testament and masterpiece." Cicero urged his son Marcus to follow nature and wisdom, as well as politics, and warned against pleasure and indolence. Cicero's essay relies heavily on anecdotes, much more than his other works, and is written in a more leisurely and less formal style than his other writings, perhaps because he wrote it hastily. Like the satires of Juvenal, Cicero's De Officiis refers frequently to current events of his time. Contents The work discusses what is honorable (Book I), what is expedient or to one's advantage (Book II), and what to do when the honorable and expedient conflict (Book III). Cicero says they are the same and that they only appear to be in conflict. In Book III, Cicero expresses his own ideas. Book One The first book treats of what is honorable in itself. He shows in what true manner our duties are founded in honor and virtue. The four constituent parts of virtue are truth, justice, fortitude, and decorum, and our duties are founded in the right perception of these. 1-10 INTRODUCTION 1-3 Address to Marcus 4-6 Subject of discussion to be appropriate action; a qualified Stoicism to be followed 7-8 "Entirely" appropriate actions and "ordinarily" appropriate action 9-10 A fivefold division of the subject: (1) the honorable, consisting of the virtues, and (2) the possible conflict between the virtues; (3) the useful, and (4) the possible conflict between useful things, and (5) the possible conflict between the honorable and the useful 11-14 HUMAN NATURE 11 The needs of all living beings 11-14 Virtues specific to human beings 15-17 HONORABLENESS AS CONSISTING OF TWO KINDS OF VIRTUE 15-16 Wisdom and the contemplative life 17 The remaining three virtues and the political life 18-19 WISDOM 18-19 The virtues of wisdom 19 The contemplative and political lives revisited 20-60 JUSTICE 20-41 The virtue of justice 20-23 Definition of justice 23-30 Definition of injustice 31-32 The importance of circumstance and the limitations of precepts 33-40 Precepts of justice, especially among nations 41 The way of the fox and the lion 42-49 Beneficence, the companion of justice 43 Avoid injustice 44 Give according to one's own means 45-49 Give to each according to his worth 50-60 The limitation of justice and beneficence 50-55 The natural beginnings of human association and the nature of human affection 55-60 Conflicts of obligation between associations 61-92 MAGNANIMITY 61-69 Definition of magnanimity 69-73 Comparison between