Cicero (on the Stoics) · 106–43 BCE
On Duties 1.57 — Cicero (on the Stoics)
Translation by Walter Miller (1913)
Cicero (on the Stoics), On Duties 1.57
But when with a rational spirit you have surveyed the whole field, there is no social relation among them all more close, none more dear than that which links each one of us with our country. Parents are dear; dear are children, relatives, friends; but one native land embraces all our loves; and who that is true would hesitate to give his life for her, if by his death he could render her a service? So much the more execrable are those monsters who have torn their fatherland to pieces with every form of outrage and who are and have been engaged in compassing her utter destruction.
Cite this passage
Cicero (on the Stoics), On Duties 1.57, tr. Walter Miller (1913)
https://whatwouldstoicsdo.com/passage/on-duties/1.57
Cicero, On Duties (De Officiis), tr. Walter Miller (Loeb, 1913). Text: Perseus Digital Library (CC BY-SA 4.0). Sources and licences
In plain English
AI-written notesOf all human bonds, none is closer or dearer than the tie to one's country, which holds all our other loves, and a loyal person would give up their life for it if that served it. Those who tear their homeland apart are monsters.
Older wording
- “execrable”
- — utterly detestable
- “compassing”
- — bringing about
Themes and situations
- Community and our duty to others
- Duty and roles
- Courage
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