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De Fato (English: "Concerning Fate") is a partially lost philosophical treatise written by the Roman orator Cicero in 44 BC. Only two-thirds of the work exists; the beginning and ending are missing.R. W. Sharples. Cicero: On Fate (De fato) & Boethius: The Consolation of Philosophy IV.5-7, V (Philosophiae Consolationis). Aris & Phillips Ltd, 1991.Preface, iv It takes the form of a dialogue, although it reads more like an exposition,Introduction, 5 whose interlocutors are Cicero and his friend Aulus Hirtius.
In the work, Cicero analyzes the concept of Fate, and suggests that free will is a condition of Fate.Cicero, Marcus Tullius. Trans. C.D. Yonge The treatises of M.T. Cicero: On the nature of the gods; On divination; On fate; On the republic; On the laws; and On standing for the consulship. pg. 264. London G. Bell, 1878. Web.Cicero, De fato. I. Cicero, however, does not consciously deal with the distinction between fatalism and determinism. Henry, Margaret Y. Cicero's Treatment of the Free Will Problem. Transactions and Proceedings of the American Philological Association, 58 pp. 32-42. The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1927. Web.
It appears that De Fato is an appendix to the treatise on theology formed by the three books of De Natura Deorum and the two books of De Divinatione.Cicero. On the Orator: Book 3. On Fate. Stoic Paradoxes. Divisions of Oratory, pg. 189. Translated by H. Rackham. Loeb Classical Library 349. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1942. These three books provide important information regarding Stoicism cosmology and theology. Marcia Colish. The Stoic Tradition from Antiquity to the Early Middle Ages, Volume 1, pg 109
Cicero essentially dismisses this proposition as antithetical to what is observed, but postulates freedom as a necessity for moral life. Ultimately, Cicero maintains this position as he is emotionally convinced that it is in man's power to achieve virtue for himself; if determinism were the order of things, then such ability would not be true.
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