Cicero (on the Stoics) · 106–43 BCE
On Duties 2.25 — Cicero (on the Stoics)
Translation by Walter Miller (1913)
Cicero (on the Stoics), On Duties 2.25
What, for instance, shall we think of the elder Dionysius? With what tormenting fears he used to be racked! For through fear of the barber's razor he used to have his hair singed off with a glowing coal. In what state of mind do we fancy Alexander of Pherae lived? We read in history that he dearly loved his wife Thebe; and yet, whenever he went from the banquet-hall to her in her chamber, he used to order a barbarian—one, too, tattooed like a Thracian, as the records state—to go before him with a drawn sword; and he used to send ahead some of his bodyguard to pry into the lady's caskets and to search and see whether some weapon were not concealed in her wardrobe. Unhappy man! To think a barbarian, a branded slave, more faithful than his own wife! Nor was he mistaken. For he was murdered by her own hand, because she suspected him of infidelity. And indeed no power is strong enough to be lasting, if it labours under the weight of fear.
Cite this passage
Cicero (on the Stoics), On Duties 2.25, tr. Walter Miller (1913)
https://whatwouldstoicsdo.com/passage/on-duties/2.25
Cicero, On Duties (De Officiis), tr. Walter Miller (Loeb, 1913). Text: Perseus Digital Library (CC BY-SA 4.0). Sources and licences
In plain English
AI-written notesTyrants like Dionysius and Alexander of Pherae lived in constant terror, even of their barbers and their own wives. Ruling by fear leaves the ruler the most frightened person of all, and no power weighed down by fear can last.
Older wording
- “singed”
- — burned lightly on the surface
- “caskets”
- — small boxes for valuables
- “infidelity”
- — unfaithfulness to a spouse
Themes and situations
- Fear and anxiety
- Leadership and power
- Kindness and forgiveness
- Leading others
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