# Boni Gone Bad: Cicero’s Critique of Epicureanism in De Finibus I and II

Michelle T. Clarke. Journal article, 2023.
Polis: The Journal for Ancient Greek and Roman Political Thought 40, no. 1 (2023): 25–43.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1163/20512996-12340389
Author's site: https://michelletclarke.com/

## Summary

Argues that Cicero’s attack on Epicureanism in De Finibus 1 and 2 is aimed at Roman aristocrats, like the dialogue’s spokesman Lucius Torquatus, who believed Epicurean ethics could coexist with traditional Roman virtue. Cicero answers that treating virtue as a means to pleasure corrupts it: Epicureanism reduces politics to utility and borrows the language of honor while emptying it, so that it lacks decorum, the virtue needed to elevate civic life, much as Stoicism lacks the moderation needed to build consensus.

## Topics

- Cicero
- Epicureanism
- Stoicism
- Decorum
- Virtue
- Roman aristocracy

## How to cite

Clarke, Michelle T. “Boni Gone Bad: Cicero’s Critique of Epicureanism in De Finibus I and II.” *Polis: The Journal for Ancient Greek and Roman Political Thought* 40, no. 1 (2023): 25–43. https://doi.org/10.1163/20512996-12340389.

```bibtex
@article{clarke2023boni,
  author    = {Clarke, Michelle T.},
  title     = {{Boni Gone Bad: Cicero's Critique of Epicureanism in \emph{De Finibus} I and II}},
  year      = {2023},
  journal   = {Polis: The Journal for Ancient Greek and Roman Political Thought},
  volume    = {40},
  number    = {1},
  pages     = {25--43},
  doi       = {10.1163/20512996-12340389},
  url       = {https://doi.org/10.1163/20512996-12340389}
}
```

## Related work by the author

- Liberty, the People, and Republican Constitutionalism in Cicero’s Pro Rabirio perduellionis reo (Polis: The Journal for Ancient Greek and Roman Political Thought, 2025): https://michelletclarke.com/articles/cicero-pro-rabirio-liberty.md
- Curing Virtue: Epicureanism and Erotic Fantasy in Machiavelli’s Mandragola (Political Theory, 2022): https://michelletclarke.com/articles/machiavelli-mandragola-curing-virtue.md
- Style Is the Man Himself: Eloquence and the Revival of Roman Virtue in Renaissance Humanism (The Good Society, 2022): https://michelletclarke.com/articles/style-is-the-man-himself-humanism.md