What was Cicero's philosophical work Academica?

The Academica is a fragmentary philosophical work written by Cicero in 45 BC to popularize Academic Skepticism in ancient Rome. It was published in two separate editions, undergoing extensive revision from its original two-book format into a second edition of four books. Today, most of the text is lost, surviving only through fragments and a small portion of the second edition.

What we know

• The Academica was published in two editions, with the first edition referred to as Academica Priora and the second as Academica Posteriora. [1, 2]
• The work exclusively promoted Academic Skepticism, making it unique among Cicero's five books attempting to popularize Greek philosophy. [2]
• Except for part of Book 1 and 36 fragments, the entire second edition of the Academica has been lost. [2]
• The first edition of the Academica was released in May 45 BCE and comprised two books known as the Catulus and the Lucullus. [2]

Still open

• Sources note alternative names for the work, such as Academici Libri, Varro, and On Academic Skepticism, but the exact preference across historical transmission remains fluid.

Where to go next

• what caused itWhat was Cicero's lost dialogue Hortensius?
• what followedHow did Cicero's philosophical writings influence the Renaissance?
• how it workedHow did Cicero coin new Latin philosophical terms?
• how we knowWhich fragments of the Academica still survive today?
• the bigger pictureWhat are the major schools of Hellenistic philosophy?
• an unexpected connectionHow did a lost text by a Roman politician inspire a saint?Cicero's lost dialogue Hortensius directly inspired Augustine of Hippo to study philosophy, bridging classical Roman prose with Christian theology.

Sources

• [1]Academica (Wikidata Q3603895) · CC0 1.0
• [2]Academica (Cicero) · CC BY-SA 4.0
• [3]Writings of Cicero · CC BY-SA 4.0
• [4]Cicero · CC BY-SA 4.0
• [5]Hortensius (Cicero) · CC BY-SA 4.0