Category: According To Cicero Series

3 Unpopular (But Likely Correct) Opinions According to Cicero

9/7/2023

It's time for this year's iteration of the According to Cicero series. I've been writing these posts since 2016, and they are a lot of fun, as they allow me to explore ancient Roman history, culture, philosophy, and how Cicero's ideas can be applied today.

Cicero has garnered renewed attention in recent years. He was a Roman Senator whose writings, as Historian Edward Gibbon put it, “breathed the spirit of freedom.” Particularly influential was his idea of natural law, followed by John Locke and other enlightenment thinkers: Human nature included reason, which could discover justice, which was the basis of law. Voltaire said “He taught us how to think.”

This month's post will focus on 3 of Cicero's opinions that may be unpopular, but are likely quite correct. Read on to find out what they are:

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How to Win a Debate: 5 Pieces of Advice According to Cicero

8/23/2022

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Greetings readers! It's time for this year's iteration of the popular According to Cicero series. This month's post details Cicero's thoughts on winning an argument. Cicero himself was one of Rome’s most gifted orators, and like other educated Romans, he was skilled at rhetoric in a society in which verbal persuasion was especially critical to daily life.

If you want to learn more about Cicero's advice on debating, I suggest How To Win An Argument - a collection of Cicero’s writing on argumentation and oratory. The book details his advice on persuasive speaking, building arguments, convincing audiences, and winning debates. The book, while recommended, is only a selection of Cicero’s writing, so I also suggest the original texts.

This post succinctly highlights 5 of Cicero's most important pieces of advice on debate and rhetoric:

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The 7 Rules of Good Conversation According to Cicero

10/31/2021

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It has been far too long since I published a new post in the popular According to Cicero series. Life got complicated and other topics seemed more pressing.

Wait no longer my friends! This month's post focuses on Cicero’s rules for good conversation which are still quite helpful to us in our modern lives. In de Officiis (On Duty), written in 44 B.C. E., Cicero wrote “There are rules for oratory laid down by rhetoricians; there are none for conversation; and yet I do not know why there should not be.” To remedy this situation, Cicero elaborated on 7 rules that he believed should govern good conversation:

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The 6 Mistakes of Man According to Cicero

9/30/2019

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One of the many interesting things attributed to the Roman statesman Cicero is a fragment called "The Six Mistakes of Man." It isn't entirely clear whether he actually wrote it, but since I'm a fan of all things Ciceronian, I thought it would nonetheless make for an interesting blog post in my According to Cicero series.

Studying the Six Mistakes is a good idea since regardless of authorship, they are perennially applicable. Life can be so much easier of we don't sabotage ourselves with unnecessary errors!

According to Cicero the six mistakes that people seem to keep making throughout history are:

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5 Things That You Need To Be Happy According to Cicero

2/20/2018

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What do we really need to be happy? According to Roman philosopher and statesman Cicero, not very much.

In a letter Cicero wrote while trying to arrange a visit with his new friend, fellow scholar Marcus Terentius Varro, he states: "If you have a garden in your library, we will want for nothing."[1]

Cicero and Varro were rich. Both owned various estates across Italy. He could have asked for, and expected, all of the luxuries common to his class - silk sheets, scented oils, the finest food and wine. Why did Cicero place such high importance on the garden and the library then? What is truly necessary for us to flourish in life?

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How To Be a Badass According to Cicero

7/27/2017

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I'm often impressed by the fortitude displayed by some of the philosophers and statesmen of the Classical world. Socrates, Musonius Rufus, Seneca, Cato, and many others faced incredible challenges. The magnitude of the events they experienced – war, imprisonment, exile, the untimely death of loved ones, political assassination and so forth, make most of my problems seem inconsequential.

The Roman statesman Cicero is no exception. Cicero is remembered more for having been a great orator, interpreter of Greek philosophy, and a philosopher in his own right, rather than an as iron-willed sage or near sage like the Stoic Cato the younger. Yet Cicero seems to have been tough enough in the face of hardship. He was exiled, betrayed by his longtime wife, endured the sudden untimely death of his favorite daughter, and was eventually assassinated on account of his support for the Republic and opposition to Caesar and Mark Anthony.

Cicero was named an enemy of the state, yet he enjoyed popular support and was hidden from his persecutors for a time. When they finally caught up with him, he is reported to have said, “There is nothing proper about what you are doing, soldier, but do try to kill me properly.” He bowed to his captors, leaning his head out in a gladiatorial gesture indicating that he wouldn't resist.[1]

That sounds pretty tough to me. Cicero tried to subordinate the intellectual or theoretical exercise of philosophy to a life of virtuous practice.[2] He was an unceasing supporter of the Republic and fearless when faced with his own death. It is on this basis – considering the example Cicero set by his actions – that we might learn something about being mentally strong from his eclectic philosophy. Here are 5 great pieces of advice on fortitude from Cicero's mouth:

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5 Signs You Lack Gratitude According to Cicero

1/19/2017

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Marcus Tullius Cicero was a Roman philosopher, politician, lawyer, orator, political theorist, and constitutionalist. Cicero tried to lead by the example of his life, and by many accounts he was ethical, moderate, and constantly strove to better himself and gain knowledge. One of his more famous quotations comes from Pro Planico, a legal defense he mounted for a friend, in which he states:

"In truth, O judges, while I wish to be adorned with every virtue, yet there is nothing which I can esteem more highly than the being and appearing grateful. For this one virtue is not only the greatest, but is also the parent of all the other virtues."[1]

What does Cicero mean here when he says that gratitude is the parent of all other virtues? In the past, I have written about how having a grateful attitude can make you happier. Gratitude most certainly is a feeling of happiness or appreciation about benefits which you enjoy. But I doubt that Cicero saw gratitude as "only a stepping stone to personal happiness," to quote psychologist Robert Emmons.

In Pro Planico, Cicero sites the specific virtues arising from the positive feeling of gratitude, such as showing affection for one's parents, reverence, appreciation of friends, acts of kindness, and so forth. Gratitude often inspires us to do good things; this likely is what Cicero meant when he said that gratitude is the parent of all other virtues. Really it is fair to say that gratitude is both a happy feeling, and a behavior common to those of high moral standards. On the other hand, you are probably ungrateful if you do these 5 things:

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5 Signs You Lack Maturity According To Cicero

7/22/2016

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Marcus Tullius Cicero was a Roman philosopher, politician, lawyer, orator, political theorist, and constitutionalist.

Cicero lead by the example of his life, and by all accounts he was ethical, moderate, and constantly strove to better himself and gain knowledge. Like other Romans, he believed that we all have a duty to society, and he took his personal and civic responsibilities seriously.

Consequently he set a great example of maturity and personal growth, and his advice is worth taking seriously today. I have gathered some of his best quotes into the post below. You can be sure that regardless of your age, you lack maturity if you do these 5 things:

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