Aimed at advanced school students, this classic collection - first published in 1964 - contains forty passages, coherent in themselves, illustrating Cicero's thinking on government, religion, law and ethics. This book fills a gap, as most students are only familiar with Cicero's speeches and letters, knowing little of his philosophical works, through which many of our ideas of civilisation have come down to us. The introduction gives the essential background, including a brief outline of Greek philosophy. There are practical notes on the texts, observations on Cicero's style and a select vocabulary.