Cicero (on the Stoics) · 106–43 BCE
On Duties 3.74 — Cicero (on the Stoics)
Translation by Walter Miller (1913)
Cicero (on the Stoics), On Duties 3.74
Be that as it may, Basilus had in fact desired that his nephew Marcus Satrius should bear his name and inherit his property. (I refer to the Satrius who is the present patron of Picenum and the Sabine country—and oh, what a shameful stigma it is upon the times!) And therefore it was not right that two of the leading citizens of Rome should take the estate and Satrius succeed to nothing except his uncle's name. For if he does wrong who does not ward off and repel injury when he can—as I explained in the course of the First Book—what is to be thought of the man who not only does not try to prevent wrong, but actually aids and abets it? For my part, I do not believe that even genuine legacies are moral, if they are sought after by designing flatteries and by attentions hypocritical rather than sincere. And yet in such cases there are times when one course is likely to appear expedient and another morally right.
Cite this passage
Cicero (on the Stoics), On Duties 3.74, tr. Walter Miller (1913)
https://whatwouldstoicsdo.com/passage/on-duties/3.74
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 notesTaking an inheritance that was meant for someone else is wrong, and it is already a wrong to fail to prevent injury when you could, let alone to profit from it. Even genuine inheritances are tainted if you chase them with flattery and insincere attention.
Older wording
- “aids and abets”
- — helps someone to commit a wrong
- “legacies”
- — gifts left in a will
- “designing”
- — scheming
Themes and situations
- Justice and fairness
- Virtue and character
- Wealth and poverty
- An ethical dilemma
- Money, status and wanting more
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