Cicero (on the Stoics) · 106–43 BCE
On Duties 3.41 — Cicero (on the Stoics)
Translation by Walter Miller (1913)
Cicero (on the Stoics), On Duties 3.41
it was the specious appearance of expediency that actuated him; and when he decided that it was more expedient for him to reign alone than to share the throne with another, he slew his brother. He threw to the winds his brotherly affection and his human feelings, to secure what seemed to him—but was not—expedient; and yet in defence of his deed he offered the excuse about his wall—a specious show of moral rectitude, neither reasonable nor adequate at all. He committed a crime, therefore, with due respect to him let me say so, be he Quirinus or Romulus.
Cite this passage
Cicero (on the Stoics), On Duties 3.41, tr. Walter Miller (1913)
https://whatwouldstoicsdo.com/passage/on-duties/3.41
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 notesRomulus killed his brother because he mistakenly believed ruling alone was more advantageous, throwing away family affection for a gain that was not real and covering it with a thin excuse about the wall. The story shows how the look of advantage can drive a person to a crime.
Older wording
- “specious”
- — misleadingly plausible
- “actuated”
- — moved or motivated
Themes and situations
- Justice and fairness
- Family and love
- Ambition and success
- Virtue and character
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