Ethical Writings of Cicero

§ 22. Cases of the observance and of the violation of right by the Roman people.
23. Cases of casuistry discussed among the Stoics.
24, 25. Cases in which under altered circumstances a promise is not to be kept.
26. Magnanimity never to be sacrificed for expediency. Comparison of Ulysses, according to tradition feigning insanity to release himself from his oath to avenge the marital wrongs of Menelaus, and Regulus returning to certain death in order to keep his oath-pledged faith inviolate.
27. The story of Regulus, as then current in Rome.
28. The arguments in favor of his staying at home, and violating his oath, stated.
29. Refuted.
30. Cases similar to his cited.
31. The sacredness of an oath in the earlier times.
32. The perjury of other Roman captives sent by Hannibal to demand an exchange of prisoners and bound by an oath to return, if unsuccessful.
33. Moderation, temperance, and decorum never to be sacrificed to expediency. The nullity of these virtues under the system of Epicurus. Conclusion.