M. Tullii Ciceronis De Amicitia or Laelius

Cicero probably composed the De Amicitia in the fall of 44 BCE, a year before his death. It was part of a great outpouring of philosophical essays (Cato Maior, Divinationes, De Officiis) that occupied Cicero in the chaotic period following Caesar's murder. These writings seem to have provided a refuge for the elder statesman from the violence and immorality of his own time. Instead, Cicero chose to look back on noble leaders and Roman successes.

In the Laelius, Cicero reflects on the bond of friendship and its presence and stature in the natural universe. In doing so, he makes a place for himself in this tradition of greatness, for his father took him, at age 16, to the Augur Quintus Mucius Scaevola (157-88 BCE) to study law in 90 BCE. In the course of his instruction, the elder Scaevola narrated to the young Cicero the conversation he had with his father-in-law Laelius about friendship and Africanus Minor. Thus, the De Amicitia is as much a celebration of Laelius and Africanus as statesmen, orators, soldiers, and men of letters as it is of the human bond of friendship so highly esteemed by the Stoic philosophers.

The scene of the essay is set in 129 BCE, days after the unexplained death of Laelius' dear friend Scipio. Laelius is portrayed as fully experiencing the tragic loss but, as becomes a good philosopher, not distracted with grief. Encouraged by his sons-in-law, Gaius Fannius and Quintus Mucius Scaevola, Laelius instructs the young men in his conception of friendship and his attitude to his friend's death.

Find out more about Cicero's life and works, presented in the form of a cover letter and resume, by consulting Cicero's Curriculum Vitae.