Cicero: On Obligations (De Officiis) - Tapa dura

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)

On Obligations, composed by Cicero in late 44 BC following the assassination of Julius Caesar, recommends ideals of conduct to the young Roman who aspires to a political career. It explores the apparent tensions between honourable conduct and expediency in public life. The principles of honourable behaviour are based on the Stoic virtues of wisdom, justice, magnanimity, and propriety. The analysis of expediency explores the right and the wrong ways of attaining political leadership, and Cicero's conclusion is that the intrinsically useful is always identical with the honourable. This treatise has played a seminal role in the formation of ethical values in western Christendom. It was adopted by the fourth-century Christian humanists, notably Ambrose, and became 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. On Obligations is of perennial concern in the establishment of basic principles of political and social life.