Marcus Tullius Cicero, Tusculanae Disputationes [Tusculan Disputations]

Ingo Gildenhard (University of Cambridge)

Ed. by Sophia Papaioannou, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens
The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.1.2: Ancient Roman Writing and Culture (Republic and Empire), -750-476.
Vol. editors: Anca Dan (École Practique de Hautes Études PSL), Martine Diepenbroek (University of Johannesburg), William John Dominik (University of Otago), Giacomo Fedeli (University of Exeter), Victoria Fendel (University of Oxford), Thomas Habinek (University of Southern California), Emily Kneebone (University of Nottingham), Elodie Paillard (University of Sydney), Sophia Papaioannou (National and Kapodistrian University of Athens), Guendalina Daniela Maria Taietti (University of Liverpool), Jula Wildberger (American University of Paris)

Domains

Philosophy (any)

Dates

First circulation or publication 45

Places

Ancient Rome (Republic & Empire) (Country of Origin)

Genres and Modes

Treatise

Resources

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Recommended Reading

Cicero composed his

Tusculanae Disputationes

, usually translated and referred to as

Disputations at Tusculum

Tusculan Disputations

(or simply

Tusculans

) and abbreviated as

Tusc

. or

, in the late summer and early autumn of 45 (BCE). The five books of the dialogue purport to record five days of philosophical discussion at his country-villa in Tusculum, a city in the Alban mountains southwest of Rome, near today’s Frascati, that rich Romans used as a retreat from the capital. Each of the books is dedicated to a key theme in philosophical ethics: death, pain, distress, mental disturbances more generally, and virtue. While it is impossible to fix the dramatic date with precision – the only clue to go by is Cicero’s vague reference at

Tusc

. 1.7 to the “recent” (

nuper

) departure…

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1480 words

Citation: Gildenhard, Ingo. "Tusculanae Disputationes". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 25 February 2011 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=20500, accessed 21 November 2024.]

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