# Cicero — The Religion of Nature Delineated character guide

> Cicero in The Religion of Nature Delineated by William Wollaston.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Cicero

**First appearance:** 0004-i-of-moral-good-and-evil

## Snapshot

Roman statesman and philosopher whose Latin question — where is virtue if nothing is in our power? — anchors the book's case for free will.

## Who they are

He appears as a recurring authority in Wollaston's margins, invoked to press the hardest question: if virtue lies outside our own power, what is it worth? His presence sharpens the book's central wager that moral good depends on what we can actually choose. He matters because his Academica supplies the skeptical pressure against which Wollaston's rational religion must prove itself.

## Relationships

### [Isaac Abravanel](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_religion_of_nature_delineated_se/characters/isaac_abravanel)

_professional_

Cicero and Isaac Abravanel are paired often, suggesting a comparative analysis of their political and philosophical ideas across different eras.

### [A Man](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_religion_of_nature_delineated_se/characters/a_man)

_professional_

A Man engages with Cicero's works, using him as a key source for natural law and rhetorical arguments.

### [Clement of Alexandria](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_religion_of_nature_delineated_se/characters/clement_of_alexandria)

_professional_

Cicero and Clement of Alexandria are compared or contrasted in discussions of virtue and natural religion.

### [Unknown](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_religion_of_nature_delineated_se/characters/unknown)

_social_

Cicero interacts with an unknown figure, likely representing a generic rhetorical opponent or source.

### [A Man](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_religion_of_nature_delineated_se/characters/a_man)

_professional_

A Man engages with Cicero's works, using him as a key source for natural law and rhetorical arguments.

### [A Man](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_religion_of_nature_delineated_se/characters/a_man)

_professional_

A Man engages with Cicero's works, using him as a key source for natural law and rhetorical arguments.

### [Clement of Alexandria](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_religion_of_nature_delineated_se/characters/clement_of_alexandria)

_professional_

Cicero and Clement of Alexandria are compared or contrasted in discussions of virtue and natural religion.

### [Clement of Alexandria](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_religion_of_nature_delineated_se/characters/clement_of_alexandria)

_professional_

Cicero and Clement of Alexandria are compared or contrasted in discussions of virtue and natural religion.

## In the story

### [Editor's Note](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_religion_of_nature_delineated_se/chapters/editor-s-note)

Quoted in a footnote: 'Where is virtue then, if there be nothing within our own power?'

### [I: Of Moral Good and Evil](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_religion_of_nature_delineated_se/chapters/i-of-moral-good-and-evil)

Mentioned as an exemplar of eloquence, contrasted with gesticulation.

### [Endnotes](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_religion_of_nature_delineated_se/chapters/endnotes)

Cited for his enumeration of good men who suffered (De Natura Deorum) and for discussions on the ultimate good, honor, and natural law (De Finibus, De Legibus).

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_religion_of_nature_delineated_se/characters/cicero
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_religion_of_nature_delineated_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_religion_of_nature_delineated_se/characters