeius1 then       
,consul1 ,footnote3 ,the quarrel arose  
from the zealous espousal of the ,marian
 faction by ,sulpicius1 who resorted to 
arms1 in order to effect the            
incorporation of the new citizens from  
without the city among the previously   
existing tribes4 ,hence a series of     
tumults and conflicts1 in one of which a
 son of ,pompeius lost his life4 with   
whom he had lived in the closest and    

most loving union1--a subject of general
 surprise and regret4 ,having           
incidentally mentioned this affair1     
,scaevola proceeded to give us the      
substance of a conversation on          
friendship1 which ,laelius had with him 
and his other son-in-law1 ,caius        
,fannius1 the son of ,marcus1 a few days
 after the death of ,africanus4 ,i      
committed to memory the sentiments      
expressed in that discussion1 and ,i    
bring them out in the book which ,i now 
send you4 ,i have put them into the form
 of a dialogue1 to avoid the too        
frequent repetition of said ,i and says 
he1 and that the discussion may seem as 
if it were held in the hearing of those 
who read it4 ,while you1 indeed1 have   
often urged me to write something about 
friendship1 the subject seems to me one 
of universal interest1 and at the same  
time specially appropriate to our       
intimacy4 ,i have therefore been very   
ready to seek the profit of many by     
complying with your request4 ,but as in 

the ,cato ,major1 the work on ,old ,age 
inscribed to you1 ,i introduced the old 
man ,cato as leading the discussion1    
because there seemed to be no other     
person better fitted to talk about old  
age than one who had been an aged man so
 long1 and in his age had been so       
exceptionally vigorous1 so1 as we had   
heard from our fathers of the peculiarly
 memorable intimacy of ,caius ,laelius  
and ,publius ,scipio1 it appeared       
appropriate to put into the mouth of    
,laelius what ,scaevola remembered as   
having been said by him when friendship 
was the subject in on the authority of  
men of an earlier generation1 and       
illustrious in their time1 seems somehow
 to be of specially commanding influence
 on the reader's mind4 ,thus1 as ,i read
 my own book on ,old ,age1 ,i am        
sometimes so affected that ,i feel as if
 not ,i1 but ,cato1 were talking4 ,but  
as ,i then wrote as an old man to an old
 man about old age1 so in this book ,i  
write as the most loving of friends to a

 friend about friendship4 ,footnote3 ,in
 the ,latin we have here two remarkable 
series of assonances1 rhythmical to the 
ear1 and though translatable in sense   
not so in euphony4 ,ut tum senex ad     
senem de senectute1 sic hoc libro ad    
amicum amicissimus1 de amicitia scripsi4
 ,then ,cato was the chief speaker1 than
 whom there was in his time scarcely any
 one older1 and no one his superior in  
intellect1 now ,laelius shall hold the  
first place1 both as a wise man 7for so 
he was regarded71 and as excelling in   
all that can do honor to friendship4 ,i 
want you for the while to turn your mind
 away from me1 and to imagine that it is
 ,laelius who is speaking4 ,caius       
,fannius and ,quintus ,mucius come to   
their father-in-law after the death of  
,africanus4 ,they commence the          
conversation1 ,laelius answers them4 ,in
 reading all that he says about         
friendship1 you will recognize the      
picture of your own friendship for me4  
#b ,,fannius ,it is as you say1         

,footnote3 ,the reference is to what    
,laelius is supposed to have said       
already4 ,the dialogue1 as given here1  
is made to commence in the midst of a   
conversation4 ,laelius1 for there never 
was a better man1 or one more justly    
renowned1 than ,africanus1 ,but you     
ought to bear it in mind that the eyes  
of all are turned upon you at this time1
 for they both call you and think you   
wise4 ,this distinction has been        
latterly given to ,cato1 and you know   
that in the days of our fathers ,lucius 
,atilius ,footnote3 ,the first ,roman   
known to have borne the surname of      
,sapiens ,he was one of the earliest of 
the juriconsults who took pupils4 was in
 like manner surnamed ,the ,wise1 but   
both of them were so called for other   
reasons than those which have given you 
this name1--,atilius1 for his reputation
 as an adept in municipal law1 ,cato1   
for the versatility of his endowments   
for there were reported to his honor    
many measures wisely planned and        

vigorously carried through in the       
,senate1 and many cases skilfully       
defended in the courts1 so that in his  
old age ,the ,wise was generally applied
 to him as a surname4 ,but you are      
regarded as wise on somewhat different  
grounds1 not only for your disposition  
and your moral worth1 but also for your 
knowledge and learning1 and not in the  
estimation of the common people1 but in 
that of men of advanced culture1 you are
 deemed wise in a sense in which there  
is reason to suppose that in            
,greece--where those who look into these
 things most discriminatingly do not    
reckon the seven who bear the name as on
 the list of wise men--no one was so    
regarded except the man in ,athens whom 
the oracle of ,apollo designated as the 
wisest of men4,footnote3 ,socrates4 ,in 
fine1 you are thought to be wise in this
 sense1 that you regard all that        
appertains to your happiness as within  
your own soul1 and consider the         
calamities to which man is liable as of 

no consequence in comparison with       
virtue4 ,i am therefore asked1 and so1  
,i believe1 is ,scaevola1 who is now    
with us1 how you bear the death of      
,africanus2 and the question is put to  
us the more eagerly1 because on the     
fifth day of the month next following1  
,footnote3 ,latin1 proxumis nonis4 ,the 
nones1 the ninth day before the ides1   
fell on the fifth of the month1 except  
in ,march4 ,may1 ,july1 and ,october1   
when the ides were two days later4 ,we  
have elsewhere intimation that the      
,augurs held a meeting for business on  
the nones of each month4 when we met1 as
 usual1 in the garden of ,decimus       
,brutus the ,augur1 to discuss our      
official business1 you were absent1     
though it was your habit always on that 
day to give your most careful attendance
 to the duties of your office4          
,,scaevola4 ,as ,fannius says1 ,caius   
,laelius1 many have asked me this       
question4 ,but ,i answered in accordance
 with what ,i have seen1 that you were  

bearing with due moderation your sorrow 
for the death of this your most intimate
 friend1 though you1 with your kindly   
nature1 could not fail to be moved by   
it2 but that your absence from the      
monthly meeting of the ,augurs was due  
to illness1 not to grief4  ,,laelius4   
,you were in the right1 ,scaevola1 and  
spoke the truth2 for it was not fitting1
 had ,i been in good health1 for me to  
be detained by my own sad feeling from  
this duty1 which ,i have never failed to
 discharge2 nor do ,i think that a man  
of firm mind can be so affected by any  
calamity as to neglect his duty4 ,it is1
 indeed1 friendly in you1 ,fannius1 to  
tell me that better things are said of  
me than ,i feel worthy of or desire to  
have said2 but it seems to me that you  
underrate ,cato4 ,for either there never
 was a wise man 7and so ,i am inclined  
to think71 or if there has been such a  
man1 ,cato deserves the name4 ,to omit  
other things1 how nobly did he bear his 
son's death6 ,i remembered ,paulus1     

,footnote3 ,paulus ,aemilius1 who lost  
two sons1 one a few days before1 the    
other shortly after1 the triumph decreed
 to him for the conquest of the         
,macedonian ,king ,perseus4 ,i had seen 
,gallus1,footnote3 ,gaius ,sulpicius    
,gallus1 mentioned as an astronomer by  
,cicero1 ,de ,officiis1 i4 #f1 and ,de  
,senectute1 #ad4 in their bereavements4 
,but they lost boys2 ,cato1 a man in his
 prime and respected by all4,footnote3  
,the younger ,cato had won fame as a    
soldier and distinguished eminence as a 
jurist4 ,at the time of his death he was
 praetor elect4 ,beware how you place in
 higher esteem than ,cato even the man  
whom ,apollo1 as you say1 pronounced    
superlatively wise2 for it is the deeds 
of ,cato1 the sayings of ,socrates1 that
 are held in honor4 ,thus far in reply  
to ,fannius4 ,as regards myself1 ,i will
 now answer both of you4  #c4 ,were ,i  
to deny that ,i feel the loss of        
,scipio1 while ,i leave it to those who 
profess themselves wise in such matters 

to say whether ,i ought to feel it1 ,i  
certainly should be uttering a          
falsehood4 ,i do indeed feel my         
bereavement of such a friend as ,i do   
not expect ever to have again1 and as ,i
 am sure ,i never had beside4 ,but ,i   
need no comfort from without1 ,i console
 myself1 and1 chief of all1 ,i find     
comfort in my freedom from the          
apprehension that oppresses most men    
when their friends die1 for ,i do not   
think that any evil has befallen        
,scipio4 ,if evil has befallen1 it is to
 me4 ,but to be severely afflicted by   
one's own misfortunes is the token of   
self-love1 not of friendship4 ,as for   
him1 indeed who can deny that the issue 
has been to his pre-eminent glory8      
,unless he had wished--what never       
entered into his mind--an endless life  
on earth what was there within human    
desire that did not accrue to the man   
who in his very earliest youth by his   
incredible ability and prowess surpassed
 the highest expectations that all had  

formed of his boyhood1 who never sought 
the consulship1 yet was made consul     
twice1 the first time before the legal  
age1,footnote3 ,he left the army in     
,africa ,b4,c4 #adg for home to offer   
himself as a candidate for the          
aedileship1 for which he had just       
reached the legal age of thirty seven2  
but such accounts of his ability        
efficiency1 and courage had preceded him
 and followed him from the army1 that he
 was chosen ,consul1 virtually by       
popular acclamation4 the second time in 
due season as to himself1 but almost too
 late for his country1,footnote3 ,the   
war in ,spain had been continued for    
several years1 with frequent disaster   
and disgrace to the ,roman army1 when   
,scipio1 ,b4,c4 #acd1 was chosen ,consul
 with a special view to this war1 which 
he closed by the capture and destruction
 of ,numantia1 in connection with which1
 it must be confessed1 his record is    
rather that of a relentless and         
sanguinary enemy than of a generous and 

placable antagonist4 who by the         
overthrow of two cities implacably      
hostile to the ,roman empire put a      
period1 not only to the wars that were  
but to wars that else must have been8   
,what shall ,i say of the singular      
affability of his manners1 of his filial
 piety to his mother1 ,footnote3 ,he was
 the son of ,paulus ,aemilius1 and the  
adopted son of ,publius ,cornelius      
,scipio ,africanus4 ,his mother1        
divorced for no assignable reason1 was  
left very poor1 and her son1 on the     
death of the widow of his adopting      
father1 gave her the entire patrimony   
that came into his possession4 of his   
generosity to his sisters1 ,footnote3   
,after his mother's death1 law and      
custom authorized him to resume what he 
had given her1 but he bestowed it on his
 sisters1 thus affording them the means 
of living comfortably and respectably4  
of his integrity in his relations with  
all men8 ,how dear he was to the        
community was shown by the grief at his 

funeral4 ,what benefit1 then1 could he  
have derived from a few more years8     
,for1 although old age be not           
burdensome1--as ,i remember that ,cato1 
the year before he died1 maintained in a
 conversation with me and ,scipio1      
,footnote3 ,the ,de ,senectute--it yet  
impairs the fresh vigor which ,scipio   
had not begun to lose4 ,thus his life   
was such that nothing either in fortune 
or in fame could be added to it1 while  
the suddenness of his death must have   
taken away the pain of dying4 ,of the   
mode of his death it is hard to speak   
with certainty1 you are aware what      
suspicions are abroad4 ,footnote3 ,he   
retired to his sleeping apartment       
apparently in perfect health1 and was   
found dead on his couch in the          
morning1--as was rumored1 with marks of 
violence on his neck4  ,his wife was    
,sempronia1 the sister of the ,gracchi  
whose agrarian schemes he had vehemently
 opposed4  ,she was suspected of having 
at least given admission to the         

assassin1 and even her mother1 the      
,cornelia who has been regarded as      
unparelleled among ,roman women for the 
virutes appertaining to a wife and      
mother1 did not escape the charge of    
complicity4  ,her son ,caius was also   
among those suspected1 but the more     
probable opinion is that ,papirius      
,carbo was alone answerable for the     
crime4  ,carbo had been ,scipio's most  
bitter enemy and had endeavoured to     
inflame the people against him as their 
enemy4 ,but this may be said with truth 
that of the many days of surpassing fame
 and happiness which ,publius ,scipio   
saw in his lifetime1 the most glorious  
was the day before his death when on the
 adjournment of the ,senate he was      
escorted home by the ,conscript         
,fathers1 the ,roman people1 the men of 
,latium and the allies1 ,footnote3      
,scipio had at that session of the      
senate proposed a measure in the utmost 
degree offensive to ,caius ,gracchus and
 his party4 ,the law of ,tiberius       

,gracchus would have disposed1 at the   
hands of the commissioners appointed    
under it1 of large tracts of land       
belonging to the ,italian allies4       
,scipio's plan provided that such lands 
should be taken out of the jurisdiction 
of the commissioners1 and that matters  
relating to them should be adjudged by a
 different board to be specially        
appointed--a measure which would have   
been a virtual abrogation of the        
agrarian law4 ,on this account he had   
his honorable escort home1 and on this  
account1 in all probability1 he was     
mudered4--so that from so high a grade  
of honor he seems to have passed on into
 the assembly of the gods rather than to
 have gone down into the underworld4  #d
 ,for ,i am far from agreeing with those
 who have of late promulgated the       
opinion that the soul perishes with the 
body and that death blots out the whole 
being4 ,footnote3  ,the reference here  
is of course to the ,epicurians4 ,this  
school of philosophy had grown very     

rapidly1 and numbered many disciples    
when this essay was written2 but in the 
time of ,laelius it had but recently    
invaded ,rome1 and ,amafanius1 who must 
have been his contemporary1 was the     
earliest ,roman writer who expounded its
 doctrine ,i on the other hand attach   
superior value to the authority of the  
ancients whether that of our ancestors  
who established religious rites for the 
dead which they certainly would not have
 done if they had thought the dead      
wholly unconcerned in such observances  
,footnote3 ,this is sound reasoning as  
these rites were annually renewed and   
consisted in great part of the          
invocation of ancestors--a custom which 
could not have originated if those      
ancestors were supposed to be utterly   
dead4 ,this passage may remind the      
reader of the answer of ,jesus ,christ  
to the ,sadducees1 who denied that the  
,pentateuch contained any intimation of 
immortality4 ,he quotes the passage in  
which ,god is represented as saying1 ,i 

am the ,god of ,abraham1 and the ,god of
 ,isaac1 and the ,god of ,jacob1 and    
adds1 ,god is not the ,god of the dead1 
but of the living1 implying that        
ancestors whom the writer of that record
 supposed to be dead could not have been
 thus mentioned4 or that of the former  
,greek colonists in this country who by 
their schools and teaching made         
,southern ,italy ,footnote3 ,latin      
,magna ,graecia-the name given to the   
cluster of ,greek colonies that were    
scattered thick along the shore of      
,southern ,italy4 ,at ,croton in ,magna 
,graecia ,pythagoras established his    
school and the colonies were the chief  
seat and seminary of his philosophy     
which taught the immortality of the     
soul4--now in its decline1 then         
flourishing--a seat of learning1 or that
 of him whom the oracle of ,apollo      
pronounced the wisest of men who said   
not one thing to-day1 another to-morrow1
 as many do1 but the same thing always1 
maintaining that the souls of men are   

divine1 and that when they go out from  
the body1 the return to heaven is open  
to them1 and direct and easy in         
proportion to their integrity and       
excellence4 ,this was also the opinion  
of ,scipio1 who seemed prescient of the 
event so near1 when1 a very short time  
before his death1 he discoursed for     
three successive days about the republic
 in the presence of ,philus1 ,manilius1 
and several others1--you1 ,scaevola1    
having gone with me to the              
conferences1--and near the close of the 
discussion he told us what he said that 
he had heard from ,africanus in a vision
 during sleep4 ,footnote3 ,the ,de      
,republica consists of dialogues on     
three successive days in ,scipio's      
garden1 and ,scipio is the chief        
speaker4 ,the work was supposed to be   
irrecoverably lost1 with the exception  
of this ,dream of ,scipio and a few     
fragments1 but considerable portions of 
it were discovered in a palimpsest in   
#ahbb4 ,the ,dream of ,scipio will be   

found in the latter part of this volume4
 ,if it is true that the soul of every  
man of surpassing excellence takes      
flight1 as it were1 from the custody and
 bondage of the body1 to whom can we    
imagine the way to the gods more easy   
than to ,scipio8 ,i therefore fear to   
mourn for this his departure1 lest in   
such grief there be more of envy than of
 friendship4 ,but if truth incline to   
the opinion that soul and body have the 
same end1 and that there is no remaining
 consciousness1 then1 as there is       
nothing good in death1 there certainly  
is nothing of evil ,for if consciousness
 be lost1 the case is the same with     
,scipio as if he had never been born1   
though that he was born ,i have so ample
 reason to rejoice1 and this city will  
be glad so long as it shall stand ,thus 
in either event1 with him1 as ,i have   
said1 all has issued well1 though with  
great discomfort for me1 who more       
fittingly1 as ,i entered into life      
before him ought to have left it before 

him4 ,but ,i so enjoy the memory of our 
friendship1 that ,i seem to have owed   
the happiness of my life to my having   
lived with ,scipio1 with whom ,i was    
united in the care of public interests  
and of private affairs1 who was my      
companion at home and served by my side 
in the army ,footnote3 ,laelus went with
 ,scipio on the campaign which resulted 
in the destruction of ,carthage4 and    
with whom--and therein lies the special 
virtue of friendship--,i was in perfect 
harmony of purpose1 taste1 and          
sentiment4 ,thus ,i am now not so much  
delighted by the reputation for wisdom  
of which ,fannius has just spoken1      
especially as ,i do not deserve it1 as  
by the hope that our friendship will    
live in eternal remembrance1 and this ,i
 have the more at heart because from all
 ages scarce three or four pairs of     
friends are on record1 ,footnote3 ,those
 referred to probably ,theseus and      
,peirithous1 ,achilles and  ,patroclus1 
,orestes and ,pylades1 ,damon and       

,phintius1--all but the last1 perhaps   
the last also1 mythical on which list ,i
 cannot but hope that the friendship of 
,scipio and ,laelius will be known to   
posterity4  ,,fannius4 ,it cannot fail1 
,laelius1 to be as you desire4 ,but     
since you have made mention of          
friendship1 and we are at leisure1 you  
will confer on me a very great favor1   
and1 ,i trust1 on ,scaevola too1 if1 as 
you are wont to do on other subjects    
when your opinion is asked1 you will    
discourse to us on friendship1 and tell 
us what you think about it1 in what     
estimation you hold it1 and what rules  
you would give for it4  ,,scaevola4     
,this will indeed be very gratifying to 
me1 and had not ,fannius anticipated me1
 ,i was about to make the same request4 
,you thus will bestow a great kindness  
on both of us4  #e4 ,,laelius4 ,i       
certainly would not hesitate1 if ,i had 
confidence in my own powers2 for the    
subject is one of the highest           
importance1 and1 as ,fannius says1 we   

are at leisure4 ,it is the custom of    
philosophers1 especially among the      
,greeks1 to have subjects assigned to   
them1 which they discuss even without   
premeditation4 ,footnote3 ,this was the 
boast and pride of the ,greek sophists4 
,this is a great accomplishment1 and    
requires no small amount of exercise4 ,i
 therefore think that you ought to seek 
the treatment of friendship by those who
 profess this art4 ,i can only advise   
you to prefer friendship to all things  
else within human attainment1 insomuch  
as nothing beside is so well fitted to  
nature1--so well adapted to our needs   
whether in prosperous or in adverse     
circumstances4 ,but ,i consider this as 
a first principle--that friendship can  
exist only between good men4 ,in thus   
saying1 ,i would not be so rigid in     
definition ,footnote3 ,latin4 ,neque ut 
ad ilium reseco1 literally1 nor in this 
matter do ,i cut to the quick4 as those 
who establish specially subtle          
distinctions1 ,footnote3 ,the ,stoics of

 the more rigid type1 who maintained    
that the wise man alone is good1 but    
denied that the truly wise man had yet  
made his appearance on the earth4 with  
literal truth it may be1 but with little
 benefit to the common mind2 for they   
will not admit that any man who is not  
wise is a good man4 ,this may indeed be 
true4 ,but they understand by wisdom a  
state which no mortal has yet attained2 
while we ought to look at those         
qualities which are to be found in      
actual exercise and in common life1 not 
at those which exist only in fancy or in
 aspiration4 ,caius ,fabricius1 ,manius 
,curius1 ,tiberius ,coruncanius1 wise as
 they were in the judgment of our       
fathers1 ,i will consent not to call    
wise by the standard of these           
philosophers4 ,let them keep for        
themselves the name of wisdom1 which is 
invidious and of doubtful meaning1 if   
they will only admit that these may have
 been good men4 ,but they will not grant
 even this2 they insist on denying the  

name of good to any but the wise4 ,i    
therefore adopt the standard of common  
sense4 ,footnote3 ,latin agamus igitur  
piagui 7ut aiunt7 ,minerva1 that is with
 a less refined1 a grosser wisdom more  
nearly conformed to the sound1 if       
somewhat crass1 common-sense of the     
majority4 ,those who integrity1 equity1 
and kindness win approval1 who are      
entirely free from avarice1 lust and the
 infirmities of a hasty temper1 and in  
whom there is perfect consistency of    
character1 in fine men like those whom  
,i have named while they are regarded as
 good1 ought to be so called1 because to
 the utmost of human capacity they      
follow ,nature who is the best guide in 
living well4 ,indeed1 it seems to me    
thoroughly evident that there should be 
a certain measure of fellowship among   
all1 but more intimate the nearer we    
approach one another4 ,thus this feeling
 has more power between fellow-citizens 
than toward foreigners1 between kindred 
than between those of different         

families4 ,toward our kindred1 ,nature  
herself produces a certain kind of      
friendship4 ,but this lacks strength1   
and indeed friendship in its full sense1
 has precedence of kinship in this      
particular1 that good-will may be taken 
away from kinship1 not from friendship1 
for when good will is removed1          
friendship loses its name1 while that of
 kinship remains4 ,how great is the     
force of friendship we may best         
understand from this1--that out of the  
boundless society of the human race     
which ,nature has constituted1 the sense
 of fellowship is so contracted and     
narrowed that the whole power of loving 
is bestowed on the union of two or a    
very few friends4  #f ,friendship is    
nothing else than entire fellow feeling 
as to all things human and divine with  
mutual good-will and affection2 7#a7 and
 ,i doubt whether anything better than  
this1 wisdom alone excepted1 has been   
given to1 man by the immortal gods ,some
 prefer riches to it1 some1 sound       

health1 some1 power1 some1 posts of     
honor1 many1 even sensual gratification4
 ,this last properly belongs to beasts1 
the others are precarious and uncertain1
 dependent not on our own choice so much
 as on the caprice of ,fortune4 ,those1 
indeed1 who regard virtue as the supreme
 good are entirely in the right1 but it 
is virtue itself that produces and      
sustains friendship1 not without virtue 
can friendship by any possibility exist4
 ,in saying this1 however ,i would      
interpret virtue in accordance with our 
habits of speech and of life1 not       
defining it1 as some philosophers do1 by
 high-sounding words1 but numbering on  
the list of good men those who are      
commonly so regarded1--the ,pauli1 the  
,catos1 the ,galli1 the ,scipios1 the   
,phili ,mankind in general #a ,it may be
 doubted whether this close conformity  
of opinion and feeling is essential1 or 
even favorable to friendship4 ,the      
amicable comparison and collision of    
thought and sentiment are certainly     

consistent with1 and often conducive to 
the most friendly intimacy4 ,friends are
 not infrequently the complements1      
rather than the likeness1 of each other4
 ,cicero and ,atticus were as close     
friends as ,scipio and ,laelius2 but    
they were at many points exceedingly    
unlike4 ,atticus had the tact and skill 
in worldly matters1 which ,cicero       
lacked4 ,atticus kept aloof from public 
affairs while ,cicero was unhappy       
whenever he could not imagine himself as
 taking a leading part in them4 ,atticus
 was an ,epicurean1 and ,cicero never   
lost an opportunity of attacking the    
,epicurean philosophy4 are content with 
these4 ,let us then leave out of the    
account such good men as are nowhere to 
be found4 ,among such good men as there 
really are1 friendship has more         
advantages than ,i can easily name4 ,in 
the first1 place1 as ,ennius says2--    
,how can life be worth living1 if devoid
 of the calm trust reposed by friend in 
friend8 ,what sweeter joy than in the   

kindred soul8 ,whose converse differs   
not from self-communion8  ,how could you
 have full enjoyment of prosperity1     
unless with one whose pleasure in it was
 equal to your own8 ,nor would it be    
easy to bear adversity1 unless with the 
sympathy of one on whom it rested more  
heavily than on your own soul4 ,then1   
too1 other objects of desire are1 in    
general1 adapted1 each to some specific 
purpose1--wealth1 that you may use it2  
power1 that you may receive the homage  
of those around you2 posts of honor1    
that you may obtain reputation2 sensual 
gratification1 that you may live in     
pleasure2 health1 that you may be free  
from pain1 and may have full exercise of
 your bodily powers and faculties4 ,but 
friendship combines the largest number  
of utilities4 ,wherever you turn1 it is 
at hand4 ,no place shuts it out4 ,it is 
never unseasonable1 never annoying4     
,thus1 as the proverb says1 ,you cannot 
put water or fire to more uses than     
friendship serves4 ,i am not now        

speaking of the common and moderate type
 of friendship1 which yet yields both   
pleasure and profit1 but1 of true and   
perfect friendship1 like that which     
existed in the few instances that are   
held in special remembrance4 ,such      
friendship at once enhances the lustre  
of prosperity1 and by dividing and      
sharing adversity lessens its burden4   
#g4 ,moreover1 while friendship         
comprises the greatest number and       
variety of beneficent offices1 it       
certainly has this special prerogative1 
that it lights up a good hope for the   
time to come1 and thus preserves the    
minds that it sustains from imbecility  
or prostration in misfortune4 ,for he1  
indeed1 who looks into the face of a    
friend beholds1 as it were1 a copy of   
himself4 ,thus the absent are present1  
and the poor are rich1 and the weak are 
strong1 and--what seems stranger still  
,footnote3 ,literally1 what is harder to
 say4--the dead are alive1 such is the  
honor1 the enduring remembrance1 the    

longing love1 with which the dying are  
followed by the living2 so that the     
death of the dying seems happy1 the life
 of the living full of praise4          
,footnote3 ,the sense of this sentence  
is somewhat overlaid by the rhetoric2   
yet it undoubtedly means that an absent 
friend is esteemed and honored in the   
person of the friend who not only loves 
him1 but is regarded as representing    
him2 that a poor friend enjoys the      
prosperity of his rich friend as if it  
were his own2 that a weak friend feels  
his feebleness energized by the friend  
who in need will fight his battles for  
him2 and that no man is suffered to     
lapse from the kind and reverent        
remembrances of those who see his       
likeness in the friend who keeps his    
memory green4 ,but if from the condition
 of human life you were to exclude all  
kindly union1 no house1 no city1 could  
stand1 nor1 indeed1 could the tillage of
 the field survive4 ,if it is not       
perfectly understood what virtue there  

is in friendship and concord1 it may be 
learned from dissension and discord4    
,for what house is so stable1 what state
 so firm1 that it cannot be utterly     
overturned by hatred and strife8 ,hence 
it may be ascertained how much good     
there is in friendship4 ,it is said that
 a certain philosopher of ,agrigentum   
,footnote3 ,empedocles4 ,only a few     
fragments of his great poem are extant4 
,his theory seems like a poetical       
version of ,newton's law of universal   
gravitation4 ,the analogy between       
physical attraction and the mutual      
attraction of congenial minds and souls 
has its record in the ,french word      
aimant1 denoting loadstone or magnet4   
sang in ,greek verse that it is         
friendship that draws together and      
discord that parts all things which     
subsist in harmony1 and which have their
 various movements in nature and in the 
whole universe4 ,the worth and power of 
friendship1 too1 all mortals understand1
 and attest by their approval in actual 

instances4 ,thus1 if there comes into   
conspicuous notice an occasion on which 
a friend incurs or shares the perils of 
his friend1 who can fail to extol the   
deed with the highest praise8 ,what     
shouts filled the whole theatre at the  
performance of the new play of my guest 
,footnote3 ,or host2 for the word hospes
 may have either meaning4 ,it denotes   
not the fact of giving or receiving     
hospitality1 but the permanent and      
sacred relation established between host
 and guest4 ,this relation has lost much
 of its character in modern             
civilization1 and ,i doubt whether it   
has a name in any modern ,european      
language4 and friend ,marcus ,pacuvius1 
when--the king not knowing which of the 
two was ,orestes--,pylades said that he 
was ,orestes1 while ,orestes persisted  
in asserting that he was1 as in fact he 
was1 ,orestes6 ,footnote3  ,among the   
many and conflicting legends about      
,orestes is that which seems to have    
been the theme of the lost tragedy of   

,pacuvius4 ,orestes1 after avenging on  
his mother and her paramour the murder  
of his father1 in order to expiate the  
guilt of matricide1 was directed by the 
,delphian oracle to go to ,tauris1 and  
to steal and transport to ,athens an    
image of ,artemis that had fallen from  
heaven4 ,his friend ,pylades accompanied
 him on this expedition4 ,they were     
seized by ,thoas the king1 and ,orestes1
 as the principal offender1 was to be   
sacrificed to ,artemis4 ,his sister1    
,iphigeneia1 priestess of ,artemis1     
contrived their escape1 and the three   
arrived safe at ,athens with the sacred 
image4 ,the whole assembly rose in      
applause at this mere fictitious        
representation4 ,what may we suppose    
that they would have done1 had the same 
thing occurred in real life8 ,in that   
case ,nature herself displayed her      
power1 when men recognized that as      
rightly done by another1 which they     
would not have had the courage to do    
themselves4 ,thus far1 to the utmost of 

my ability as it seems to me1 ,i have   
given you my sentiments concerning      
friendship4 ,if there is more to be     
said1 as ,i think that there is1        
endeavor to obtain it1 if you see fit1  
of those who are wont to discuss such   
subjects4  ,,fannius4 ,but we would     
rather have it from you4 ,although ,i   
have often consulted those philosophers 
also1 and have listened to them not     
unwillingly1 yet the thread of your     
discourse differs somewhat from that of 
theirs4  ,,scaevola4 ,you would say so  
all the more1 ,fannius1 had you been    
present in ,scipio's garden at that     
discussion about the republic1 and heard
 what an advocate of justice he showed  
himself in answer to the elaborate      
speech of ,philus4 ,footnote3           
,carneades1 when on an embassy to ,rome1
 for the entertainment of his ,roman    
hosts1 on one day delivered a discourse 
in behalf of justice as the true policy 
for the ,state1 and on the next day     
delivered an equally subtile and        

eloquent discourse maintaining the      
opposite thesis4 ,in the third ,book of 
the ,de ,republica ,philus is made the  
devil's advocate1 and has assigned to   
him the championship of what we are wont
 to call a ,machiavelian policy1 and1 in
 general1 of the morally wrong as the   
politically right4 ,he is represented as
 taking the part reluctantly1 saying    
that one consents to soil his hands in  
order to find gold1 and he professes to 
give the substance of the famous        
discourse of ,carneades4  ,laelius      
answers him1 and1 so far as we can judge
 from the fragments of his reply that   
are extant1 with the preponderance of   
reason1 which ,cicero intended should   
incline on the better side4 ,there was  
perhaps a sublatent irony in making     
,philus play this part2 for he was an   
eminently upright man4  ,valerius       
,maximus eulogizes him for his rigid    
integrity and impartiality1 and relates 
that when at the expiration of his      
consulship he was sent to take command  

of the army against ,numantia1 he chose 
for his lieutenants ,metellus and       
,pompeius1 both his intensely bitter    
enemies1 but the men best fitted for the
 service4  ,,fannius4 ,it was indeed    
easy for the man pre-eminently just to  
defend justice4  ,,scaevola4 ,as to     
friendship1 then1 is not its defence    
easy for him who has won the highest    
celebrity on the ground of friendship   
maintained with pre-eminent             
faithfulness1 consistency1 and probity8 
#h4 ,,laelius4 ,this is1 indeed1 the    
employing of force2 for what matters the
 way in which you compel me8 ,you at any
 rate do compel me2 for it is both hard 
and unfair not to comply with the wishes
 of one's sons-in-law1 especially in a  
case that merits favorable              
consideration4  ,in reflecting1 then1   
very frequently on friendship1 the      
foremost question that is wont to       
present itself is1 whether friendship is
 craved on account of conscious         
infirmity and need1 so that in bestowing

 and receiving the kind offices that    
belong to it each may have that done for
 him by the other which he is least able
 to do for himself1 reciprocating       
services in like manner2 or whether1    
though this relation of mutual benefit  
is the property1 of friendship it has   
yet another cause2 more sacred and more 
noble1 and derived more genuinely from  
the very nature of man4 ,love1 which in 
our language gives name to friendship1  
,footnote3 ,amor1--amicitia4 bears a    
chief part in unions of mutual benefit2 
for a revenue of service is levied even 
on those who are cherished in pretended 
friendship1 and are treated with regard 
from interested motives4 ,but in        
friendship there is nothing feigned1    
nothing pretended1 and whatever there is
 in it is both genuine and spontaneous4 
,friendship1 therefore1 springs from    
nature rather than from need1--from an  
inclination of the mind with a certain  
consciousness of love rather than from  
calculation of the benefit to be derived

 from it4 ,its real quality may be      
discerned even in some classes of       
animals1 which up to a certain time so  
love their offspring1 and are so loved  
by them1 that the mutual feeling is     
plainly seen1--a feeling which is much  
more clearly manifest in man1 first1 in 
the affection which exists between      
children and parents1 and which can be  
dissolved only by atrocious guilt2 and  
in the next place1 in the springing up  
of a like feeling of love1 when we find 
some one of manners and character       
congenial with our own1 who becomes dear
 to us because we seem to see in him an 
illustrious example of probity and      
virtue4 ,for there is nothing more      
lovable than virtue1--nothing which more
 surely wins affectionate regard1       
insomuch that on the score of virtue and
 probity we love even those whom we have
 never seen4 ,who is there that does not
 recall the memory of ,caius ,fabricius1
 of ,manius ,curius1 of ,tiberius       
,coruncanras1 whom he never saw1 with   

some good measure of kindly feeling8 ,on
 the other hand1 who is there that can  
fail to hate ,tarquinius ,superbus1     
,spurius ,cassius1 ,spurius ,maelius8   
,our dominion in ,italy was at stake in 
wars under two commanders1 ,pyrrhus and 
,hannibal4 ,on account of the good faith
 of the one1 we hold him in no          
unfriendly remembrance2 ,footnote3      
,pyrrhus1 after the only victory that he
 obtained over the ,romans1 treated his 
prisoners with signal humanity1 and     
restored them without ransom4 ,see ,de  
,officiis1 i4 #ab the other because of  
his cruelty our people must always hate4
 ,footnote3 ,it may be doubted whether  
,hannibal deserved the reproach here    
implied4 ,the ,roman historians ascribe 
to him acts of cruelty no worse than    
their own generals were chargeable with3
 while nothing of the kind is related by
 either ,polybius1 or ,plutarch4 ,it is 
certain that after the battle of ,cannae
 he checked the needless slaughter of   
the ,roman fugitives1 and ,livy relates 

several instances in which he paid      
funeral honors1 to distinguished ,romans
 slain in battle4 ,the intense hostility
 of the ,romans to ,carthage may have   
led to an unfair estimate of the great  
general's character1 and to the         
invention or exaggeration of reports to 
his discredit4  #i4 ,but if good faith  
has such attractive power that we love  
it in those whom we have never seen1    
or--what means still more--in an enemy1 
what wonder is it if the minds of men   
are moved to affection when they behold 
the virtue and goodness of those with   
whom they can become intimately united8 
,love is1 indeed1 strengthened by favors
 received1 by witnessing assiduity in   
one's service1 and by habitual          
intercourse2 and when these are added to
 the first impulse of the mind toward   
love1 there flames forth a marvellously 
rich glow of affectionate feeling4 ,if  
there are any who think that this       
proceeds from conscious weakness and the
 desire to have some person through whom

 one can obtain what he lacks1 they     
assign1 indeed1 to friendship a mean and
 utterly ignoble origin1 born1 as they  
would have it1 of poverty and neediness4
 ,if this were true1 then the less of   
resource one was conscious of having in 
himself1 the better fitted would he be  
for friendship4 ,the contrary is the    
case2 for the more confidence a man has 
in himself1 and the more thoroughly he  
is fortified by virtue and wisdom1 so   
that he is in need of no one1 and       
regards all that concerns him as in his 
own keeping1 the more noteworthy is he  
for the friendships which he seeks and  
cherishes4 ,what8 ,did ,africanus need  
me8 ,not in the least by ,hercules4 ,as 
little did ,i need him4 ,but ,i was     
drawn to him by admiration of his virtue
 while he1 in turn1 loved me1 perhaps   
from some favorable estimate of my      
character1 and intimacy increased our   
mutual affection4 ,but though utilities 
many and great resulted from our        
friendship1 the cause of our mutual love

 did not proceed from the hope of what  
it might bring4 ,for as we are          
beneficent and generous1 not in order to
 exact kindnesses in return 7for we do  
not put our kind offices to interest71  
but are by nature inclined to be        
generous1 so1 in my opinion1 friendship 
is not to be sought for its wages1 but  
because its revenue consists entirely in
 the love which it implies4 ,those1     
however1 who1 after the manner of       
beasts1 refer everything to pleasure1   
,footnote3 ,the ,epicureans think very  
differently4 ,nor is it wonderful that  
they do1 for men who have degraded all  
their thoughts to so mean and           
contemptible an end can rise to the     
contemplation of nothing lofty1 nothing 
magnificent and divine4 ,we may1        
therefore1 leave them out of this       
discussion4 ,but let us have it well    
understood that the feeling of love and 
the endearments of mutual affection     
spring from nature1 in case there is a  
well-established assurance of moral     

worth in the person thus loved4 ,those  
who desire to become friends approach   
each other1 and enter into relation with
 each other1 that each may enjoy the    
society and the character of him whom he
 has begun to love1 and they are equal  
in love1 and on either side are more    
inclined to bestow obligations than to  
claim a return1 so that in this matter  
there is an honorable rivalry between   
them4 ,thus will the greatest benefits  
be derived from friendship1 and it will 
have a more solid and genuine foundation
 as tracing its origin to nature than if
 it proceeded from human weakness4 ,for 
if it were utility that cemented        
friendships1 an altered aspect of       
utility would dissolve them4 ,but       
because nature cannot be changed1       
therefore true friendships are eternal4 
,this may suffice for the origin of     
friendship1 unless you have1 perchance1 
some objection to what ,i have said4    
,,fannius4 ,go on1 ,laelius4 ,i answer  
by the right of seniority for ,scaevola 

who is younger than ,i am4  ,,scaevola4 
,i am of the same mind with you4 ,let us
 then1 hear farther4  #aj ,,laelius4    
,hear then1 my excellent friends the    
substance of the frequent discussions on
 friendship between ,scipio and me4 ,he 
indeed1 said ,footnote3 ,the            
construction of this entire section is  
in the subjective imperfect depending on
 the dicebat in the second sentence4 ,it
 has seemed to me that the direct form  
of constiution which ,i have adopted is 
more consonant with the genius of our   
language4 that nothing is more difficult
 than for friendship to last through    
life2 for friends happen to have        
conflicting interests1 or different     
political opinions4 ,then1 again1 as he 
often said1 characters change1 sometimes
 under adverse conditions1 sometimes    
with growing years4 ,he cited also the  
analogy of what takes place in early    
youth1 the most ardent loves of boyhood 
being often laid aside with its robe4   
,but if friendships last on into opening

 manhood1 they are not infrequently     
broken up by rivalry in quest of a wife1
 or in the pursuit of some advantage    
which only one can obtain4 ,footnote3   
,had ,cicero not been personating       
,laelius1 who died long before the      
quarrel occurred1 he would undoubtedly  
have cited the case of ,servilius       
,caepio and ,livius ,diusus4 ,they      
married each other's sisters1 and were  
united in the closest intimacy1 and     
seemingly in the dearest mutual love2   
but as rivals in bidding for a ring at  
an auction-sale they had their first    
quarrel1 which grew into intense mutual 
hatred1 led almost to a civil war       
between their respective partisans1 and 
bore no small part in starting the      
series of dissentions which issued in   
the ,social ,war1 and the destruction of
 not far from three hundred thousand    
lives4 ,i refer to this in a note1      
because it must have been fresh in      
,cicero's memory1 and had annotation    
been the habit of his time1 he would    

most assuredly have given it the place  
which ,i now give it4 ,then1 if         
friendships are of longer duration1 they
 yet1 as ,scipio said1 are liable to be 
undermined by competition for office2   
and indeed there is nothing more fatal  
to friendship than1 in very many cases1 
the greed of gain1 and among some of the
 best of men the contest for place and  
fame1 which has often engendered the    
most intense enmity between those who   
had been the closest friends4 ,strong   
and generally just aversion1 also1      
springs up when anything morally wrong  
is required of a friend2 as when he is  
asked to aid in the gratification of    
impure desire1 or to render his         
assistance in some unrighteous act1--in 
which case those who refuse1 although   
their conduct is highly honorable1 are  
yet charged by the persons whom they    
will not serve with being false to the  
claims of friendship1 while those who   
dare to make such a demand of a friend  
profess1 by the very demand1 that they  

are ready to do anything and everything 
for a friend's sake4 ,by such quarrels1 
not only are old intimacies often       
dissolved1 but undying hatreds          
generated4 ,so many of these perils hang
 like so many fates over friendship1    
that to escape them all seemed to       
,scipio1 as he said1 to indicate not    
wisdom alone1 but equally a rare        
felicity of fortune4  #aa4 ,let us then1
 first1 if you please1 consider how far 
the love of friends ought to go4 ,if    
,coriolanus had friends1 ought they to  
have helped him in fighting against his 
country1 or should the friends of       
,viscellinus ,footnote3 ,spurius        
,cassius ,viscellinus1 the author of the
 earliest agrarian law1 passed1 but     
never carried into execution4 ,he was   
condemned to death1--probably a victim  
to the rancorous opposition of the      
patrician order1 of which he was        
regarded as a recreant member by virtue 
of his advocacy of the rights or just   
claims of the plebs4 ,cicero in early   

life was by no means so hostile to the  
principle underlying the agrarian laws1 
and to the memory of the ,gracchi1 as he
 was after he had reached the highest   
offices in the gift of the people4 or   
those of ,spurius ,maelius ,footnote3   
,maelius1 of the equestrian order1 but  
of a plebeian family1 obtained unbounded
 popularity with the plebs by selling   
corn at a low price1 and giving away    
large quantities of it1 in a time of    
famine4 ,he was charged with seeking    
kingly power1 and1 on account of his    
alleged movements with that purpose1    
,cincinnatus was appointed dictator1 and
 ,maelius1 resisting a summons to his   
tribunal1 was killed by ,ahala1 his     
master of the horse4 ,there seems to    
have been little evidence of his actual 
guilt4 have aided them in the endeavor  
to usurp regal power8 ,we saw1 indeed1  
,tiberius ,gracchus1 when he was        
disturbing the peace of the ,state1     
deserted by ,quintus ,tubero and others 
with whom he had been on terms of       

intimacy4 ,but ,caius ,blossius1 of     
,cumae1 the guest1 ,footnote3 ,hospes1  
guest1 host1 or both4 ,scaevola1 of your
 family1 coming to me1 when ,i was in   
conference with the ,consuls ,laenas and
 ,rupilius1 to implore pardon1 urged the
 plea that he held ,tiberius ,gracchus  
in so dear esteem that he felt bound to 
do whatever he desired4 ,i then asked   
him1 ,even if he had wanted you to set  
fire to the ,capitol1 would you have    
done it8 ,he replied1 ,he never would   
have made such a request4 ,but if he    
had8 said ,i4 ,i would have obeyed him1 
was the answer4 ,and1 by ,hercules1 he  
did as he said1 or even more2 for he did
 not so much yield obedience to the     
audacious schemes of ,tiberius          
,gracchus1 as he was foremost in them2  
he was not so much the companion of his 
madness1 as its leader4 ,therefore1 in  
consequence of this folly1 alarmed by   
the appointment of special judges for   
his trial1 he fled to ,asia1 entered the
 service of our enemies1 and finally met

 the heavy and just punishment for his  
disloyalty to his country4 ,footnote3   
,he took refuge with ,aristonicus1 ,king
 of ,pergamus1 then at war with ,rome2  
and when ,aristonicus was conquered1    
,blossius committed suicide for fear of 
being captured by the ,roman army4  ,it 
is1 then1 no excuse for wrong-doing that
 you do wrong for the sake of a friend4 
,indeed1 since it may have been a belief
 in your virtue that has made one your  
friend1 it is hard for friendship to    
last if you fall away from virtue4 ,but 
if we should determine either to concede
 to friends whatever they may ask1 or to
 exact from them whatever we may desire1
 we and they must be endowed with       
perfect wisdom1 in order for our        
friendship to be blameless4 ,we are     
speaking1 however1 of such friends as we
 have before our eyes1 or as we have    
seen or have known by report1--of such  
as are found in common life4 ,it is from
 these that we must take our examples1  
especially from such of them as make the

 nearest approach to perfect wisdom4 ,we
 have learned from our fathers that     
,papus ,aemilius was very intimate with 
,caius ,luscinus1 they having twice been
 consuls together1 as well as colleagues
 in the censorship2 and it is said also 
that ,manius ,curius and ,tiberius      
,coruncanius lived in the closest       
friendship both with them and with each 
other4 ,now we cannot suspect that      
either of these men would have asked of 
one of his friends anything inconsistent
 with good faith1 or with an engagement 
sanctioned by oath1 or with his duty to 
the ,state4 ,indeed1 to what purpose is 
it to say that among such men if one had
 asked anything wrong1 he would not have
 obtained it8 ,for they were men of the 
most sacred integrity2 while to ask     
anything wrong of a friend and to do it 
when asked are alike tokens of deep     
depravity4 ,but ,caius ,carbo and ,caius
 ,cato were the followers of ,tiberius  
,gracchus1 as was his brother ,caius1 at
 first with little ardor1 but now       

,footnote3 ,now1 that is1 at the time at
 which this dialogue has its assumed    
date1 immediately after ,scipio's death4
 ,at that time ,caius ,gracchus was     
acting as a commissioner under his      
brother's agrarian law4 most zealously4 
#ab4 ,as to friendship1 then1 let this  
law be enacted1 that we neither ask of a
 friend what is wrong1 nor do what is   
wrong at a friend's request4 ,the plea  
that it was for a friend's sake is a    
base apology1--one that should never be 
admitted with regard to other forms of  
guilt1 and certainly not as to crimes   
against the ,state4 ,we1 indeed1        
,fannius and ,scaevola1 are so situated 
that we ought to look far in advance for
 the perils that our country may incur4 
,already has our public policy deviated 
somewhat from the method and course of  
our ancestors4 ,tiberius ,gracchus      
attempted to exercise supreme power2    
nay1 he really reigned for a few months4
 ,what like this had the ,roman people  
ever heard or seen before8 ,what1 after 

his death1 the friends and kindred who  
followed him did in their revenge on    
,publius ,scipio ,footnote3 ,publius    
,cornelius ,scipio ,nasica1 who took the
 lead of the ,senate in the             
assassination of ,tiberius ,gracchus1   
and incurred such popular odium that he 
could not safely stay in ,rome4 ,he was 
sent on a fictitious mission to ,asia to
 get him out of the way of the people1  
and not daring to return1 wandered with 
no settled habitation till his death at 
,pergamum not long before the assumed   
date of this dialogue4 ,i cannot say    
without tears4 ,we put up with ,carbo   
,footnote3 ,carbo succeeded ,tiberius   
,gracchus on the commission for carrying
 the agrarian law into execution1 and   
was shortly afterward chosen ,tribune4  
,he then proposed a law1 permitting a   
tribune to be re-elected for an         
indefinite number of years4 ,this law   
was vehemently opposed by ,scipio       
,africanus the ,younger1 and if he was  
really killed by ,carbo1 it was probably

 on account of his hostility to ,carbo's
 ambitious schemes4 as well as we could 
in consideration of the recent          
punishment of ,tiberius ,gracchus2 but  
,i am in no mood to predict what is to  
be expected from the tribuneship of     
,caius ,gracchus4 ,meanwhile the evil is
 creeping upon us1 from its very        
beginning fraught with threats of ruin4 
,before recent events1 ,footnote3 ,the  
reference undoubtedly here is to the    
,papirian law which had just been passed
 before the assumed date of this        
dialogue1 having been proposed and      
carried through by 7,caius ,papirius7   
,carbo4 ,by this law the use of the     
ballot was established in all matters of
 popular legislation4 you perceive how  
much degeneracy was indicated in the    
legalization of the ballot1 first by    
,gabinian1 ,footnote3 ,by which         
magistrates were to be chosen by ballot4
 then two years later by the ,cassian   
law4 ,footnote3 ,by which the judges    
were to be chosen by ballot4 ,with      

reference to the use of the ballot the  
parties in ,rome were prototypes of like
 parties in ,england4 ,the voice of the 
people was for the ballot1 on the ground
 that it made suffrage free1 as it could
 not be when employers or patrons could 
dictate to their dependents and make    
them suffer for failure to vote in favor
 of their own candidates or measures4   
,the aristocratic party opposed the     
ballot as fatal to their controlling    
influence1 which many sincere patriots1 
like ,cicero1 regarded as essential to  
the public safety1 while patrician      
demagogues1 intriguers1 and             
office-seekers made it subservient to   
their own selfish or partisan interests4
 ,i seem already to see the people      
utterly alienated from the ,senate1 and 
the most important affairs determined by
 the will of the multitude2 for more    
persons will learn how these things are 
brought about than how they may be      
resisted4 ,to what purpose am ,i saying 
this8 ,because no one makes such        

attempts without associates4 ,it is     
therefore to be enjoined on good men    
that they must not think themselves so  
bound that they cannot renounce their   
friends when they are guilty of crimes  
against the ,state4 ,but punishment must
 be inflicted on all who are implicated 
in such guilt1--on those who follow1 no 
less than on those who lead4 ,who in    
,greece was more renowned than          
,themistocles8 ,who had greater         
influence than he had8 ,when as         
commander in the ,persian war he had    
freed ,greece from bondage1 and for envy
 of his fame was driven into exile1 he  
did not bear as he ought the ill        
treatment of his ungrateful country4 ,he
 did what ,coriolanus had done with us  
twenty years before4 ,neither of these  
men found any helper against his        
country2 ,footnote3 ,no one of his own  
fellow-countrymen4 they therefore both  
committed suicide4 ,footnote3 ,if the   
story of ,coriolanus be not a myth1 as  
,niebuhr supposes it to be1 his suicide 

forms no part of the story as ,livy     
tells it4 ,the suicide of ,themistocles 
is related as a supposition1 not as an  
established fact4 ,if he died of poison1
 as was said1 it may have been          
administered by a rival in the favor of 
,artaxerxes4 ,association with depraved 
men for such an end is not1 then1 to be 
shielded by the plea of friendship1 but 
rather to be avenged by punishment of   
the utmost severity1 so that no one may 
ever think himself authorized to follow 
a friend to the extent of making war    
upon his country1--an extremity which1  
indeed1 considering the course that our 
public affairs have begun to take1 may1 
for aught ,i know1 be reached at some   
future time4 ,i speak thus because ,i   
feel no less concern for the fortunes of
 the ,state after my death than as to   
its present condition4  #ac4 ,let this1 
then1 be enacted as the first law of    
friendship1 that we demand of friends   
only what is right1 and that we do for  
the sake of friends only what is right4 

,footnote3 ,this is a virtual repetition
 of the law of friendship announced at  
the beginning of the previous section1  
and ,cicero probably so intended it4 ,he
 states the rule1 then demonstrates its 
validity1 then repeats it in an almost  
identical form1 implying what the       
mathematician expresses when he puts at 
the end of a demonstration ,quod rat    
demonstrandum4 ,this understood1 let us 
not wait to be asked4 ,let there be     
constant assiduity and no loitering in a
 friend's service4 ,let us also dare to 
give advice freely2 for in friendship   
the authority of friends who give good  
counsel may be of the greatest value4   
,let admonition be administered1 too1   
not only in plain terms1 but even with  
severity1 if need be1 and let heed be   
given to such admonition4 ,on this      
subject some things that appear to me   
strange have1 as ,i am told1 been       
maintained by certain ,greeks who are   
accounted as philosophers1 and are so   
skilled in sophistry that there is      

nothing which they cannot seem to prove4
 ,some of them hold that very intimate  
friendships are to be avoided2 that     
there is no need that one feel          
solicitude for others2 that it is enough
 and more than enough to take care of   
your own concerns1 and annoying to be   
involved to any considerable extent in  
affairs not belonging to you2 that the  
best way is to have the reins of        
friendship as loose as possible1 so that
 you can tighten them or let them go at 
pleasure2 for1 according to them1 ease  
is the chief essential to happy living1 
and this the mind cannot enjoy1 if it   
bears1 as it were1 the pains of travail 
in behalf of a larger or smaller circle 
of friends4 ,footnote3 ,this passage    
seems to be a paraphrase of a passage in
 the ,hippolytus of ,euripides1 in which
 the ,nurse says3 ,it behooves mortals  
to form moderate friendships with one   
another1 and not to the very marrow of  
the soul1 and the affections of the mind
 should be held loosely1 so that we may 

slacken or tighten them4 ,that one soul 
should be in travail for two is a heavy 
burden4 ,euripides was regarded1 and    
rightly1 as no less a philosopher than a
 tragedian1 and was not infrequently    
styled ,greek3 sophos4 ,cicero here     
veils his thorough conversance with     
,greek literature and philosophy1 and   
assumes the part of ,laelius1 in whose  
time1 though ,greek was not omitted in  
the education of cultivated men1 the    
study was comparatively new1 and was not
 carried to any great extent4  ,others1 
,footnote3 ,the ,epicureans4 ,i am told1
 with even much less of true human      
feeling1 teach what ,i touched upon     
briefly a little while ago1 that        
friendships are to be sought for defence
 and help1 not on account of good-will  
and affection4 ,the less of             
self-confidence and the less of strength
 one has1 the more is he inclined to    
make friends4 ,thus it is that women    
,footnote3 ,latin1 mulierculae1 a       
diminutive1 meaning1 however1 not little

 women1 but denoting the feebleness and 
dependence of women in comparison with  
men4 ,it must be confessed1 too1 that   
the term is sometimes used1 and perhaps 
here1 semi-contemptuously2 for the      
,roman man felt an overweening pride in 
mere manhood4 seek the support of       
friendship more than men do1 the poor   
more than the rich1 the unfortunate more
 than those who seem happy4 ,oh1        
pre-eminent wisdom6 ,it is like taking  
the sun out of the world1 to bereave    
human life of friendship1 than which the
 immortal gods have given man nothing   
better1 nothing more gladdening4 ,what  
is the ease of which they speak8 ,it is 
indeed pleasing in aspect1 but on many  
occasions it is to be renounced2 for it 
is not fitting1 in order to avoid       
solicitude1 either to refuse to         
undertake any right cause or act1 or to 
drop it after it is undertaken4 ,if we  
flee from care1 we must flee from       
virtue1 which of necessity with no      
little care spurns and abhors its       

opposites1 as goodness spurns and abhors
 wickedness2 temperance1 excess2        
courage1 cowardice4 ,thus you may see   
that honest men are excessively grieved 
by the dishonest1 the brave by the      
pusillanimous1 those who lead sober     
lives by the dissolute4 ,it is indeed   
characteristic of a well-ordered mind to
 rejoice in what is good and to be      
grieved by the opposite4 ,if then1 pain 
of mind fall to the lot of a wise man as
 it must of necessity unless we imagine 
his mind divested of its humanity1 why  
should we take friendship wholly out of 
life1 lest we experience some little    
trouble on account of it8 ,yet more1 if 
emotion be eliminated1 what difference  
is there1 ,i say not between a man and a
 brute1 but between a man and a rock1 or
 the trunk of a tree1 or any inanimate  
object8 ,nor are those to be listened   
to1 who regard virtue as something hard 
and iron-like4 ,footnote3 ,here1        
undoubtedly1 ,cicero refers to the      
sterner type of ,stoicism1 which in his 

time was already obsolescent1 and was   
yielding place to the milder1 while no  
less rigid1 ethics of which the ,de     
,officiis may be regarded as the manual4
 ,as in many other matters1 so in       
friendship1 it is tender and flexible so
 that it expands1 as it were1 with a    
friend's well being1 and shrinks when   
his peace is disturbed4 ,therefore the  
pain which must often be incurred on a  
friend's account is not of sufficient   
moment to banish friendship from human  
life1 any more than the occasional care 
and trouble which the virtues bring     
should be a reason for renouncing them4 
#ad4 ,since virtue attracts friendship1 
as ,i have said1 if there shines forth  
any manifestation of virtue with which a
 mind similarly disposed can come into  
contact and union from such intercourse 
love must of necessity spring4 ,for what
 is so absurd as to be charmed with many
 things that have no substantial worth1 
as with office1 fame1 architecture1     
dress1 and genteel appearance1 but not  

to be in any wise charmed by a mind     
endowed with virtue1 and capable of     
either loving or--if ,i may use the     
word--re-loving8 ,footnote3 ,latin1     
redamare1 a word coined by ,cicero1 and 
used with the apology1 ut ita dicam     
,nothing indeed yields a richer revenue 
than kind affections1 nothing gives more
 delight than the interchange of        
friendly cares and offices4 ,then if we 
add1 as we rightly may1 that there is   
nothing which so allures and attracts   
aught else to itself as the likeness of 
character does to friendship it will    
certainly be admitted that good men love
 good men and adopt them into fellowship
 as if united with them by kindred and  
by nature4 ,by nature ,i say1 for       
nothing is more craving or greedy of its
 like than nature4 ,this1 then as ,i    
think1 is evident1 ,fannius and         
,scaevola that among the good toward the
 good there cannot but be mutual kind   
feeling and in this we have a fountain  
of friendship established by nature4    

,but the same kind feeling extends to   
the community at large4 ,for virtue is  
not unsympathetic1 nor unserviceable1   
,footnote3 ,latin1 immunis1             
literally--without office4 nor proud4   
,it is wont even to watch over the      
well-being of whole nations1 and to give
 them the wisest counsel1 which it would
 not do if it had no love for the       
people4  ,now those who maintain that   
friendships are formed from motives of  
utility annul1 as it seems to me1 the   
most endearing bond of friendship2 for  
it is not so much benefit obtained      
through a friend as it is the very love 
of the friend that gives delight4 ,what 
comes from a friend confers pleasure1   
only in case it bears tokens of his     
interest in us1 and so far is it from   
the truth that friendships are          
cultivated from a sense of need1 that   
those fully endowed with wealth and     
resources1 especially with virtue1 which
 is the surest safeguard1 and thus in no
 need of friends1 are the very persons  

who are the most generous and           
munificent4 ,indeed1 ,i hardly know     
whether it may not be desirable that our
 friends should never have need of our  
services4 ,yet in the case of ,scipio   
and myself1 what room would there have  
been for the active exercise of my zeal 
in his behalf1 had he never needed my   
counsel or help at home or in the field8
 ,in this instance1 however1 the service
 came after the friendship1 not the     
friendship after the service4  #ae4 ,if 
these things are so1 men who are given  
up to pleasure are not to be listened to
 when they express their opinions about 
friendship1 of which they can have no   
knowledge either by experience or by    
reflection4 ,for1 by the faith of gods  
and men1 who is there that would be     
willing to have a superabundance of all 
objects of desire and to live in the    
utmost fulness of wealth and what wealth
 can bring1 on condition of neither     
loving any one nor being loved by any   
one8 ,this1 indeed1 is the life of      

tyrants1 in which there is no good      
faith1 no affection1 no fixed confidence
 in kindly feeling1 perpetual suspicion 
and anxiety1 and no room for friendship2
 for who can love either him whom he    
fears1 or him by whom he thinks that he 
is feared8 ,yet they receive the show of
 homage1 but only while the occasion for
 it lasts4 ,footnote3 ,latin1 dum taxat 
ad tempus1 that is1 while the homage    
rendered is in close contact with the   
occasion1--with the immunity or profit  
to be purchased by it4 ,if they chance  
to fall1 as they commonly have fallen1  
they then ascertain how destitute of    
friends they have been1 as ,tarquin is  
reported to have said that he learned   
what faithful and what unfaithful       
friends he had1 when he could no longer 
render back favors to those of either   
class1--although ,i wonder whether pride
 and insolence like his could have had  
any friends4 ,moreover1 as his character
 could not have won real friends1 so is 
the good fortune of many who occupy     

foremost places of influence so held as 
to preclude faithful friendships4 ,not  
only is ,fortune blind1 but she         
generally makes those blind whom she    
embraces4 ,thus they are almost always  
beside themselves under the influence of
 haughtiness and waywardness2 nor can   
there be created anything more utterly  
insupportable than a fortune-favored    
fool4 ,there are to be seen those who   
previously behaved with propriety who   
are changed by station1 power1 or       
prosperity1 and who spurn their old     
friendships and lavish indulgence on the
 new4 ,but what is more foolish than    
when men have resources1 means1 wealth  
at their fullest command1 and can obtain
 horses1 servants1 splendid raiment1    
costly vases1 whatever money can buy1   
for them not to procure friends1 who    
are1 if ,i may so speak1 the best and   
the most beautiful furniture of human   
life8 ,other things which a man may     
procure know not him who procures them1 
nor do they labor for his sake1--indeed1

 they belong to him who can make them   
his by the right of superior strength4  
,but every one has his own firm and sure
 possession of his friendships1 while   
even if those things which seem the     
gifts of fortune remain1 still life     
unadorned and deserted by friends cannot
 be happy4 ,but enough has been said on 
this branch of our subject4  #af4 ,we   
must now determine the limits or bounds 
of friendship4 ,on this subject ,i find 
three opinions proposed1 neither of     
which has my approval1--the first1 that 
we should do for our friends just what  
we would do for ourselves1 the second1  
that our good offices to our friends    
should correspond in quantity and       
quality to those which they perform for 
us1 the third1 that one's friends should
 value him according to his own         
self-estimate4 ,i cannot give           
unqualified assent to either of these   
opinions4 ,the first--that one should be
 ready to do for his friends precisely  
what he would do for himself--is        

inadmissible4 ,how many things there are
 that we do for our friends which we    
should never do on our own              
account6--such as making a request even 
an entreaty1 of a man unworthy of       
respect or inveighing against some      
person with a degree of bitterness1 nay1
 in terms of vehement reproach4 ,in     
fine1 we are perfectly right in doing in
 behalf of a friend things that in our  
own case would be decidedly unbecoming4 
,there are also many ways in which good 
men detract largely from their own      
comfort or suffer it to be impaired1    
that a friend may have the enjoyment    
which they sacrifice4 ,the second       
opinion is that which limits kind       
offices and good will by the rule of    
equality4 ,this is simply making        
friendship a matter of calculation with 
the view of keeping a debtor and        
creditor account evenly balanced4 ,to me
 friendship seems more affluent and     
generous and not disposed to keep strict
 watch lest it may give more than it    

receives and to fear that a part of its 
due may be spilled over or suffered to  
leak out or that it may heap up its own 
measure over full in return4 ,footnote3 
,we have here1 first1 a figure drawn    
from pecuniary accounts1 then one from  
liquid measure1 then one from dry       
measure--all designed to affix the brand
 of the most petty meanness on the 7so  
called7 friendship which makes it a     
point neither to leave nor to brook a   
preponderance of obligation on either   
side4 ,but worst of all is the third    
limit which prescribes that friends     
shall take a man's opinion of himself as
 a measure for their estimate and       
treatment of him4 ,there are some       
persons who are liable to fits of       
depression1 or who have little hope of  
better fortune than the present4 ,in    
such a case1 it is the part of a friend1
 not to hold the position toward his    
friend which he holds toward himself1   
but to make the efficient endeavor to   
rouse him from his despondency1 and to  

lead him to better hope and a more      
cheerful train of thought4 ,it remains  
for me then1 to establish another limit 
of friendship4 ,but first let me tell   
you what ,scipio was wont to speak of   
with the severest censure4 ,he          
maintained that no utterance could have 
been invented more inimical to          
friendship ,footnote3 ,latin1 inimciorem
 7that is1 in amiciorem7 amicitiae4 than
 that of him who said that one ought to 
love as if he were going at some future 
time to hate1 nor could he be brought to
 believe that this maxim came1 as was   
reported from ,bias1 who was one of the 
seven wise men1 but he regarded it as   
having proceeded from some sordid       
person1 who was either inordinately     
ambitious or desirous of bringing       
everything under his own control4 ,for  
how can one be a friend to him to whom  
he thinks that he may possibly become an
 enemy8 ,in this case one would of      
necessity desire and choose that his    
friend should commit offences very      

frequently1 so as to give him1 so to    
speak1 the more numerous handles for    
fault-finding1 and on the other hand one
 would be vexed1 pained1 aggrieved by   
all the right and fitting things that   
friends do4 ,this precept then from     
whomsoever it came1 amounts to the      
annulling of friendship4 ,the proper    
rule should be1 that we exercise so much
 caution in forming friendships1 that we
 should never begin to love a friend    
whom it is possible that we should ever 
hate2 but even in case we should have   
been unfortunate in our choice1 ,scipio 
thought that it would be wiser to bear  
the disappointment when it comes than to
 keep the contingency of future         
alienation in view4  #ag4 ,i would then 
define the terms of friendship by saying
 that where friends are of blameless    
character1 there may fittingly be       
between them a community of all         
interests1 plans1 and purposes without  
any exception even so far that1 if      
perchance there be occasion for         

furthering the not entirely right wishes
 of friends when life or reputation is  
at stake1 one may in their behalf       
deviate somewhat from a perfectly       
straight course 7#a7 yet not so far as  
to  #a ,this at first sight appears like
 a license to yield up moral            
considerations to friendship1 though the
 qualification1 in the sequel1 not so   
far as to incur absolute dishonor1 and  
virtue is by no means to be sacrificed1 
seem saving clauses4  ,but ,cicero      
certainly has a right to be his own     
interpreter since in the ,de ,officiis  
as ,i think1 he explains in full and in 
accordance with the highest moral       
principle1 what he means here1 and we   
have a double right to insist on this   
interpretation first1 because the ,de   
,officiis was written so very little    
while after the ,de ,amicitia1 and both 
at so ripe an age1 that a change of     
opinion on important matters was        
improbable and secondly1 because in the 
later treatise he expressly refers to   

the former as giving in full his views  
on friendship1 and thus virtually       
sanctions that treatise4  ,now in the   
,de ,officiis he says  ,a good man will 
do nothing against the ,state1 or in    
violation of his oath of good faith1 for
 the sake of his friend1 not even if he 
were a judge in his friend's case4 4 4 4
 ,he will yield so far to friendship as 
to wish his friend's case to be worthy  
of succeeding1 and to accommodate him as
 to the time of trial1 within legal     
limits4  ,but inasmuch as he must give  
sentence upon his oath1 he will bear it 
in mind that he has ,god for a witness4 
,in another passage of the ,de          
,officiis1 ,cicero asserts1 somewhat    
hesitatingly1 yet on the authority of   
,panaetius as the strictest of ,stoics1 
the moral rightfulness of defending on  
some occasions a guilty man1 if he be   
not utterly depraved and false to all   
human relations4 ,as in the passage on  
which ,i am commenting special reference
 is made to the peril of life or        

reputation1 what ,cicero contends for1  
as it seems to me1 is the right of      
defending a guilty friend as advocate1  
or of favoring him as to time and mode  
of trial as a judge4 ,aulius ,gellius1  
in connection with this passage in ,de  
,amicitia1 tells the following story of 
,chilo1 who was on some of the lists of 
the seven wise men4 ,chilo1 on the last 
day of his life1 said that the only     
thing that gave him uneasy thought1 and 
was burdensome to his conscience1 was   
that once when he and two other men were
 judges in a case in which a friend of  
his was tried for a capital crime1 he1  
in accordance with his own conviction1  
voted his friendy guilty1 but so        
influenced the minds of his two         
associates that they gave their voice   
for his acquittal4  incur absolute      
dishonor4 ,there is a point up to which 
a concession made to friendship is      
venial4 ,but we are not bound to be     
careless of our own reputation1 nor     
ought we to regard the esteem of our    

fellow-citizens as an instrument of such
 affairs as devolve upon us1--an esteem 
which it is base to conciliate          
,footnote3 ,latin1 colligere1 to        
collect1 or gather up1 one by one1 the  
good-will of each individual citizen4 by
 flattery and fawning4 ,virtue1 which   
has the sincere regard of the people as 
its consequence1 is by no means to be   
sacrificed to friendship4  ,but1 to     
return to ,scipio1 who was all the time 
talking about friendship1 he often      
complained that men exercised greater   
care about all other matters2 that one  
could always tell how many goats and    
sheep he had1 but could not tell how    
many friends he had2 and that men were  
careful in selecting their beasts1 but  
were negligent in the choice of friends1
 and had nothing like marks and tokens  
,footnote3 ,latin1 signa et notas1 the  
marks and tokens by which the quality   
and worth of goats and sheep were       
estimated4 by which to determine the    
fitness of friends4  ,firm1 steadfast1  

self-consistent men are to be chosen as 
friends1 and of this kind of men there  
is a great dearth4 ,it is very difficult
 to judge of character before we have   
tested it2 but we can test it only after
 firendship is begun4 ,thus friendship  
is prone to outrun judgment1 and to     
render a fair trial impossible4 ,it is  
therefore the part of a wise man to     
arrest the impulse of kindly feeling1 as
 we check a carriage in its course1     
that1 as we use only horses that have   
been tried1 so we may avail ourselves of
 friendships in which the characters of 
our friends have been somehow put to the
 test4 ,some readily show how fickle    
their friendship is in paltry pecuniary 
matters2 others1 whom a slight          
consideration of that kind cannot       
influence1 betray themselves when a     
large amount is involved4 ,but if some  
can be found who think it mean to prefer
 money to friendship1 where shall we    
come upon those who do not put honors1  
civic offices1 military commands1 places

 of power and trust1 before friendship1 
so that when these are offered on the   
one hand1 and the claims of friendship  
on the other1 they will much rather make
 choice of the objects of ambition8 ,for
 nature is too feeble to despise a      
commanding station1 and even though it  
be obtained by the violation of         
friendship men think that this fault    
will be thrown into obscurity1 because  
it was not without a weighty motive that
 they held friendship in abeyance4 ,thus
 true friendships are rare among those  
who are in public office1 and concerned 
in the affairs of the ,state4 ,for where
 will you find him who prefers a        
friend's promotion to his own8 ,what    
more shall ,i say8 ,not to dwell longer 
on the influence of ambition upon       
friendship1 how burdensome how difficult
 does it seem to most men to share      
misfortunes to which it is not easy to  
find those who are willing to stoop4    
,although ,ennius is right in saying    
,in unsure fortune a sure friend is     

seen1  yet one of these two things      
convicts most persons of fickleness and 
weakness1--either their despising their 
friends when they themselves are        
prosperous1 or deserting their friends  
in adversity4  #ah ,him1 then1 who alike
 in either event shall have shown       
himself unwavering1 constant1 firm in   
friendship we ought to regard as of an  
exceedingly rare and almost divine order
 of men4  ,still further good faith is  
essential to the maintenance of the     
stability and constancy which we demand 
in friendship1 for nothing that is      
unfaithful is stable4 ,it is1 moreover1 
fitting to choose for a friend one who  
is frank1 affable1 accommodating1       
interested in the same things with      
ourselves1--all which qualities come    
under the head of fidelity1 for a       
changeful and wily disposition cannot be
 faithful1 nor can he who has not like  
interests and a kindred nature with his 
friend be either faithful or stable4 ,i 
ought to add that a friend should       

neither take pleasure in finding fault  
with his friend1 nor give credit to the 
charges which others may bring against  
him1--all which is implied in the       
constancy of which ,i have been         
speaking4 ,thus we come back to the     
truth which ,i announced at the         
beginning of our conversation1 that     
friendship can exist only between the   
good4 ,it is1 indeed1 the part of a good
 or--what is the same thing--a wise man 
,footnote3 ,wisdom and goodness were    
identical with the ,stoics4 to adhere to
 these two principles in                
friendship1--first1 that he tolerate no 
feigning or dissembling 7for an         
ingenuous man will rather show even open
 hatred than hide his feeling by his    
face71 and1 secondly1 that he not only  
repel charges made against his friend by
 others1 but that he be not himself     
suspicious1 and always thinking that his
 friend has done something unfriendly4  
,to these requisites there may well be  
added suavity of speech and manners1    

which is of no little worth as giving a 
relish to the intercourse of friendship4
 ,rigidness and austerity of demeanor on
 every occasion indeed carry weight with
 them1 but friendship ought to be more  
gentle and mild1 and more inclined to   
all that is genial and affable4  #ai    
,there occurs here a question by no     
means difficult1,footnote3 ,latin1      
subdifficilis which ,i should render    
somewhat difficult had not ,cicero treat
 that question as one that presents no  
difficulty4 ,in the ancient tongues1 as 
in our own or even more than in our own1
 a word is often better defined by its  
use than in the dictionary4 whether at  
any time new friends worthy of our love 
are to be preferred to the old1 as we   
are wont to prefer young horses to those
 that have passed their prime4 ,shame   
that there should be hesitation as to   
the answer6 ,there ought to be no       
satiety of friendships1 as there is     
rightly of many other things4 ,the older
 a friendship is1 the more precious     

should it be as is the case with wines  
that will bear keeping1 ,footnote3 ,some
 of the best ,italian wines will not    
bear keeping1 and it was probably true  
of more of them in ,cicero's time than  
now that wines are so often vitiated by 
strong alcoholic mixtures in order to   
preserve them4 ,cato1 in his ,de ,re    
,rustica1 prescribes a method of        
determining whether the wine of any     
given vintage will keep4 and there is   
truth in the proverb that many pecks of 
salt must be eaten together to bring    
friendship to perfection4 ,footnote3    
,aristotle quotes this as a proverbial  
saying1 so that it must be of very great
 antiquity4 ,if new friendships offer   
the hope of fruit1 like the young shoots
 in the grain-field that give promise of
 harvest1 they are not indeed to be     
spurned1 yet the old are to be kept in  
their place4 ,there is very great power 
in long habit4 ,to recur to the horse   
there is no one who would not rather use
 the horse to which he has become       

accustomed1 if he is still sound1 than  
one unbroken and new4 ,nor has habit    
this power merely as to the movements of
 an animal1 it prevails no less as to   
inanimate objects4 ,we are charmed with 
the places though mountainous and woody1
 ,footnote3 ,therefore uninviting1 for  
mountain and forest had not in early    
time the charm which we find in them4   
,indeed the love of nature uncultivated 
and unadorned is for the most part1 of  
modern growth4 where we have made a long
 sojourn4 ,but what is most remarkable  
in friendship is that it puts a man on  
an equality with his inferior4 ,for     
there often are in a circle of friends  
those who excel the rest1 as was the    
case with ,scipio in our flock1 if ,i   
may use the word4 ,he never assumed     
superiority over ,philus1 never over    
,rupilius1 never over ,mummius1 never   
over friends of an order lower than his 
own4 ,indeed he always reverenced as a  
superior1 because older than himself1   
his brother ,quintus ,maximus ,footnote3

 ,quintus ,fabius ,maximus ,aemilianus1 
the eldest son of ,aemilius ,paulus1 and
 the adopted son of ,fabius ,maximus4 a 
thoroughly worthy man1 but by no means  
his equal1 and in fact he wanted to make
 all his friends of the more consequence
 by whatever advantages he himself      
possessed4 ,this example all ought to   
imitate1 that if they have attained any 
superiority of virtue1 genius1 fortune1 
they may impart it to and share it with 
those with whom they are the most       
closely connected2 and that if they are 
of humble parentage1 and have kindred of
 slender ability or fortune1 they may   
increase their means of well-being1 and 
reflect honor and worth upon them1--as  
in fable those who were long in servile 
condition through ignorance of their    
parentage and race1 when they were      
recognized and found to be sons either  
of gods or of kings1 retained their love
 for the shepherds whom for many years  
they supposed to be their fathers4 ,much
 more ought the like to be done in the  

case of real and well-known fathers2 for
 the best fruit of genius1 and virtue1  
and every kind of excellence is reaped  
when it is thus bestowed on near kindred
 and friends4  #bj4 ,moreover1 as among 
persons bound by ties of friendship and 
intimacy those who hold the higher place
 ought to bring themselves down to the  
same plane with their inferiors1 so     
ought these last not to feel aggrieved  
because they are surpassed in ability1  
or fortune1 or rank by their friends4   
,most of them1 however1 are always      
finding some ground of complaint1 or    
even of reproach1 especially if they can
 plead any service that they have       
rendered faithfully1 in a friendly way1 
and with a certain amount of painstaking
 on their part4 ,such men1 indeed1 are  
hateful when they reproach their friends
 on the score of services which he on   
whom they were bestowed ought to bear in
 mind1 but which it is unbecoming for   
him who conferred them to recount4      
,those who are superior ought1          

undoubtedly1 not only to waive all      
pretension in friendly intercourse1 but 
to do what they can to raise their      
humbler friends to their own level47l7  
,there are some who give their friends  
trouble by imagining that they are held 
in low esteem1 which1 however1 is not   
apt to be the case except with those who
 think meanly of themselves4 ,those who 
feel thus ought to be raised to a just  
self-esteem1 not only by kind words1 but
 by substantial service4 ,but what you  
do for any one must be measured1 first  
by your own ability1 and then by the    
capacity of him whom you would favor and
 help4 ,for1 however great your         
influence may be1 you cannot raise all  
your friends to the highest positions4  
,thus ,scipio could effect the election 
of ,publius ,rupilius to the consulship2
 but he could not do the same for his   
brother ,lucius47#b7 ,in general1       
friendships that are properly so called 
are formed between persons of mature    
years and established character2 nor if 

young men have been fond of hunting or  
of ball-playing1 is there any need of   
permanent attachment to those whom they 
then liked as associates in the same    
sport4 ,on this principle our nurses and
 the slaves that led us to school will  
demand by right of priority the highest 
grade  #a ,or1 as it might be rendered  
by supplying a se so ought the humbler  
to do what they can to raise themselves4
 ,some of the commentators prefer this  
sense2 but if ,cicero meant se1 ,i think
 that he would have written it4  #b ,the
 brother of ,publius ,rupilius1 not his 
own brother4  of affectionate           
regard1--persons1 indeed1 who are not to
 be neglected1 but who are on a somewhat
 different footing from that of friends4
 ,friendships formed solely from early  
associations cannot last2 for           
differences of character grow out of a  
diversity of pursuits1 and unlikeness of
 character dissolves friendships4 ,nor  
is there any reason why good men cannot 
be the friends of bad men1 or bad men of

 good1 except that the dissiliency of   
pursuits and of character between them  
is as great as it can be4  ,it is also a
 counsel worthy of heed1 that excessive 
fondness be not suffered to interfere1  
as it does too often1 with important    
services that a friend can render4 ,to  
resort again to fable1 ,neoptolemus     
could not have taken ,troy ,footnote3   
,or rather1 could not have borne the    
indispensable part which it was         
predicted that he should bear in the    
taking of ,troy4 if he had chosen to    
comply with the wishes of ,lycomedes1   
who brought him up1 and who with many   
tears attempted to dissuade him from his
 expedition4 ,equally in actual life    
there are not infrequently important    
occasions on which the society of       
friends must be for a time abandoned2   
and he who would prevent this because he
 cannot easily bear the separation1 is  
of a weak and unmanly nature1 and for   
that very reason unfit to fill the place
 of a friend4 ,in fine1 in all matters  

you should take into consideration both 
what you may reasonably demand of your  
friend1 and what you can fitly suffer   
him to obtain from you4  #ba4 ,the      
misfortune involved in the dissolution  
of friendships is sometimes unavoidable2
 for ,i am now coming down from the     
intimacies of wise men to common        
friendships4 ,faults of friends often   
betray themselves openly--whether to the
 injury of their friends themselves1 or 
of strangers--in such a way that the    
disgrace falls back upon their friends4 
,such friendships are to be effaced by  
the suspension of intercourse1 and1 as  
,i have heard ,cato say1 to be          
unstitched rather than cut asunder1     
unless some quite intolerable offence   
flames out to full view1 so that it can 
be neither right nor honorable not to   
effect an immediate separation and      
dissevering4 ,but if there shall have   
been some change either in character or 
in the habits of life1 or if there have 
sprung up some difference of opinion as 

to public affairs1--,i am speaking1 as  
,i have just said1 of common            
friendships1 not of those between wise  
men1--care should be taken lest there be
 the appearance1 not only of friendship 
dropped1 but of enmity taken up2 for    
nothing is more unbecoming than to wage 
war with a man with whom you have lived 
on terms of intimacy4 ,scipio1 as you   
know1 had withdrawn from the friendship 
of ,quintus ,pompeius ,footnote3        
,laelius intending to present himself as
 a candidate for the consulship1 ,scipio
 asked ,pompeius whether he was going to
 be a candidate1 and when he replied in 
the negative1 asked him to use his      
influence in behalf of ,laelius4 ,this  
,pompeius promised1 and then1 instead of
 being true to his word1 offered himself
 for the consulship1 and was elected4 on
 my account1 he became alienated from   
,metellus ,footnote3 ,scipio and        
,metellus1 though their intimacy was    
suspended for political reasons1 held   
each other in the highest regard1 and no

 person in ,rome expressed profounder   
sorrow than ,metellus for ,scipio's     
death or was more warm in his praise as 
a man of unparalleled ability1 worth1   
and patriotism4 because of their        
different views as to the administration
 of the ,state4 ,in both cases he       
conducted himself with gravity and      
dignity1 and without any feeling of     
bitterness4 ,the endeavor then1 must    
first be1 to prevent discord from taking
 place among friends1 and if anything of
 the kind occurs1 to see that the       
friendship may seem to be extinguished  
rather than crushed out4 ,care must thus
 be taken lest friendships lapse into   
violent enmities1 whence are generated  
quarrels1 slanders1 insults1 which yet1 
if not utterly intolerable1 are to be   
endured and this honor tendered to old  
friendship that the blame may rest with 
him who does not with him who suffers   
the wrong4  ,the one surety and         
preventive against these mistakes and   
misfortunes is1 not to form attachments 

too soon1 nor for those unworthy of such
 regard4 ,but it is those in whose very 
selves there is reason why they should  
be loved1 that are worthy of friendship4
 ,a rare class of men6 ,indeed1         
superlatively excellent objects of every
 sort are rare1 nor is anything more    
difficult than to discover that which is
 in all respects perfect in its kind4   
,but most persons have acquired the     
habit of recognizing nothing as good in 
human relations and affairs that does   
not produce some revenue1 and they most 
love those friends1 as they do those    
cattle1 that will yield them the        
greatest gain4 ,thus they lack that most
 beautiful and most natural friendship1 
which is to be sought in itself and for 
its own sake1 nor can they know from    
experience what and how great is the    
power of such friendship4 ,one loves    
himself1 not in order to exact from     
himself any wages for such love1 but    
because he is in himself dear to        
himself4 ,now1 unless this same property

 be transferred to friendship1 a true   
friend will never be found1 for such a  
friend is1 as it were1 another self4    
,but if it is seen in beasts1 birds1    
fishes1 animals tame and wild1 that they
 first love themselves 7for self-love is
 born with everything that lives7 and   
that they then require and seek those of
 their kind to whom they may attach     
themselves1 and do so with desire and   
with a certain semblance of human love1 
how much more is this natural in man1   
who both loves himself1 and craves      
another whose soul he may so blend with 
his own as almost to make one out of    
two4  #bb ,but men in general are so    
perverse1 not to say shameless1 as to   
wish a friend to be in character what   
they themselves could not be and they   
expect of friends what they do not give 
them in return4 ,the proper course      
however1 is for one first to be himself 
a good man1 and then to seek another    
like himself4 ,in such persons the      
stability of friendship1 of which ,i    

have been speaking1 can be made sure1   
since1 united in mutual love1 they will1
 in the first place1 hold in subjection 
the desires to which others are         
enslaved2 then they will find delight in
 whatever is equitable and just1 and    
each will take upon himself any labor or
 burden in the other's stead1 while     
neither will ever ask of the other aught
 that is not honorable and right4 ,nor  
will they merely cherish and love1 they 
will even reverence each other4 ,but he 
who bereaves friendship of mutual       
respect 7#a7 takes from it its greatest 
ornament4 ,therefore those are in fatal 
error who think that in friendship there
 is free license for all lusts and evil 
practices4 ,friendship is given by      
nature1 not as a companion of the vices1
 but as a helper of the virtues1 that1  
as solitary virtue might not be able to 
attain the summit of excellence1 united 
and associated with another it might    
reach that eminence4 ,as to those       
between whom there is1 or has been1 or  

shall be such an alliance1 the          
fellowship is to be regarded as the best
 and happiest possible1 inasmuch as it  
leads to the highest good that nature   
can bestow4 ,this is the alliance1 ,i   
say1 in which are included all things   
that men think worthy their             
endeavor1--honor1 fame1 peace of mind1  
and pleasure1 so that if these be       
present life is happy1 and cannot be    
happy without them4 ,such a life being  
the best  #a ,latin1 verecundio1 an     
indefinite word2 for it may have almost 
any good meaning4 ,i have rendered it   
respect1 because ,i have no doubt that  
it derives its meaning here from        
verebuntur1 which ,i have rendered      
reverence1 in the preceding sentence4   
and greatest boon1 if we wish to make it
 ours1 we must devote ourselves to the  
cultivation of virtue1 without which we 
can attain neither friendship nor       
anything else desirable4 ,but if virtue 
be left out of the account1 those who   
think that they have friends perceive   

that they are mistaken when some        
important crisis compels them to put    
their friends to the test4              
,therefore--for it is worth             
reiterating--you ought to love after    
having exercised your judgment on your  
friends1 instead of forming your        
judgment of them after you have begun to
 love them4 ,but while in many things we
 are chargeable with carelessness1 we   
are most so in choosing and keeping our 
friends4 ,we reverse the old proverb1   
,footnote3 ,what this proverb may have  
been we cannot determine with precision 
from its opposite2 but the caution based
 upon it might remind one of our proverb
 about shutting the barn door after the 
horse is stolen4 ,the words1 acta       
agimus1 so terse that they can be       
translated only by a paraphrase1 are    
probably the converse of the proverb1   
which may have been something like non  
agenda sunt acta4 take counsel after    
acting1 and attempt to do over again    
what we have done2 for after having     

become closely connected by long habit  
and even by mutual services1 some       
occasion of offence springs up1 and we  
suddenly break in sunder a friendship in
 full career4  #bc4 ,the more           
blameworthy are they who are so very    
careless in a matter of so essential    
importance4 ,indeed1 among things       
appertaining to human life1 it is       
friendship alone that has the unanimous 
voice of all men as to its capacity of  
service4 ,by many even virtue is        
scorned1 and is said to be a mere matter
 of display and ostentation4 ,many      
despise wealth1 and contented with      
little take pleasure in slender diet and
 inexpensive living4 ,though some are   
inflamed with desire for office1 many   
there are who hold it in so low esteem  
that they can imagine nothing more inane
 or worthless4 ,other things too1 which 
seem to some admirable1 very many regard
 as of no value4 ,but all have the same 
feeling as to friendship1--alike those  
who devote themselves to the public     

service1 those who take delight in      
learning and philosophy1 those who      
manage their own affairs in a quiet way1
 and1 lastly1 those who are wholly given
 up to sensual pleasure4 ,they all agree
 that without friendship life cannot be1
 if one only means to live in some form 
or measure respectably4 ,footnote3      
,latin liberaliter that is1 worthily of 
a free man4 ,for friendship somehow     
twines through all lives and leaves no  
mode of being without its presence4     
,even if one be of so rude and savage a 
nature as to shun and hate the society  
of men1 as we have learned was the case 
with that ,timon of ,athens1 ,footnote3 
,plutarch says that ,timon had an       
associate1 virtually a friend1 not      
unlike himself1 ,apemantus1 on whom he  
freely vented his spite and scorn for   
all the world beside and that he also   
took a special liking to ,alcibiades in 
his youth1 perhaps as to one fitted and 
destined to do an untold amount of      
mischief4 if there ever was such a man  

,footnote3 ,latin1 nescio1 quem1 ,i know
 not whom1 or of whom ,i am ignorant1   
that is1 there may or may not have been 
such a man4 he yet cannot help seeking  
some one in whose presence he may vomit 
the venom of his bitterness4 ,the need  
of friendship would be best shown1 were 
such a thing possible1 if some god      
should take us away from this human     
crowd1 and place us anywhere in         
solitude1 giving us there an abundant   
supply of all things that nature craves 
but depriving us utterly of the sight of
 a human countenance4 ,who could be     
found of so iron make that he could     
endure ,footnote3 ,latin1 tam 444       
ferreus1 qiu 444 ferre posset1--an      
assonance which cannot be represented by
 corresponding ,english words4 such a   
life1 and whom solitude would not render
 incapable of enjoying any kind of      
pleasure8 ,that is true then which1 if  
,i remember aright1 our elders used to  
say that they had heard from their      
seniors in age as having come from      

,archytas of ,tarentum--,if one had     
ascended to heaven and had obtained a   
full view of the nature of the universe 
and the beauty of the stars1 yet his    
admiration would be without delight1 if 
there were no one to whom he could tell 
what he had seen4 ,thus ,nature has no  
love for solitude1 and always leans as  
it were1 on some support1 and the       
sweetest support is found in the most   
intimate friendship4  #bd ,but while    
,nature declares by so many tokens what 
she desires1 craves1 needs1 we--,i know 
not how--grow deaf1 and fail to hear her
 counsel4  ,intercourse among friends   
assumes many different forms and modes1 
and there frequently arise causes of    
suspicion and offence1 which it is the  
part of a wise man sometimes to avoid1  
sometimes to remove1 sometimes to bear4 
,one ground of offence1 namely1 freedom 
in telling the truth1 must be put       
entirely away1 in order that friendship 
may retain its serviceableness and its  
good faith1 for friends often need to be

 admonished and reproved1 and such      
offices1 when kindly performed1 ought to
 be received in a friendly way4 ,yet    
somehow we witness in actual life1 what 
my friend ,footnote3 ,terence with whom 
,laelius was so intimate that he was    
reported probably on no sufficient      
ground to have aided in the composition 
of some of the plays that bear          
,terence's name4 ,this verse is from the
 ,andria4 says in his play of ,andria-- 
,complacency 99,footnote3 ,obsequium    
wins friends1 but truth gives birth to  
hatred4  ,truth is offensive1 if hatred1
 the bane of friendship is indeed born  
of it1 but much more offensive is       
complacency1 when in its indulgence for 
wrong doing it suffers a friend to go   
headlong to ruin4 ,the greatest blame1  
however1 rests on him who both spurns   
the truth when it is told him and is    
driven by the complacency of friends to 
self-deception4 ,in this matter         
therefore there should be the utmost    
discretion and care1 first1 that        

admonition be without bitterness1 then1 
that reproof be without invective4 ,but 
in complacency--for ,i am ready to use  
the word which ,terence furnishes--let  
pleasing truth be told1 let flattery1   
the handmaid of the vices be put far    
away1 as unworthy1 not only of a friend1
 but of any man above the condition of a
 slave1 for there is one way of living  
with a tyrant1 another with a friend4   
,we may well despair of saving him whose
 ears are so closed to the truth that he
 cannot hear what is true from a friend4
 ,among the many pithy sayings of ,cato 
was this ',there are some who owe more  
to their bitter enemies than to the     
friends that seem sweet1 for those often
 tell the truth1 these never'4 ,it is   
indeed ridiculous for those who are     
admonished not to be annoyed by what    
ought to trouble them1 and to be annoyed
 by what ought to give them no offence4 
,their faults give them no pain1 they   
take it hard that they are              
reproved1--while they ought1 on the     

contrary1 to be grieved for their       
wrong-doing1 to rejoice in their        
correction4  #be ,as1 then1 it belongs  
to friendship both to admonish and to be
 admonished1 and to do the former       
freely1 yet not harshly1 to receive the 
latter patiently not resentfully1 so it 
is to be maintained that friendship has 
no greater pest than adulation1         
flattery1 subserviency1 for under its   
many names ,footnote3 ,latin multis     
nominibus1 which some commentators      
render on many accounts with reference  
to matters of purchase and sale1 debit  
and credit4 ,but ,i think that ,cicero  
brings in adulatio1 blanditia1 and      
assentatio1 as so many synonyms of      
obsequtum1 intending to comprehend in   
his indictment whatever alias the one   
vice may assume4 a brand should be put  
on this vice of fickle and deceitful    
men1 who say everything with the view of
 giving pleasure1 without any reference 
to the truth4 ,while simulation is bad  
on every account1 inasmuch as it renders

 the discernment of the truth which it  
defaces impossible1 it is most of all   
inimical to friendship2 for it is fatal 
to sincerity1 without which the name of 
friendship ceases to have any meaning4  
,for since the essence of friendship    
consists in this1 that one mind is1 as  
it were1 made out of several1 how can   
this be1 if in one of the several there 
shall be not always one and the same    
mind1 but a mind varying1 changeful1    
manifold8 ,and what can be so flexible1 
so far out of its rightful course1 as   
the mind of him who adapts himself1 not 
only to the feelings and wishes1 but een
 to the look and gesture1 of another8   
,does one say ,no or ,yes8 ,i say so too
 ,my rule is to assent to everything1   
as ,terence1 whom ,i have just quoted1  
says1 but he says it in the person of   
,gnatho1,footnote3 ,a parasite in       
,terence's play of ,eunuchus1 from which
 these verses are quoted4--a sort of    
friend which only a frivolous mind can  
tolerate4 ,but as there are many like   

,gnatho1 who stand higher than he did in
 place1 fortune1 and reputation1 then   
subserviency is the more offensive1     
because then position gives weight to   
their falsehood4  ,but a flattering     
friend may be distinguished and         
discriminated from a true friend by     
proper care1 as easily as everything    
disguised and feigned is seen to differ 
from what is genuine and real4 ,the     
assembly of the people1 though          
consisting of persons who have the least
 skill in judgment1 yet always knows the
 difference between him who1 merely     
seeking popularity1 is sycophantic and  
fickle1 and a firm inflexible1 and      
substantial citizen4 ,with what soft    
words did ,caius ,papirius ,footnote3   
,caius ,papirius ,carbo1 the suspected  
murderer of ,scipio4 steal ,footnote3   
,latin influebat flowed in1 a figure    
beautifully appropriate1 but hardly     
translatable4 into the ears of the      
assembly a little while ago1 when he    
brought forward the law about the       

re-election of the tribunes of the      
people6 ,footnote3 ,there was an old    
law1 which prohibited the re-election of
 a citizen to the same office till after
 an interval of ten years4 ,in the law  
here referred to1 ,carbo--then tribune  
--sought to provide for the re-election 
of tribunes as soon and as often as the 
people might choose1 thus undoubtedly   
hoping to secure for himself a permanent
 tenure of office4 ,i opposed the law4  
,but1 to say nothing of myself1 ,i will 
rather speak of ,scipio4 ,how great1 ye 
immortal gods1 was his dignity of       
bearing6 ,what majesty of address6 ,so  
that you might easily call him the      
leader of the ,roman people1 rather than
 one of their number4 ,but you were     
there1 and you have copies of his       
speech4 ,thus the law was rejected by   
vote of the people4 ,but1 to return to  
myself1 you remember1 when ,quintus     
,maximus1 ,scipio's brother1 and ,lucius
 ,mancinus were ,consuls1 how much the  
people seemed to favor the law of ,caius

 ,licinius ,crassus about the priests4  
,the law proposed to transfer the       
election of priests from their own      
respective colleges to the suffrage of  
the people2 ,footnote3 ,the several     
pontifical colleges had been close      
corporations1 filling their own         
vacancies4 ,the law which ,laelius      
defeated proposed transferring the      
election of priests to the people4 and  
he on that occasion introduced the      
custom of facing the people in          
addressing them ,footnote3 ,it had been 
customary1 when the ,senate was in      
session1 for him who harangued the      
people to face the temple where the     
,senate sat1 thus virtually recognizing 
the supreme authority of that body4 ,yet
 under my advocacy the religion of the  
immortal gods obtained the ascendancy   
over his plausible speech4 ,that was    
during my praetorship1 five years before
 ,i was chosen ,consul4 ,thus the cause 
was gained by its own merits rather than
 by official authority4  #bf4 ,but if on

 the stage1 or--what is the same        
thing--in the assembly of the people1 in
 which there is ample scope for false   
and distorted representations1 the truth
 only needs to be made plain and clear  
in order for it to prevail1 what ought  
to be the case in friendship1 which is  
entirely dependent for its value on     
truth1--in which unless1 as the phrase  
is1 you see an open bosom and show your 
own1 you can have nothing worthy of     
confidence1 nothing of which you can    
feel certain1 not even the fact of your 
loving or being loved1 since you are    
ignorant of what either really is8 ,yet 
this flattery of which ,i have spoken1  
harmful as it is1 can injure only him   
who takes it in and is delighted with   
it4 ,thus it is the case that he is most
 ready to open his ear to flattery1 who 
flatters himself and finds supreme      
delight in himself4 ,virtue indeed loves
 itself2 for it has thorough knowledge  
of itself1 and understands how worthy of
 love it is4 ,but it is reputed1 not    

real1 virtue of which ,i am now         
speaking2 for there are not so many     
possessed of virtue as there are that   
desire to seem virtuous4 ,these last are
 delighted with flattery1 and when false
 statements are framed purposely to     
satisfy and please them1 they take the  
falsehood as valid testimony to their   
merit4 ,that1 however1 is no friendship1
 in which one of the 7so-called7 friends
 does not want to hear the truth1 and   
the other is ready to lie4 ,the flattery
 of parasites on the stage would not    
seem amusing1 were there not in the play
 braggart soldiers ,footnote3 ,latin1   
milites gloriosi4 ,miles ,gloriosus is  
the title of one of the comedies of     
,plautus2 and one of the stock          
characters of the ancient comedy is a   
conceited1 swaggering1 brainless        
soldier1 who is perpetually boasting of 
his own valor and exploits1 and who     
takes the most fulsome and ridiculous   
flattery as the due recognition of his  
transcendent merit4 ,the verse here     

quoted is from ,terence's ,eunuchus4    
,thraso1 a miles gloriosus 7from whom is
 derived our adjective thrasonical71    
asks this question of ,gnatho1 the      
parasite1 one of whose speeches is      
quoted in  #be4 ,magnus is the word in  
the question2 ingentes1 in the answer4  
to be flattered4   ,great thanks indeed 
did ,thais render to me8  ,great was a  
sufficient answer2 but the answer in the
 play is ,prodigious4 ,the flatterer    
always magnifies what he whom he is     
aiming to please wishes to have great4  
,but while this smooth falsehood takes  
effect only with those who themselves   
attract and invite it2 even persons of a
 more substantial and solid character   
need to be warned to be on their guard1 
lest they be ensnared by flattery of a  
more cunning type4 ,no one who has a    
moderate share of common-sense fails to 
detect the open flatterer2 but great    
care must be taken lest the wily and    
covert flatterer may insinuate himself2 
for he is not very easily recognized1   

since he often assents by opposing1     
plays the game of disputing in a smooth1
 caressing way1 and at length submits1  
and suffers himself to be outreasoned1  
so as to make him on whom he is         
practising his arts appear to have had  
the deeper insight4 ,but what is more   
disgraceful than to be made game of8    
,one must take heed not to put himself  
in the condition of the character in the
 play of ,the ,heiress3 ,footnote3      
,epicleros1 a comedy by ,caecilius      
,statius1 of whose works only a few     
fragments1 like this1 are extant4 ,next 
to the braggart soldier1 a credulous old
 man-generally a father-who could have  
all manner of tricks played upon him    
without detecting their import1 was the 
favorite butt for ridicule in the       
ancient comedy4   ,of an old fool one   
never made such sport ,as you have made 
of me this very day2   for there is no  
character on the stage so foolish as    
that of these unwary and credulous old  
men4 ,but ,i know not how my discourse  

has digressed from the friendships of   
perfect1 that is1 of wise men1--wise1 ,i
 mean1 so far as wisdom can fall to the 
lot of man1--to friendships of a lighter
 sort4 ,let us then return to our       
original subject1 and bring it to a     
speedy conclusion4   #bg4 ,virtue1 ,i   
say to you1 ,caius ,fannius1 and to you1
 ,quintus ,mucius1--virtue both forms   
and preserves friendships4 ,in it is    
mutual agreement2 in it is stability2 in
 it is consistency of conduct and       
character4 ,when it has put itself forth
 and shown its light1 and has seen and  
recognized the same light in another1 it
 draws near to that light1 and receives 
in return what the other has to give2   
and from this intercourse love1 or      
friendship1--call it which you may1--is 
kindled4 ,these terms are equally       
derived in our language from loving2    
,footnote3 ,amor444amicitia444ab amando4
 and to love is nothing else than to    
cherish affection for him whom you love1
 with no felt need of his service1 with 

no quest of benefit to be obtained from 
him2 while1 nevertheless1               
serviceableness blooms out from         
friendship1 however little you may have 
had it in view4 ,with this affection ,i 
in my youth loved those old             
men1--,lucius ,paulus1 ,marcus ,cato1   
,caius ,gallus1 ,publius ,nasica1       
,tiberius ,gracchus1 the father-in-law  
of my friend ,scipio4 ,this relation is 
more conspicuous among those of the same
 age1 as between myself and ,scipio1    
,lucius ,furius1 ,publius ,rupilius1    
,spurius ,mummius4 ,but in my turn1 as  
an old man1 ,i find repose in the       
attachment of young men1 as in yours1   
and in that of ,quintus ,tubero1 and ,i 
am delighted with the intimacy of       
,publius ,rutilius and ,aulus           
,virginius1 who are just emerging from  
boyhood4 ,while the order of human life 
and of nature is such that another      
generation must come upon the stage1 it 
would be most desirable1 could such a   
thing be1 to reach the goal1 so to      

speak1 with those of our own age with   
whom we started on the race2 but since  
man's life is frail and precarious1 we  
ought always to be in quest of some     
younger persons whom we may love1 and   
who will love us in return2 for when    
love and kindness cease all enjoyment is
 taken out of life4  ,for me indeed1    
,scipio1 though suddenly snatched away1 
still lives and will always live2 for ,i
 loved the virtue of the man1 which is  
not extinguished4 ,nor does it float    
before my eyes only1 as ,i have always  
had it at hand2 it will also be renowned
 and illustrious with generations to    
come4 ,no one will ever enter with      
courage and hope on a high and noble    
career1 without proposing to himself as 
a standard the memory and image of his  
virtue4 ,indeed1 of all things which    
fortune or nature ever gave me1 ,i have 
nothing that ,i can compare with the    
friendship of ,scipio4 ,in this there   
was a common feeling as to the affairs  
of the ,state2 in this1 mutual counsel  

as to our private concerns2 in this1    
too1 a repose full of delight4 ,never1  
so far as ,i know1 did ,i offend him in 
the least thing2 never did ,i hear from 
him a word which ,i would not wish to   
hear4 ,we had one home2 ,footnote3 ,this
 may refer to their living together on  
their campaigns1 journeys1 and rural    
sojourns2 but more probably to the fact 
that each felt as much at home in the   
other's house as in his own4 the same   
diet1 and that simple2 ,footnote3       
,latin1 communis4 ,i do not find that   
this word has in ,latin the sense of    
cheap and mean which our word common    
has4 ,but here it cannot mean that      
,laelius and ,scipio fed together1 which
 is sufficiently said in the preceding  
idem victus4 ,it must therefore denote  
such fare as was common to them with    
their fellow-citizens in general1 and   
that is simple and not luxurious fare4  
we were together1 not only in military  
service1 but also in journeying and in  
our rural sojourns4 ,and what shall ,i  

say of our unflagging zeal in the       
pursuit of knowledge1 and in learning   
everything now within our reach1--an    
employment in which1 when not under the 
eyes of the public1 we passed all our   
leisure time together8 ,had the         
recollection and remembrance of these   
things died with him1 ,i could not      
anyhow bear the loss of a man1 thus     
bound to me in the closest intimacy and 
holding me in the dearest love4 ,but    
they are not blotted out1 they are      
rather nourished and increased by       
reflection and memory2 and were ,i      
entirely bereft of them1 my advanced age
 would still be my great comfort1 for ,i
 can miss his society but for a brief   
season1 and all sorrows1 however heavy1 
if they can last but a little while1    
ought to be endured4  ,i had these      
things to say to you about friendship2  
and ,i exhort you that you so give the  
foremost place to virtue without which  
friendship cannot be1 that with the sole
 exception of virtue1 you may think     

nothing to be preferred to friendship4  
,,scipio',s ,,dream4   #a4 ,when ,i     
arrived in ,africa1 to serve1 as you    
know1 in the office of military ,tribune
 of the fourth ,legion1 under ,manius   
,footnote3 ,the praenomen ,marcus is    
given to ,manilius in the manuscript of 
the ,de ,republics discovered by ,angelo
 ,mai2 but ,manius is the reading in all
 previous authorities as to this special
 fragment4 ,manilius as consul1 ,i      
desired nothing so much as to meet      
,masinissa ,footnote3 ,king of          
,numidia1--a country nearly identical in
 extent with the present province of    
,algeria4 ,its name defines its people1 
being derived from ,greek3 nomades1     
nomads4 ,its inhabitants were a wild1   
semi-savage cluster of tribes1 black and
 white4 ,masinissa1 though faithful to  
the ,romans after he had convinced      
himself that theirs must be the         
ascendant star1 was a crafty1           
treacherous1 cruel prince1 probably with
 enough of civilization to have acquired

 some of its vices1 while he had not    
lost those of the savage4 the king1 who 
for sufficient reasons ,footnote3 ,the  
elder ,africanus had confirmed him in   
the possession of his own ,numidia1 and 
had added to it the adjoining kingdom of
 ,cirta4 stood in the most friendly     
relation to our family4 ,when ,i came to
 him1 the old man embraced me with      
tears1 and shortly afterward looked up  
to heaven and said3 ,i thank thee1      
sovereign ,sun1 ,footnote3 ,the         
,numidians worshipped the heavenly      
bodies4 and all of you lesser lights of 
heaven1 that before ,i pass away from   
this life ,i behold in my kingdom and   
beneath this roof ,publius ,cornelius   
,scipio1 whose very name renews my      
strength1 so utterly inseparable from my
 thought is the memory of that best and 
most invincible of men who first bore   
it4 ,then ,i questioned him about his   
kingdom1 and he asked me about our      
republic2 and with the many things that 
we had to communicate to each other1 the

 day wore away4  ,at a later hour1 after
 an entertainment of royal magnificence1
 we prolonged our conversation far into 
the night1 while the old man talked to  
me about nothing else but ,africanus1   
rehearsing not only all that he had     
done1 but all that he had said4 ,when we
 parted to go to our rest1 sleep took a 
stronger hold on me than usual1 on      
account both of the fatigue of my       
journey and of the lateness of the hour4
 ,in my sleep1 ,i suppose in consequence
 of our conversation 7for generally our 
thoughts and utterances by day have in  
our sleep an effect like that which     
,ennius describes in his own case as to 
,homer1 ,footnote3 ,the first verse of  
the ,annales of ,ennius was3--  ,in     
somnis mihi visus ,homerus adesse poeta4
  about whom in his waking hours he was 
perpetually thinking and talking71      
,africanus appeared to me1 with an      
aspect that reminded me more of his bust
 than of his real face4 ,i shuddered    
when ,i saw him4 ,but he said3 ,preserve

 your presence of mind1 ,scipio2 be not 
afraid1 and commit to memory what ,i    
shall say to you4  #b4 ,do you see that 
city1 which was brought through me into 
subjection to the ,roman people1 but now
 renews its old hostility1 and cannot   
remain quiet1--and he showed me         
,carthage from a high place full of     
stars1 shining and splendid1--against   
which you1 being little more than a     
common soldier1 are coming to fight8 ,in
 two years from now you as ,consul will 
overthrow this city1 and you will obtain
 of your own right the surname which up 
to this time you hold as inherited from 
me4 ,when you shall have destroyed      
,carthage1 shall have celebrated your   
triumph over it1 shall have been        
,censor1 and shall have traversed1 as an
 ambassador1 ,egypt1 ,syria1 ,asia1 and 
,greece1 you will be chosen a second    
time ,consul in your absence1 and will  
put an end to one of the greatest of    
wars by extirpating ,numantia4 ,but when
 you shall be borne to the ,capitol in  

your triumphal chariot after this war1  
you will find the ,state disturbed by   
the machinations of my grandson4        
,footnote3 ,tiberius ,gracchus1 whose   
mother1 ,cornelia1 was the daughter of  
the elder ,africanus4  ,in this         
emergency1 ,africanus1 it will behoove  
you to show your country the light of   
your energy1 genius1 and wisdom4 ,but ,i
 see at that time1 as it were1 a double 
way of destiny4 ,for when your age shall
 have followed the sun for eight times  
seven revolutions1 and these two numbers
 ,footnote3 ,the ,pythagoreans regarded 
seven as the number representing light1 
and eight as representing love4 ,seven  
was also a perfect number1 as           
corresponding to the number of celestial
 orbits 7including the sun1 the moon1   
and the five known planets71 the number 
of days in the quarter of the moon's    
revolution1 and the number of the gates 
of sense 7so to speak71 mouth1 eyes1    
ears1 and nostrils4 ,eight was a perfect
 number1 as being first after unity on  

the list of cubes2 and ,plato in the    
,timaeus speaks of eight celestial      
revolutions--including that of the      
earth--as unequal in duration and       
velocity1 but as forming1 in some       
unexplained way1 a cycle synchronous    
with the year4--each perfect1 though for
 different reasons--shall have completed
 for you in the course of nature the    
destined period1 to you alone and to    
your name the whole city will turn2 on  
you the ,senate will look1 on you all   
good citizens1 on you the allies1 on you
 the ,latini4 ,you will be the one man  
on whom the safety of the city will     
rest2 and1 to say no more1 you1 as      
,dictator1 must re-establish the ,state1
 if you escape the impious hands of your
 kindred4 ,footnote3 ,see ,de ,amicitia 
#c1 note4 ,here1 when ,laelius had cried
 out1 and the rest of the company had   
breathed deep sighs1 ,scipio1 smiling   
pleasantly upon them1 said1 ,i beg you  
not to rouse me from sleep and break up 
my vision4 ,hear the remainder of it4   

#c4 ,but that you1 ,africanus1 may be   
the more prompt in the defence of the   
,state1 know that for all who shall have
 preserved1 succored1 enlarged their    
country1 there is a certain and         
determined place in heaven where they   
enjoy eternal happiness2 for to the     
,supreme ,god who governs this whole    
universe nothing is more pleasing than  
those companies and unions of men that  
are called cities4 ,of these the rulers 
and preservers1 going hence1 return     
hither4  ,here ,i1 although ,i had been 
alarmed1 not indeed so much by the fear 
of death as by that of the treachery of 
my own kindred1 yet asked whether       
,paulus1 my father1 and others whom we  
supposed to be dead were living4 ,yes1  
indeed1 he replied1 those who have fled 
from the bonds of the body1 like runners
 from the goal1 live2 while what is     
called your life is death4 ,but do you  
see your father ,paulus coming to you8  
,when ,i saw him1 ,i shed a flood of    
tears2 but he1 embracing and kissing me1

 forbade my weeping4  ,then as soon as  
my tears would suffer me to speak1 ,i   
began by saying1 ,most sacred and       
excellent father1 since this is life1 as
 ,africanus tells me1 why do ,i remain  
on the earth1 and not rather hasten to  
come to you8 ,not so1 said he2 for      
unless the ,god who has for his temple  
all that you now behold1 shall have     
freed you from this prison of the body1 
there can be no entrance for you hither4
 ,men have indeed been brought into     
being on this condition1 that they      
should guard the globe which you see in 
the midst of this temple1 which is      
called the earth2 and a soul has been   
given to them from those eternal fires  
which you call constellations and stars1
 which1 globed and round1 animated with 
god-derived minds1 complete their       
courses and move through their orbits   
with amazing speed4 ,you1 therefore1    
,publius1 and all rightly disposed men  
are bound to retain the soul in the     
body's keeping1 nor without the command 

of him who gave it to you to depart from
 the life appointed for man1 lest you   
may seem to have taken flight from human
 duty as assigned by ,god4 ,but1        
,scipio1 like this your grandfather1    
,footnote3 ,by adoption4 ,the younger   
,africanus was adopted by a son of the  
elder4 like me1 your father1 cherish    
justice and that sacred observance of   
duty to your kind1 which1 while of great
 worth toward parents and family1 is of 
supreme value toward your country4 ,such
 a life is the way to heaven1 and to    
this assembly of those who have already 
lived1 and1 released from the body1     
inhabit the place which you now see1--it
 was that circle that shines forth among
 the stars in the most dazzling         
white1--which you have learned from the 
,greeks to call the ,milky ,way4 ,and as
 ,i looked on every side ,i saw other   
things transcendently glorious and      
wonderful4 ,there were stars which we   
never see from here below1 and all the  
stars were vast far beyond what we have 

ever imagined4 ,the least of them was   
that which1 farthest from heaven1       
nearest to the earth1 shone with a      
borrowed light4 ,but the starry globes  
very far surpassed the earth in         
magnitude4 ,the earth itself indeed     
looked to me so small as to make me     
ashamed of our empire1 which was a mere 
point on its surface4  #d4 ,while ,i was
 gazing more intently on the earth1     
,africanus said3 ,how long1 ,i pray you1
 will your mind be fastened on the      
ground8 ,do you not see into the midst  
of what temples you have come8 ,in your 
sight are nine orbs1 or rather globes1  
by which all things are held together4  
,one is the celestial1 the outermost1   
embracing all the rest1--the ,supreme   
,god himself1 ,footnote3 ,here crops out
 the ,pantheism--the non-detachment or  
semi-detachment of ,god from            
nature--which casts a penumbra around   
monotheism and the approaches to it1    
almost always1 except under ,hebrew and 
,christian auspices4 who governs and    

keeps in their places the other spheres4
 ,in this are fixed those stars which   
ever roll in an unchanging course4      
,beneath this are seven spheres which   
have a retrograde movement1 opposite to 
that of the heavens4 ,one of these is   
the domain of the star which on earth   
they call ,saturn4 ,next is the luminary
 which bears the name of ,jupiter1 of   
prosperous and healthful omen to the    
human race2 then1 the star of fiery red 
which you call ,mars1 and which men     
regard with terror4 ,beneath1 the ,sun  
holds nearly the midway space1          
,footnote3 ,the middle1 as the fifth of 
the nine spheres1 enclosed by four2 and 
enclosing four4 leader1 prince1 and     
ruler of the other lights1 the mind and 
regulating power of the universe1 so    
vast as to illuminate and flood all     
things with his light4 ,him1 as his     
companions1 ,venus and ,mercury follow  
on their different courses2 and in a    
sphere still lower the moon revolves1   
lighted by the rays of the sun4 ,beneath

 this there is nothing that is not      
mortal and perishable1 except the souls 
bestowed upon the human race by the gift
 of the gods4 ,above the moon all things
 are eternal4 ,the earth1 which is the  
central and ninth sphere1 has no motion1
 and is the lowest ,footnote3 ,the      
lowest because central1 and therefore   
farthest from the outermost or celestial
 sphere4 of all1 and all heavy bodies   
gravitate spontaneously toward it4  #e4 
,when ,i had recovered from my amazement
 at these things ,i asked1 ,what is this
 sound so strong and so sweet that fills
 my ears8 ,this1 he replied1 is the     
melody which1 at intervals unequal1 yet 
differing in exact proportions1 is made 
by the impulse and motion of the spheres
 themselves1 which1 softening shriller  
by deeper tones1 produce a diversity of 
regular harmonies4 ,nor can such vast   
movements be urged on in silence2 and by
 the order of nature the shriller notes 
sound from one extreme of the universe1 
the deeper from the other4 ,thus yonder 

supreme celestial sphere with its       
clustered stars1 as it revolves more    
rapidly1 moves with a shrill and quick  
strain2 this lower sphere of the moon   
sends forth deeper notes2 while the     
earth1 the ninth sphere1 remaining      
motionless1 ,footnote3 ,therefore       
without sound4 always stands fixed in   
the lowest place1 occupying the centre  
of the universe4 ,but these eight       
revolutions1 of which two1 those of     
,mercury and ,venus1 are in unison1 make
 seven distinct tones1 with measured    
intervals between1 and almost all things
 are arranged in sevens4 ,footnote3     
,latin1 qui numerus 7that is1 septem7   
rerum omnium fere nodus est4 ,literally1
 which number is the knot of almost     
everything4 ,the more intelligible form 
in which ,i have rendered these words   
seems to me to convey their true        
meaning1 and my belief to that effect is
 confirmed by reading what several      
commentators say about the passage4     
,skilled men1 copying this harmony with 

strings and voice1 have opened for      
themselves a way back to this place1 as 
have others who with excelling genius   
have cultivated divine sciences in human
 life4 ,but the ears of men are deafened
 by being filled with this melody2 nor  
is there in you mortals a duller sense  
than that of hearing4 ,as where the     
,nile at the ,falls of ,catadupa pours  
down from the loftiest mountains1 the   
people who live hard by lack the sense  
of hearing because of the loudness of   
the cataract1 so this harmony of the    
whole universe in its intensely rapid   
movement is so loud that men's ears     
cannot take it in1 even as you cannot   
look directly at the sun1 and the       
keenness and visual power of the eye are
 overwhelmed by its rays4 ,while ,i     
marvelled at these things1 ,i ever and  
anon cast my eyes again upon the earth4 
#f4 ,then ,africanus said3 ,i perceive  
that you are now fixing your eyes on the
 abode and home of men1 and if it seems 
to you small1 as it really is1 then look

 always at these heavenly things1 and   
despise those earthly4 ,for what        
reputation from the speech of men1 or   
what fame worth seeking1 can you obtain8
 ,you see that the inhabited places of  
the earth are scattered and of small    
extent1 that in the spots ,footnote3    
,latin1 maculis1--a figure so bold in   
,cicero's time as to need an apology for
 its use1 but now employed with no      
consciousness of its being otherwise    
than strictly literal4--so to           
speak--where men dwell there are vast   
solitary tracts interposed1 and that    
those who live on the earth are not only
 so separated that no communication can 
pass from place to place1 but stand1 in 
part at an oblique angle1 in part at a  
right angle with you1 in part even in an
 opposite direction2 ,footnote3 ,it     
hardly needs to be said1 that the       
reference here is to the convex surface 
of the earth1 on which those remote from
 one another may hold all the various   
angles to each other that are borne by  

the spokes of a wheel4 and from these   
you certainly can anticipate no fame4   
,you perceive also that this same earth 
is girded and surrounded by belts1 two  
of which--the farthest from each other1 
and each resting at one extremity on the
 very pole of the heavens--you see      
entirely frost-bound2 while the middle  
and largest of them burns under the     
sun's intensest heat4 ,two of them are  
habitable1 of which the southern1 whose 
inhabitants are your antipodes1 bears no
 relation to your people2 and see how   
small a part they occupy in this other  
northern zone1 in which you dwell4 ,for 
all of the earth with which you have any
 concern--narrow at the north and south1
 broader in its central portion--is a   
mere little island1 surrounded by that  
sea which you on earth call the         
,atlantic1 the ,great ,sea1 the ,ocean1 
while yet1 with such a name1 you see how
 small it is4 ,to speak only of these   
cultivated and well-known regions1 could
 your name even cross this ,caucasus    

which you have in view1 or swim beyond  
that ,ganges8 ,who1 in what other lands 
may lie in the extreme east or west1 or 
under northern or southern skies1 will  
ever hear your name8 ,all these cut off1
 you surely see within what narrow      
bounds your fame can seek to spread4    
,then1 too1 as regards the very persons 
who tell of your renown1 how long will  
they speak of it8  #g4 ,but even if     
successive generations should desire to 
transmit the praise of every one of us  
from father to son in unbroken          
succession1 yet because of devastations 
by flood and fire1 which will of        
necessity take place at a determined    
time1 we must fail of attaining not only
 eternal fame1 but even that of very    
long duration4 ,now of what concern is  
it that those who shall be born         
hereafter should speak of you1 when you 
were spoken of by none who were born    
before you1 who were not fewer1 and     
certainly were better men8--especially1 
too1 when among those who might hear our

 names there is not one that can retain 
the memories of a single year4 ,men1    
indeed1 ordinarily measure the year only
 by the return of the sun1 that is1 one 
star1 to its place2 but when all the    
stars1 after long intervals1 shall      
resume their original places in the     
heavens1 then that completed revolution 
may be truly called a year4 ,as of old  
the sun seemed to be eclipsed and       
blotted out when the soul of ,romulus   
entered these temples1 so when the sun  
shall be again eclipsed in the same part
 of his course1 and at the same period  
of the year and day1 with all the       
constellations and stars recalled to the
 point from which they started on their 
revolutions1 then count the year as     
brought to a close4 ,footnote3 ,the     
,stoics maintained that the visible     
universe would last through such a cycle
 as is here described1 which in their   
conjectural astronomy comprehended many 
thousands of years1 and then would be   
consumed by fire1 or somehow be reduced 

to chaos1 and a new universe take its   
place4 ,but be assured that the         
twentieth part of this year has not yet 
come round4  ,therefore1 should you     
renounce the hope of returning to this  
place in which are all things that great
 and excellent men can desire1 of what  
worth is that human glory which can     
scarcely extend to a small part of a    
single year8 ,if1 then1 you shall       
determine to look high up1 and to behold
 continuously this dwelling and eternal 
home1 you will neither give yourself to 
the flattery of the people1 nor place   
your hope of well-being on rewards that 
man can bestow4 ,let ,virtue herself by 
her own charms draw you to true honor4  
,what others may say of you1 regard as  
their concern1 not yours4 ,they will    
doubtless talk about you1 but all that  
they say is confined within the narrow  
limits of the regions which you now see2
 nor did such speech as to any one ever 
last on into eternity1--it is buried    
with those who die1 and lost in oblivion

 for those who may come afterward4  #h4 
,when he had spoken thus1 ,i said1 ,o   
,africanus1 if indeed for those who have
 deserved well of their country there   
is1 as it were1 an open road by which   
they may enter heaven1 though from      
boyhood treading in my father's steps   
and yours1 ,i have done no discredit to 
your fame1 ,i yet shall now strive to   
that end with a more watchful diligence4
 ,and he replied3 ,strive ,footnote3    
,or1 you will strive indeed4 indeed1 and
 bear this in mind1 that it is not you  
that are mortal1 but your body only4    
,nor is it you whom this outward form   
makes manifest2 but every man's mind is 
he1--not the bodily shape which can be  
pointed at by the finger4 ,know also    
that you are a god1 if he indeed is a   
god who lives1 who perceives1 who       
remembers1 who foresees1 who governs and
 restrains and moves the body over which
 he is made ruler even as the ,supreme  
,god holds the universe under his sway2 
and in truth as the eternal ,god himself

 moves the universe which is mortal in  
every part1 so does the everlasting soul
 move the corruptible body4  ,that1     
indeed1 which is in perpetual movement  
is eternal2 but that which1 while       
imparting motion to some other          
substance1 derives its own movement from
 some other source1 must of necessity   
cease to live when it ceases to move4   
,then that alone which is the cause of  
its own motion1 because it is never     
deserted by itself1 never has its       
movement suspended4 ,but for other      
substances that are moved this is the   
source1 the first cause1 ,footnote3     
,latin1 principium4 of movement4 ,but   
the first cause has no origin2 for all  
things spring from the first cause3     
itself1 from nothing4 ,that indeed would
 not be a first cause which derived its 
beginning from anything else2 and if it 
has no beginning1 it never ceases to be4
 ,for the first cause1 if extinct1 will 
neither itself be born again from aught 
else1 nor will it create aught else from

 itself1 if indeed all things must of   
necessity originate from the first      
cause4 ,thus it is that the first cause 
of motion is derived from that which is 
in its nature self-moving2 but this can 
neither be born nor die4 ,were it to    
die1 the whole heaven would of necessity
 collapse1 and all nature would stand   
still1 nor could it find any force which
 could be set in movement anew from a   
primitive impulse4 ,footnote3 ,from a   
first cause2 the first cause1 by        
hypothesis1 having ceased to be4  #i4   
,since1 then1 that which is the source  
of its own movement is manifestly       
eternal1 who is there that can deny that
 this nature has been given to the soul8
 ,for whatever is moved by external     
impulse is soulless2 ,footnote3 ,latin1 
inanimum4 but whatever has a soul       
,footnote3 ,latin1 animal4 ,my          
renderings of inanimum and animal here1 
if not justified by any parallel        
instances 7and ,i know not whether they 
are71 are required by the obvious       

meaning of the sentence4 is stirred to  
action by movement inward and its own2  
for this is the peculiar nature and     
virtue of the soul4 ,moreover1 if it is 
this alone of all things that is the    
source of its own movement1 it certainly
 did not begin to be1 and is eternal4   
,this soul ,i bid you to exercise in the
 best pursuits1 and the best are your   
cares for your country's safety1 by     
which if your soul be kept in constant  
action and exercise1 it will have the   
more rapid flight to this its abode and 
home4 ,this end it will attain the more 
readily1 if1 while it shall be shut up  
in the body1 it shall peer forth1 and1  
contemplating those things that are     
beyond1 abstract itself as far as       
possible from the body4 ,for the souls  
of those who have surrendered themselves
 to the pleasures of the body1 have     
yielded themselves to their service1    
and1 obeying them under the impulse of  
sensual lusts1 have transgressed the    
laws of gods and men1 when they pass out

 of their bodies are tossed to and fro  
around the earth1 nor return to this    
place till they have wandered in        
banishment for many ages4  ,he departed2
 ,i awoke from sleep4