A study of the orations of the Roman statesman Cicero (106-43 BC). Ingo Gildenhard does not treat them simply as models of eloquence, as previous critics have done, but as repositories for Cicero's most profound thinking on such perennial questions as the ethics of happiness, the notion of conscience, and the problem of divine justice. The book is eloquent and well structured, which helps the reader to get through the rich material and aids further thinking on both individual elements and the entire project. Another strength of the book is that it invites discussion and one does not have to agree with all the analysis or conclusions to benefit from this extravaganza of ideas.