Kochanowski, Lament 16.29-32: Cicero and his ultimate failure

The present paper investigates the sources and ramifi cations of the reference to Cicero’s death in Kochanowski’s Lament 16.29-32. Supplementing information provided by existing commentaries on Laments, it is argued that the reference is made to the judgement on Cicero’s last hours in Plutarch’s Comparison of Demosthenes and Cicero. The divergence from the main current of the biographical tradition of Cicero’s death, mostly favourable to him, is put into the context of the complex Renaissance discussion about the philosophy-of Cicero, acceptability of Stoicism, and the relationship between ancient philosophy and Christianity.