The Treatises of Cicero

By Cicero

Published in 1853

Reference #0826

Cicero’s Treatises, originally translated into English in 1841 by Francis Barham, Esq. (1808-71), was published in 1853. Barham translated texts from both Cicero and Socrates in the 1840s. In the context of the decade’s popular revolutions (in France, Germany, Poland, etc.), scholars had a renewed interest in civic republicanism and political oratory, both of which Cicero well embodied.

Included in these treatises are Cicero’s Of the Nature of the Gods, On Divination, On the Commonwealth, On the Laws, On the Republic, and On Standing for the Consulship. The last of which was the first English translation of that particular treatise. Cicero defines his image of the Roman Republic through morals, subordination, and justice. He takes a practical approach to political rhetoric, seeking to convince his fellow citizens to practice personal morality in order to preserve the state.

Works By Cicero