1 Thomas Jefferson's Recommended Reading Thomas Jefferson supplied lists of recommended books in letters to Robert Skipwith in 1771 and Bernard Moore about the same time, to his nephew, Peter Carr, in 1785 and 1787, to John Minor in 1814, and to several others. The following is a distillation and synthesis of his recommendations in classical studies -- history, philosophy, religion, and literature. Items in each section are in a rough suggested reading order based by Jefferson's comments. Clearly more works could be added; as Jefferson wrote to Moore: "These by no means constitute the whole of what might be usefully read in each of these branches of science. The mass of excellent works going more into detail is great indeed. But those here noted will enable the student to select for himself such others of detail as may suit his particular views and dispositions. They will give him a respectable, an useful and satisfactory degree of knowlege in these branches." Ancient History Herodotus - c. 450 BC, 'Father of History' The Histories - wealth of information about the ancient world Thucydides - c. 395 BC History of the Peloponnesian War - Athens vs. Sparta Xenophon - c. 400 BC, philosopher, student of Socrates, general Anabasis - incredible saga of a Greek army lost in the Persian Empire Hellenica - Greek history 411-362 BC Polybius – c. 150 BC The Histories – rise of the Roman Republic Julius Caesar - c. 50 BC The Gallic War - Caesar describes Gaul and its conquest. The Civil War - wars of 49–45 BC, ending with Julius as first Roman Emperor Sallust (historian) - c. 50 BC Jugurthine War - Roman war in North Africa The Conspiracy of Catiline - political intrigues of the Roman, Catiline Livy – c. 1 AD; Roman historian History of Rome Quintus Curtius Rufus - Roman Historian, c. 50 AD Life of Alexander the Great Josephus – c. 80 AD, Jewish general and historian The Jewish Wars - Jewish revolt against Rome Antiquities - history of the Jewish people Plutarch - c. 100 AD; Greek philosopher, Delphic priest, biographer, prolific writer Parallel Lives – lives of eminent Greek and Romans, paired side by side Theseus/Romulus, Lycurgus/Numa, Solon/Publicola Themistocles/Camillus, Aristides/Cato Major, Cimon/Lucullus Pericles/Fabius Maximus, Nicias/Crassus Alcibiades/Coriolanus, Lysander/Sulla Agesilaus/Pompey, Pelopidas/Marcellus Dion/Brutus, Timoleon/Aemilius Paulus Demosthenes/Cicero, Alexander/Julius Caesar Sertorius/Eumenes, Phocion/Cato the Younger Demetrius/Antony, Pyrrhus/Gaius Marius 2 Agis/Cleomenes, Tiberius/Gaius Gracchus, Philopoemen/Flamininus Aratus, Artaxerxes, Galba, Otho Suetonius - c. 100 AD Lives of the Caesars - twelve biographies, from Julius to Domitian Tacitus - c. 100 AD; Roman senator and historian Annals - history of the reigns of Tiberius and Nero Histories - Roman history from 68 to 96 AD Justin (historian) – 2nd century AD Epitome of the Philippic History of Pompeius Trogus Herodian – c. 210 AD History of the Roman Empire – covering 180 to 230 AD Aurelius Victor – c. 350 AD History of Rome – from Augustus to Julian Gibbons - the classic study of Rome's decline, first published in 1776 History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire ________________________________________ Philosophy Plato – Athens, c. 400 BC The Republic* Apology, Phaedo, Crito Symposium, Phaedrus, Meno, Charmides Sophist, Statesman, Theaetetus, Gorgias Protagoras, Philebus, Parmenides, Euthyphro Timaeus Laws First Alcibiades, Second Alcibiades, Laches, Cratylus, Critias Lysis, Euthydemus, Hippias Major, Hippias Minor, Ion, Menexenus Cicero – Roman, c. 45 BC On Moral Duties (De Officiis) Tusculan Disputations (Tusculanae Quaestiones) On Ends (De Finibus) On the Republic (De Republica) On the Laws (De Legibus) On Old Age (De Senectute) On Friendship (De Amicitia) On Academic Skepticism (Academica) On the Nature of the Gods (De Natura Deorum) On Fate (De Fato) On Divination (De Divinatione) On the Orator (De Oratore) The Dream of Scipio (Somnium Scipionis) Philippics Against Marc Antony (Philippicae) Letters Orations Plutarch – Greek, c. 100 AD Morals Xenophon – Greek, c. 400 BC Memorobilia of Socrates - Xenophon's biography of his teacher, Socrates 3 Seneca – Roman statesman, Stoic philosopher, writer o Moral Epistles o Essays Epictetus – Greek Stoic philosopher writing in Roman times o The Enchiridion - a concise handbook of Stoic morality and maxims, adopted by Christianity Pythagoras o The Golden Verses of Pythagoras - probably not by Pythagoras, but nevertheless important Marcus Aurelius – Roman Emperor and Stoic philosopher o Meditations Lucretius – c. 60 BC, Roman Epicurean philosopher o On the Nature of Things John Locke – one of the most influential of Enlightenment thinkers o An Essay Concerning Human Understanding – Locke's magnum opus on psychology Henry Home, Lord Kames o Principles of Natural Religion David Hume o Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion Voltaire o Candide o Letters on the English Claude Adrien Helvétius o De l'esprit (On Mind) Conyers Middleton o Introductory Discourse and the Free Inquiry Henry St. John, Lord Bolingbroke Philosophical Works James Beattie o Religious and philosophical works Two further suggestions consistent with Jefferson's lists are the Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers by Diogenes Laertius and the Nicomachean Ethics of Aristotle. ________________________________________ Literature Homer o The Iliad o The Odyssey Virgil o The Aeneid John Milton o Paradise Lost o Areopagitica – on freedom of the press Sophocles o Antigone, Oedipus the King, Oedipus at Colonus (Oedipus trilogy) o Ajax, Trachinian Women, Philoctetes, Electra Aeschylus o Agamemnon, The Libation Bearers, The Eumenides (Orestian Trilogy ) o The Persians, Seven Against Thebes, The Suppliants, Prometheus Bound Euripides o The Trojan Women, The Bacchae, Medea, Iphigenia in Tauris 4 o Alcestis, Heracleidae, Hippolytus, Andromache, Hecuba, The Suppliants, Electra o Heracles, Ion, Helen, Phoenician Women, Orestes, Iphigenia at Aulis, Rhesus Demosthenes – c. 340 BC; Athenian orator o The Philippics – orations against Philip of Macedon Isocrates – c. 380 BC; Athenian orator o Against the Sophists – apologia for philosophy against the bad reputation given it by certain sophists o Areopagiticus – on the necessity of tradition o On the Peace William Shakespeare o Plays o Sonnets o Other Poems Terence – c. 150 BC, Roman playwright o Plays Horace – c. 10 BC, Roman lyric poet o Poems Edward Young – English o Night Thoughts Theocritus – 3rd century BC; Greek bucolic poet o Poems Anacreon – c. 540 BC, Greek lyrical poet o Poems Joseph Addison o Cato o The Spectator Moliere – French playright o The Misanthrope o Tartuffe the Hypocrite Metastasio (Pietro Antonio Domenico Trapassi, 1698 –1782) o The Works of Metastasio Jonathan Swift – Anglo-Irish satirist o Gulliver's Travels o A Modest Proposal o A Tale of a Tub o The Drapier's Letters Alexander Pope o Essay on Man - man in relation to God's natural order o Moral Essays o The Dunciad - a satirical epic 'Ossian' (James Macpherson) o The Poetical Works of Ossian ________________________________________ American History William Robertson o The History of America William Douglass [more] o History of the British Settlements in North America 5 Thomas Hutchison o The History of Massachusetts William Smith o History of New York Samuel Smith o History of New Jersey Benjamin Franklin o Historical Review of Pennsylvania Captain John Smith o A History of the Settlement of Virginia William Stith o History of Virginia Sir William Keith o History of the British Plantations in America Robert Beverly o History and Present State of Virginia Quotes ________________________________________ "Jefferson scarcely passed a day without reading a portion of the classics." —Rayner's Life of Jefferson p. 22. "The moral principles inculcated by the most esteemed of the sects of ancient philosophy, or of their individuals; particularly, Pythagoras, Socrates, Epicurus, Cicero, Epictetus, Seneca and Antoninus, related chiefly to ourselves, and the government of those passions which, unrestrained, would disturb our tranquillity of mind. In this branch of philosophy they were really great. In developing our duties to others, they were short and defective. They embraced, indeed, the circles of kindred and friends, and inculcated patriotism, or the love of our country in the aggregate, as a primary obligation; towards our neighbors and countrymen they taught justice, but scarcely viewed them as within the circle of benevolence. Still less have they inculcated peace, charity, and love to our fellow men, or embraced with benevolence the whole family of mankind." ~ Syllabus Of The Doctrines Of Jesus (1803) "To read the Latin and Greek authors in their original, is a sublime luxury; and I deem luxury in science to be at least as justifiable as in architecture, painting, gardening, or the other arts. ~ To Dr. Joseph Priestley (A sublime luxury, Philadelphia, January 18, 1800) "I think the Greeks and Romans have left us the present [purest?] models which exist of fine composition, whether we examine them as works of reason, or of style and fancy; and to them we probably owe these characteristics of modern composition. I know of no composition of any other ancient people, which merits the least regard as a model for its matter or style." ~ To Dr. Joseph Priestley (A sublime luxury, Philadelphia, January 18, 1800) "The utilities we derive from the remains of the Greek and Latin languages are, first as models of pure taste in writing.