Cicero's 'De Finibus' as political oratory

The rich treasure of Hellenistic Philosophy, undeniably present in De Finibus, was compiled and marshalled by Cicero to suit what he believed were Rome's pressing needs. Most evident is Cicero's attempt to make abstruse philosophic truth readily available to the Roman public. He tried to make the necessity of rejecting Epicurus' doctrine of pleasure a proposition evident to common sense. As Cicero presents it, Epicurean pleasure leads inevitably to vice and social breakdown. Virtue, on the other hand, leads to happiness and the only viable form of friendship. In a manner most persuasive to the common Roman, Cicero displays that Epicurean pleasure is completely incompatible with virtue.;Less evident is Cicero's application of this philosophic lesson to contemporary Roman political conditions. As he carefully constructs a hypothetical Epicurean, logically and consistently living out the consequences of the pursuit of pleasure, he not only describes an abhorrent monster, but shapes the monster to look amazingly like Caesar. When we recall that classical philosophy commonly finds the principle of tyranny to be pleasure, while the principle of Kingship, or constitutional rule is virtue, then we see that Cicero's devastating attack on pleasure in De Finibus does double duty. This attack not only serves to defeat Epicurus in philosophic argument, but it also serves to undermine Caesar's hold on Rome.;Finally, this political message, entirely consistent with its philosophic cover, is directed to Brutus. Not only is the work dedicated to him, but the introduction seems skillfully crafted to secure Brutus' careful attention. Parts of Cicero's frequent personal appeals to the interlocutor Torquatus, who died in the civil war long before De Finibus was written, also seem to double as direct personal appeals to Brutus. De Finibus is discovered to be a principled attack on tyranny, and a call for noble Romans, in their pursuit of virtue, to rid Rome of Caesar.