Abstract
Cicero provides a detailed examination of the nature and obligations of amicitia (‘friendship’) in the dialogue De amicitia, which was composed in 44 bce in the febrile period after the assassination of Caesar. This chapter focuses on Cicero’s treatment in this dialogue of a particularly vexed ethical problem: is it sometimes or to some extent acceptable to breach one’s duty to the state or to transgress from what is morally right on account of amicitia?