Philosophy after Caesar

This chapter examines the transformation in Cicero’s philosophical project following the change in his political circumstances after the death of Julius Caesar. It begins with a reading of the preface to book two of De Divinatione , Cicero’s first public reflection on the state of the project at the time of Caesar’s death. It then considers the treatises that followed, arguing for a gradually evolving new direction, along with the trajectory in Cicero’s choices of dedicatees that sheds further light into the evolution of his thinking about the place of philosophy in his overall plans. It concludes with a reading of the prefaces to the three books of the De Officiis . Whereas De Oratore and De Re Publica are dedicated to Quintus, De Officiis is dedicated to Marcus the Younger.

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