The Tusculan Disputations of Cicero have long been disparaged as a minor work. Gildenhand (Latin literature and Roman culture, Durham University UK) disagrees, asserting that the fault is not
in Cicero but in his modern readers. This study takes the Tusculans apart and examines them minutely and is a houghtful rebuttal to conventional opinion. Gildenhand suggests looking at the
Tusculans as a reaction to Cicero's hatred of Julius Caesar and his fear of the complete disintegration of the Roman Senate. He traces Greek sources to show influences on Cicero and also
defends the use of the pedagogical form in that Cicero intended this to be used in teaching how to survive intellectually in a dictatorship. Annotation 穢2008 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR
(booknews.com)
