Source edition
Cicero. M. Tullii Ciceronis Scripta quae manserunt omnia, Partis IV, Vol III. Mueller, C. F. W., editor. Leipzig: Teubner, 1900.
Source data
Perseus Digital Library · CC BY-SA (per Perseus's terms)
Cloned and adapted by Humanitext, with ongoing edits.
Summary
This work, framed by Cicero's recollection of his interactions with his academic peers, introduces and adapts Plato's cosmological dialogue Timaeus into Latin. The discourse begins with the Creator's (demiurge) resolve to fashion the universe as the most beautiful and perfect living being, based on an unchanging model. The Creator constructs the physical body of the universe in a spherical shape by joining the four elements—fire, earth, water, and air—through geometric proportion, and infuses it with a cosmic soul mixed from the Same and the Different. The narrative then explains the movement of the heavenly bodies, which establishes the measurement of time and the concept of the Great Year, as well as the creation of various living creatures. In the latter half, the Creator delegates the formation of mortal bodies to lesser divinities, detailing the transmigration of human souls and the mechanics of sight. Ultimately, the text concludes by emphasizing the importance of vision, which allows humans to observe the orderly cosmos and thereby receive the greatest divine gift: the pursuit of philosophy.