Laelius de amicitia

Laelius de amicitia is a work by the Roman lawyer, politician, writer and philosopher Marcus Tullius Cicero, which was probably written in the autumn of 44 BC, Cicero's friend Titus Pomponius Atticus is dedicated. The work is written and discussed, as indicated in the title, the friendship in dialogue form. Sources Cicero could include works by Panaetius of Rhodes and Aristotle ( Nicomachean Ethics ) have served.

The dialogue takes place in the year 129 BC, shortly after the death of Scipio Aemilianus. Quintus Mucius Scaevola main characters are and Gaius Gaius Laelius Fannius and from which the dialog got its name.

The main part of the dialog is divided opinion about the friendship, the essence of friendship and regulations in friendship by a speech invitation of Fannius in the three subject areas.

Important topics in the work:

  • The value of friendship,
  • The essence of friendship
  • And the distinction between a friendship between sages and ordinary friendships.

Text editions, translations and commentary

  • Karl Simbeck (ed.): Cato maior. Laelius, Teubner, Leipzig, 1917. (Text Critical Edition )
  • Karl August Neuhausen: M. Tullius Cicero, Laelius. Introduction and Commentary, Winter, Heidelberg 1981/82.
  • Cicero: Laelius. About friendship, translation, annotations and afterword by Robert Feger, Reclam, Stuttgart, 1986. ISBN 3-15-000868-9
  • Cicero: Cato the Elder about age. Laelius on friendship, Latin- German, ed. by Max Faltner, Artemis & Winkler, Dusseldorf ³ 1999.
  • Jonathan G. F. Powell ( ed.): M. Tvlli Ciceronis De re PVBLICA. De legibvs. Cato maior de senectvte. Laelivs de amicitia, Clarendon, Oxford, 2006. (Text Critical Edition )
  • Martin Biastoch: Cicero, Laelius de amicitia, Klett, Stuttgart 2012, ISBN 3-12-623166-7.
Quintus Mucius Scaevola (Augur) Gaius Laelius Sapiens De officiis Integrated Authority File
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