Cicero was a preeminent Roman statesman, orator, and philosopher who introduced philosophy into Rome, and through Rome, into Christendom and the modern world. Benjamin Patrick Newton is Assistant Professor of Political Science and Coordinator of the Legal Studies Program at Tarleton State University.
Benjamin Patrick Newton's translation of On Duties is fluent and clear, and Newton is careful to explain and to elucidate textual, interpretative, and philosophical issues presented by the text. Newton does a very good job in accomplishing his primary aim: namely, to give the reader a true and faithful rendering of the original in a modern style that is at once readable and contemporary. The translation ably captures the sense of Cicero's language as well as the meaning of his ideas and arguments. Newton's introduction situates Cicero's life and work within his historical context, relating his ideas to the past and to various contemporary schools of thought. -Benedetto Fontana, Baruch College and the Graduate Center of CUNY, author of Hegemony and Power: On the Relation between Gramsci and Machiavelli