Cicero (on the Stoics) · 106–43 BCE
On Duties 2.79 — Cicero (on the Stoics)
Translation by Walter Miller (1913)
Cicero (on the Stoics), On Duties 2.79
And yet, when it comes to measures so ruinous to public welfare, they do not gain even that popularity which they anticipate. For he who has been robbed of his property is their enemy; he to whom it has been turned over actually pretends that he had no wish to take it; and most of all, when his debts are cancelled, the debtor conceals his joy, for fear that he may be thought to have been insolvent; whereas the victim of the wrong both remembers it and shows his resentment openly. Thus even though they to whom property has been wrongfully awarded be more in number than they from whom it has been unjustly taken, they do not for that reason have more influence; for in such matters influence is measured not by numbers but by weight. And how is it fair that a man who never had any property should take possession of lands that had been occupied for many years or even generations, and that he who had them before should lose possession of them?
Cite this passage
Cicero (on the Stoics), On Duties 2.79, tr. Walter Miller (1913)
https://whatwouldstoicsdo.com/passage/on-duties/2.79
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 notesUnfair redistribution does not even buy popularity: the person robbed becomes an enemy, the recipient pretends not to have wanted the gain, and the debtor whose debt is wiped hides his joy while the victim openly resents it. Influence is measured by weight, not numbers, and fairness does not let someone take what others have long held.
Older wording
- “insolvent”
- — unable to pay one's debts
Themes and situations
- Justice and fairness
- Leadership and power
- Reputation and others' opinions
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