Cicero (on the Stoics) · 106–43 BCE
On Duties 3.32 — Cicero (on the Stoics)
Translation by Walter Miller (1913)
Cicero (on the Stoics), On Duties 3.32
As for the case of Phalaris, a decision is quite simple: we have no ties of fellowship with a tyrant, but rather the bitterest feud; and it is not opposed to Nature to rob, if one can, a man whom it is morally right to kill;—nay, all that pestilent and abominable race should be exterminated from human society. And this may be done by proper measures; for, as certain members are amputated, if they show signs themselves of being bloodless and virtually lifeless and thus jeopardize the health of the other parts of the body, so those fierce and savage monsters in human form should be cut off from what may be called the common body of humanity. Of this sort are all those problems in which we have to determine what moral duty is, as it varies with varying circumstances.
Cite this passage
Cicero (on the Stoics), On Duties 3.32, tr. Walter Miller (1913)
https://whatwouldstoicsdo.com/passage/on-duties/3.32
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 notesSettles the Phalaris test case by arguing that no bond of fellowship exists with a tyrant, so it is not against nature to take from one whom it is right to kill, and such rulers should be removed from society like diseased limbs. The language is harsh, and the argument applies only to extreme tyranny.
Older wording
- “pestilent”
- — harmful or plague-like
- “abominable”
- — detestable
Themes and situations
- Justice and fairness
- Community and our duty to others
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