A LITTLE BOOK OF FRIENDSHIP ON FRIENDSHIP While Cicero was not the first person to treat of friendshipHomer had told of the noble friendship between Achilles and Patroclus, and Plato had devoted the whole dialogue of the Symposium to the peculiar institution of friendship existing among the Greeks and had given it consideration in the Phædrus-his is the foremost name among the ancients associated with the subject. Lælius is here represented as discussing the topic with his two sons-in-law, Fannius and Scævola, the former addressed by Lælius as Caius Fannius and the latter as Quintus Mucius. Gaius Lælius, to whom was applied the title Sapiens because of his wisdom and acumen in handling practical affairs, was a valiant soldier, an able speaker and writer, and an ardent exponent of Greek learning and Stoic philosophy. The occasion for this conversation was the recent death of Lælius's intimate friend, Scipio (sometimes called Africanus in the discussion). This Scipio was the adoptive son of P. Cornelius Scipio, who was the son of the famous Africanus. The conversation is represented as having taken place in 129 B.C. While in the form of a dialogue, De Amicitia is in reality a conversational and expository essay. There is no debate on the subject-Fannius and Scævola are merely auditors who three or four times ask Lælius to continue his views. These colorless interruptions serve to visualize for the reader that the discussion actually took place; the auditors do not contribute a single opinion nor do they even give direction to the conversation. Only the |