Tusculan Disputations

By: Marcus Tullius Cicero

Narrated by: Saethon Williams

The statesman, orator, and philosopher Marcus Tullius Cicero remains a writer whose influence has been felt for many centuries. Tusculan Disputations is his most wide-ranging philosophical work and was intended to introduce the Roman people to the pleasures and benefits of the study of philosophy.

In a series of stimulating dialogues, Tusculan Disputations examines some of the most fundamental questions of human life: the fear of death, the endurance of pain, the alleviation of sorrow, the various disorders of the soul, and the necessity of virtue for a happy life. These dialogues - accessible yet movingly profound - are perhaps even more relevant today than when they were first written.

This is the first complete translation of Tusculan Disputations to appear in English in nearly a hundred years. It uses a modern, vigorous idiom and a clear formatting of the dialogues to enhance understanding and readability. Translator Quintus Curtius, who has also translated Cicero's On Duties and On Moral Ends, has returned to the original Latin text to produce an edition that is accessible for the general listener, while rigorous enough for the serious student. It contains:

1. A detailed foreword and introduction
2. Summaries of the arguments of each book
3. More than 630 annotations that explain places, names, and nuances in the text
4. A comprehensive index
5. Modern formatting of the dialogues for ease of listening and comprehension

This new translation restores Cicero's classic to its proper place in the history of Western philosophy.

©2021 Quintus Curtius (P)2021 Quintus Curtius

An excellent translation and rendition

This is a terrific translation of Cicero to English. It gets the balance just right between erudite and accessible, and does a great job of sharing Cicero’s ideas with the listener. The narrator is superb: it sounds like how you would imagine Cicero would be portrayed in a Hollywood movie. He has great enunciation, inflection, and pacing.

The Tusculan Disputations themselves are very interesting. There are some parts that didn’t interest me where Cicero covers the flawed sciences of his time (the four elements etc.) but overall it is great to hear this wise man’s perspective on the topic of the soul, pain, and how to overcome the fear of dying.

Excellent Listen

If you are interested in Stocism or the various Roman philosophical schools of thought, this is a necessary listen. I would also approve of it for anyone interested in Roman history. I most enjoyed books IV & V, especially the segment about Dionysius of Syracuse. Masculine virtue is in a free fall; listen to this remarkable translation and expand your mind.

Educational but of limited value today

The book was about three times longer than it needed to be. It is an educational view of the philosophical disputes that were occurring at Cicero’s time. Much of what he recommends is based
on pre-scientific worldviews and old cultural biases. I did take away some gems of wisdom that I think will be helpful to me. The purpose of the book seems to have been Cicero’s own therapeutic need to speak about things which will give him comfort in his great grief and pain. It was an honorable way for him to do this.

A little of this goes a long way!

I loved the narrator. The five boma are all solid. I understand why this was such a popular choice for the founders. The ancient book was written on such a modern style. In other ways some of the author’s views will make a modern reader cringe

horribly distracting fake accent

I love Cicero, but the narrator completely ruins this classic. He reads with a blatantly fake "proper erudite" accent like he's reading lines for a kids movie, but its just distracting and laughable.