De Natura Deorum

De Natura Deorum belongs to the group of philosophical works which Cicero wrote in the two years preceding his death in 43 BC. He states near the beginning of De Natura Deorum that he wrote them both as a relief from the political inactivity to which he was reduced by the supremacy of Julius Caesar, and as a distraction from the grief caused by the death of his daughter Tullia. In the dialogue he appears as pontiff, but not as consul. For the content, Cicero borrowed largely from earlier Greek sources. and points raised by one speaker are sometimes not countered by subsequent speakers. ==Contents==

The dialogue is on the whole narrated by Cicero himself, though he does not play an active part in the discussion. Gaius Velleius represents the Epicurean school, Quintus Lucilius Balbus argues for the Stoics, and Gaius Cotta speaks for Cicero's own Academic Skepticism. The first book of the dialogue contains Cicero's introduction, Velleius' case for the Epicurean theology and Cotta's criticism of Epicureanism. Book II focuses on Balbus' explanation and defense of Stoic theology. Book III lays out Cotta's criticism of Balbus' claims. Cicero's conclusions are ambivalent and muted, "a strategy of civilized openness"; he does, however, conclude that Balbus' claims, in his mind, more nearly approximate the truth (3.95). Book 1 In Book 1 Cicero visits the house of Cotta the Pontifex Maximus, where he finds Cotta with Velleius, who is a Senator and Epicurean, and Balbus, who is a supporter of the Stoics. Cotta himself is an Academic Skeptic, and he informs Cicero that they were discoursing on the nature of the gods. Velleius had been stating the sentiments of Epicurus upon the subject. Velleius is requested to go on with his arguments after recapitulating what he had already said. Velleius raises the difficulty of supposing the creation of the universe to have taken place at a particular period of time, and questions the possible motive of a God in undertaking the work. Book 2 In Book 2, Balbus gives the Stoics' position on the subject of the gods. He finally discusses the creation of the world, the providence of the gods, and denies "that a world, so beautifully adorned, could be formed by chance, or by a fortuitous concourse of atoms." Book 3 In book 3 Cotta refutes the doctrines of Balbus. A large portion of this book, probably more than one third, has been lost. There follows a gap in the text, following which Cotta attacks the four causes of Cleanthes. Ten chapters (16–25) are devoted to a disproportionately lengthy discussion of mythology, with examples multiplied to an inordinate extent. There follows another major gap in the text, at the end of which Cotta is seen attacking the doctrine of providential care for humans. Cicero states "The conversation ended here, and we parted. Velleius judged that the arguments of Cotta were the truest, but those of Balbus seemed to me to have the greater probability." ==Influence==

The Christian writers Tertullian, Minucius Felix, Lactantius, and Augustine were acquainted with De Natura Deorum. This work, alongside De Officiis and De Divinatione, was highly influential on the philosophes of the 18th century. David Hume was familiar with the work and used it to style his own Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion. Voltaire described De Natura Deorum and the Tusculan Disputations as "the two most beautiful books ever produced by the wisdom of humanity". In 1811 a fourth book was 'discovered' and published by one 'P. Seraphinus' in Bologna. In this forgery Cicero asserts many points compatible with Christian and Catholic dogma, and even argues in favour of an authority equivalent to the Papacy. The real author might have been the protestant pastor and superintendent Hermann Heimart Cludius (1754-1835). ==Scholarship==

This text is an important source of Epicurean, Stoic, and Academic Skeptic views on religion and theology because it supplements the scant primary texts that remain on these topics. In particular, heated scholarly debate has focused on this text's discussion at 1.43–44 of how the Epicurean gods may be said to "exist"; David Sedley, for example, holds that Epicureans, as represented in this text and elsewhere, think that "gods are our own graphic idealization of the life to which we aspire", whereas David Konstan maintains that "the Epicurean gods are real, in the sense that they exist as atomic compounds and possess the properties that pertain to the concept, or prolēpsis, that people have of them." ==Quotations==

• There is in fact no subject upon which so much difference of opinion exists, not only among the unlearned but also among educated men; and the views entertained are so various and so discrepant, that, while it is no doubt a possible alternative that none of them is true, it is certainly impossible that more than one should be so. ('''') (I, 2) • We, on the contrary, make blessedness of life depend upon an untroubled mind, and exemption from all duties. (We think a happy life consists in tranquility of mind). ('''') (I, 53) • For time destroys the fictions of error and opinion, while it confirms the determinations of nature and of truth. ('''') (II, 2) • [It does not follow that], because not all the sick recover, medicine is a worthless science ('''') (II, 12) • Things perfected by nature are better than those finished by art. ('''') (II, 87) • Just as it is better to use no wine whatever in the treatment of the sick, because it is rarely beneficial and very often injurious, than to rush upon evident calamity in the hope of an uncertain recovery, so, I incline to think, it would have been better for the human race that that swift movement of thought, that keenness and shrewdness which we call reason, since it is destructive to many and profitable to very few, should not have been given at all, than that it should have been given so freely and abundantly. ('''') (III, 69) • There never was a great man unless through divine inspiration. ('''') (II, 167) == Text ==

Latin text • M. TVLLI CICERONIS DE NATVRA DEORVM AD M. BRVTVM LIBER PRIMVS • M. TVLLI CICERONIS DE NATVRA DEORVM AD M. BRVTVM LIBER SECVNDVS • M. TVLLI CICERONIS DE NATVRA DEORVM AD M. BRVTVM LIBER TERTIVS • De natura deorum, libri tres (vol. 1) (Cambridge, Univ. Press 1880–1885) • De natura deorum, libri tres (vol. 2) (Cambridge, Univ. Press 1880–1885) • De natura deorum, libri tres (vol. 3) (Cambridge, Univ. Press 1880–1885) Translations • De Natura Deorum, trans. Francis Brooks (London: Methuen, 1896) • De Natura Deorum; Academica, with an English translation by H. Rackham (1933) Loeb Classical Library. • Project Gutenberg: On the Nature of the Gods is contained in C. D. Yonge's literal translation of three philosophical works by Cicero, with notes and some quotes in Latin • On the Nature of the Gods – Public domain audiobook translated by Charles Duke Yonge (1894) • ==Citations==