On Friendship

De Amicitia by Marcus Tullius Cicero, translated by WA Falconer, 52 pages

Tully's De Amicitia ("On Friendship") takes the form of a dialogue between Gaius Laelius, a distinguished Roman statesman, and his two sons-in-law, one of whom is Quintus Mucius Scaevola, Cicero's own mentor and his supposed source.  Throughout, Laelius refers to his own recently deceased friend, Scipio Africanus, as the foremost model of friendship and virtue. 

For Cicero, friendship is a vital, necessary component of human life.  He follows Aristotle in declaring that the highest, most enduring form of friendship is that which is rooted in virtue.  The sharing of virtue not only grounds friendship on a foundation which can withstand the challenges of life, but reveals true friendship as a commingling of personalities, a communion of persons.