Originally curated by Harvard President Charles W. Eliot as a complete liberal education in fifty volumes, the Harvard Classics gathers philosophy, science, literature, and history into a single indispensable library. Plato's dialogues and Marcus Aurelius's meditations sit alongside Dante's Divine Comedy, Francis Bacon's essays, Charles Darwin's scientific writing, and Benjamin Franklin's autobiography, tracing the foundations of Western thought from ancient Greece to the modern age. Homer...

In the final, tumultuous years of the Roman Republic, Marcus Tullius Cicero gathered the finest minds of antiquity to debate the ultimate question of human existence: What is the true nature of the divine? The Nature of the Gods (De Natura Deorum) brings together three rival philosophical titans in an intellectual duel of breathtaking scope. Across a series of vibrant dialogues, the Epicureans present distant, serene deities who live in untroubled...

On the Commonwealth represents Cicero's first serious attempt to bring Greek theories of political life to the circumstances of the Roman Republic. While some passages have been lost or reduced to fragments, it remains an important work of political philosophy and essential reading for political science students.

In 'For Aulus Caecina,' Cicero masterfully navigates the complexities of Roman legal proceedings, employing a sophisticated rhetoric that intertwines personal appeal with legal argumentation. This oration, delivered in 69 BC, emerges within the broader context of Roman legal struggles and the political machinations of the late Republic. Cicero's eloquent prose not only serves his client, Aulus Caecina, but also reflects the intricacies of Roman society, morality, and the art of persuasion....

In "For Marcus Caelius," written in 56 BC, Marcus Tullius Cicero masterfully employs the art of rhetoric to defend his client, Caelius Rufus, against the charges of murder and is a striking example of Roman oratory. Cicero's work is characterized by its eloquent prose and employs a blend of emotional appeal and logical argumentation, well-studied in the context of Roman legal practices and the political environment of late Republic Rome. The defense highlights not only the case at hand but...

This volume contains an English translation of “The Tusculanae Disputations”, a five-book series written around 45 BC by Cicero, a Roman orator, statesman, philosopher and lawyer considered to be one of Rome's greatest orators and prose stylists. The books were originally written as an attempt to introduce Greek philosophy to Ancient Rome, especially stoicism. This volume will appeal to those with an interest in Greek philosophy, and it would make for a fantastic addition to collections of...

Cicero's letters to and from various public and private figures are considered some of the most reliable sources of information for the people and events surrounding the fall of the Roman Republic. This is volume four out of four with Cicero's letters from the years B.C. 44 (continued) and B.C. 43.

Cicero is considered one of Rome's greatest orators and prose stylists. His works rank among the most influential in European culture, and today still constitute one of the most important bodies of primary material for the writing and revision of Roman history. This is volume one out of four with his brilliant orations.

Cicero is considered one of Rome's greatest orators and prose stylists. His works rank among the most influential in European culture, and today still constitute one of the most important bodies of primary material for the writing and revision of Roman history. This is volume four out of four with his brilliant orations.

Cicero is considered one of Rome's greatest orators and prose stylists. His works rank among the most influential in European culture, and today still constitute one of the most important bodies of primary material for the writing and revision of Roman history. This is volume three out of four with his brilliant orations.

As a companion work to the Republic, Cicero wrote the 'Treatise on the Laws', De Legibus, which was almost certainly not published in Cicero's lifetime, and possibly had not received the last touches when he died. There are three books extant, with gaps in them; but a fifth book is quoted. While the Republic describes the ideal state, the Laws discusses its statutes, so that the later work sometimes repeats the thought of the former. Thus the first book of the Laws lays as a foundation for...

Cicero's letters to and from various public and private figures are considered some of the most reliable sources of information for the people and events surrounding the fall of the Roman Republic. This is volume three out of four with Cicero's letters from the years B.C. 48 through B.C. 44.