On Obligations De Officiis (Oxford World's Classics) - Softcover

Cicero

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0199540713 ISBN 13: 9780199540716

Publisher: OUP Oxford, 2008

Synopsis

On Obligations (De officiis) was written by Cicero in late 44 BC after the assassination of Julius Caesar to provide principles of behaviour for aspiring politicians. It explores the apparent tensions between honourable conduct and expediency in public life, and the right and wrong ways of attaining political leadership. The principles of honourable behaviour are based on the Stoic virtues of wisdom, justice, magnanimity, and propriety; in Cicero's view the intrinsically useful is always identical with the honourable.

Cicero's famous treatise has played a seminal role in the formation of ethical values in western Christendom. Adopted by the fourth-century Christian humanists, it beame transmuted into the moral code of the high Middle Ages. Thereafter, in the Renaissance from the time of Petrarch, and in the Age of Enlightenment that followed, it was given central prominence in discussion of the government of states. Today, when corruption and conflict in political life are the focus of so much public attention, On Obligations is still the foremost guide to good conduct.
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About this title

Review:

The present translation of Cicero's De Officiis or On Obligations maintains the high standards set by this series as a whole and by Walsh's translations in particular. (LATOMUS)

... attention to the nuances of Cicero's language is evident throughout Walsh's translation, making it both very readable and trustworthy. Walsh's book manages to satisfy a number of tastes and interests and at a variety of levels. It is well-suited for classroom use, but those with scholarly interests in the De Officiis will find this version to be a rich resource that should remain the standard English translation for some time to come. (LATOMUS)

Walsh's translation is excellent; and there is much to praise in the accompanying material as well (Greece & Rome)

About the Author:

P. G. Walsh has translated four previous classical works for OWC: Apuleius, The Golden Ass; Petronius, Satyricon; Boethius, The Consolation of Philosophy; and Cicero, The Nature of the Gods

About this edition

• Publisher: OUP Oxford
• Publication date: 2008
• ISBN 10: 0199540713
• ISBN 13: 9780199540716
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 288