{"product_id":"on-duties","title":"On Duties","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eON DUTIES\u003c\/em\u003e deserves more attention than it gets, and it rewards the attention it receives, because it deals with the question of the well-lived life in a clear, thoughtful, accessible, and compelling manner. Cicero believed \u003cem\u003eOn Duties\u003c\/em\u003e to be his magnum opus, and much of history has agreed with him on this. Of O\u003cem\u003en Duties\u003c\/em\u003e, the French philosopher Voltaire wrote: \"No one will ever write anything more wise, more true, or more useful.\" And Martin Luther, in his Table Talk says this of Cicero: \"Let those who wish to see a true philosophy read Cicero. Cicero was a wise and industrious man, and he suffered much and accomplished much.\"\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eOn Duties \u003c\/em\u003ewas the second book to be printed by Gutenberg's press. Parts of it served as inspiration for Dante Alighieri's \u003cem\u003eDivine Comedy\u003c\/em\u003e. St. Ambrose was so enamored with the work that he wrote his \u003cem\u003eOn the Duties of the Clergy\u003c\/em\u003e with Cicero's\u003cem\u003e On Duties\u003c\/em\u003e as the model, and refers to it throughout his own book.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe three books that make up \u003cem\u003eOn Duties \u003c\/em\u003eare full of historical examples which are worth their weight in gold. They, like Homeric similes, are marvelous windows into an age that is not described in any ancient texts since the audience of the texts are written to people who shared the age and therefore needed no descriptions. But they also give us Cicero's own culturally conservative interpretations of the events of his time, and this is very valuable indeed.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Roman Roads Media","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51969117389031,"sku":"9781944482114","price":12.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0449\/4075\/5096\/files\/imageloader_5f3aca25-0cdb-4669-b282-70c31af10770.jpg?v=1775863426","url":"https:\/\/arvidabookco.com\/products\/on-duties","provider":"Arvida Book Co.","version":"1.0","type":"link"}