On The Nature Of The Gods

This new, original translation of Cicero's On the Nature of the Gods is the first to appear in many years. Do the gods exist? Is there a divine order to the universe? And if there is, what is humanity's role in this grand conception? Does a divine power care about human affairs? These are just a few of the profound questions discussed in Cicero's philosophical masterpiece.

In dialogues that showcase the differing perspectives of the Stoic, Epicurean, and Academic schools, Cicero delves into a stunning variety of subjects, including human anatomy, theology, cosmology, astronomy, biology, and divination. The persistent themes of Cicero's vision are his insistence on a moral basis for human conduct, the existence of free will and human agency, and his soaring faith in the unique role reserved for the human race in the universe's destiny. It is no wonder that Voltaire called On the Nature of the Gods, along with Cicero's Tusculan Disputations, "[the] two most beautiful works ever composed by human wisdom."

Translator Quintus Curtius has returned to the original Latin text to produce a fresh, modern, illustrated English edition that breathes new life into a long-neglected classic of Western thought. The text is extensively annotated, and formatted using modern dialogue conventions for ease of reading. Also included are an explanatory introduction, topical content list, and a comprehensive index. Cicero's seminal work has much to tell us today, and with this translation has never been more accessible to the modern reader.