Cicero (on the Stoics) · 106–43 BCE
On Duties 3.108 — Cicero (on the Stoics)
Translation by Walter Miller (1913)
Cicero (on the Stoics), On Duties 3.108
For swearing to what is false is not necessarily perjury, but to take an oath "upon your conscience," as it is expressed in our legal formulas, and then fail to perform it, that is perjury. For Euripides aptly says: "My tongue has sworn; the mind I have has sworn no oath." But Regulus had no right to confound by perjury the terms and covenants of war made with an enemy. For the war was being carried on with a legitimate, declared enemy; and to regulate our dealings with such an enemy, we have our whole fetial code as well as many other laws that are binding in common between nations. Were this not the case, the senate would never have delivered up illustrious men of ours in chains to the enemy.
Cite this passage
Cicero (on the Stoics), On Duties 3.108, tr. Walter Miller (1913)
https://whatwouldstoicsdo.com/passage/on-duties/3.108
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 notesA sworn promise binds you even if you privately meant otherwise, and breaking it is a real wrong. But promises made to an enemy in a lawful war are still binding, so a trick or a mental reservation is no excuse for dodging them.
Older wording
- “perjury”
- — breaking a sworn oath or swearing falsely
- “fetial code”
- — the Roman rules for treaties and declaring war
Themes and situations
- Justice and fairness
- Virtue and character
- Duty and roles
- An ethical dilemma
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