12 h 51 minAudiobook14 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at cost
Audiobook edition · 12 h 51 minPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What do you owe others when doing right seems to stand in the way of getting ahead?
Rome is in turmoil after the murder of Julius Caesar. Pushed out of public life, Marcus Tullius Cicero turns to a question that reaches beyond politics: what does a good person owe to others? In On Duties, he addresses his son Marcus, who is studying philosophy in Athens, with advice on living and acting with integrity.
The argument moves through three parts: what is honourable, what is useful, and what to do when they seem to clash. Drawing on the Stoic thinker Panaetius, Roman history and his own career, Cicero tests the choices that shape public and private life. His central claim is demanding: true advantage never conflicts with honour.
What you’ll discover
- A reason for duty Explore Cicero’s view that duty means choosing actions reason can defend as fitting for human beings.
- Four sources of honour Consider what wisdom, justice, courage and self-control ask of you in daily life.
- Justice beyond yourself Examine the duty to avoid harm and serve the common good.
- Kindness with clear limits Think through why generosity needs judgment, rather than the impulse to give without care.
- When advantage looks tempting Follow Cicero’s argument that a wrongful choice can never be truly useful.
Who will love it
Readers who enjoy practical ethics, Roman history and the question of how to act well under pressure, and anyone who likes a wise teacher speaking straight to a young person.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- Duty reaches every part of life
- Reason turns human nature toward duty
- Justice requires action and good faith
- Generosity must also be just
- Courage serves justice rather than applause
- Self-control leaves room for individual character
- Trust supports power better than fear
- Real advantage cannot depend on wrongdoing
- Duty becomes a set of habits
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On Duties Cicero’s Ethical Teachings on Duty, Honour, and Virtue
A Roman statesman shut out of politics writes his son in Athens a guide to doing right when it costs something.
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In short
Imagine a statesman who has lost his city. The senate no longer meets, the courts are shut, and a man he fears hunts him.
On Duties Cicero’s Ethical Teachings on Duty, Honour, and Virtue at a glance
- Reading time
- About 8 h 10 min6 h 30 min fast, 9 h 45 min slow
- Length
- 117,000 words
- Library level
- Challenging long sentences, a rich vocabulary
- First published
- about 44 BCby Marcus Tullius Cicero
Reading time at 238 words a minute (fast 300, slow 200). How long the classics take to read · Updated
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
Cicero writes to his son as Rome falls
Cicero wrote On Duties near the end of his life, when the republic he had served was collapsing. Caesar had been killed, the senate no longer governed, and the courts stood closed. Cicero left Rome in 44 BC, afraid of Mark Antony. He could no longer speak in the forum, so he turned to writing.
The book is a letter to his son Marcus, a young man studying in Athens. Cicero urges him to join Greek learning with Latin. He says no part of life, public or private, is free of duty.
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- 15-minute summary
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Cite this edition
Marcus Tullius Cicero. On Duties Cicero’s Ethical Teachings on Duty, Honour, and Virtue. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/on-duties-ciceros-ethical-teachings-on-duty-honour-and-virtue.
Marcus Tullius Cicero. (2026). On duties Cicero’s ethical teachings on duty, honour, and virtue. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/on-duties-ciceros-ethical-teachings-on-duty-honour-and-virtue (Original work published ca. 44 B.C.E.)
Marcus Tullius Cicero. On Duties Cicero’s Ethical Teachings on Duty, Honour, and Virtue. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/on-duties-ciceros-ethical-teachings-on-duty-honour-and-virtue.
@book{cicero2026duties,
author = {Marcus Tullius Cicero},
title = {On Duties Cicero’s Ethical Teachings on Duty, Honour, and Virtue},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/on-duties-ciceros-ethical-teachings-on-duty-honour-and-virtue},
note = {First published ca. 44 BCE}
}
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What is On Duties about?
On Duties is Cicero's guide to right conduct, written as a letter to his son Marcus. It covers what is honourable, what is useful, and how to choose when they seem to clash, using Roman and Greek examples.
Who was Cicero writing On Duties for?
He wrote it for his son Marcus, who was studying philosophy in Athens under Cratippus. Cicero also meant it for Roman readers in general, giving them a practical ethics drawn from Greek thinkers.
What are the four virtues in On Duties?
Cicero names wisdom, justice, courage and self-control as the four sources of everything honourable. He ties each to its own set of duties, and he treats propriety, the fitting and graceful, as part of self-control.
The author
Marcus Tullius Cicero
106 BC–42 BC · Roman statesman, orator and philosopher
Roman statesman, lawyer, orator, and philosopher.
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