Avarice as an important constituent of the ethical, philosophical and political conceptual apparatus of Cicero's works

The article deals with Cicero’s usage of ‘avaritia’. The research aims at the system analysis of the concept on the basis of the quantitative method. There are more than 150 examples of the usage of ‘avaritia’ and its derivatives (‘avarus’, ‘avare’) in Cicero’s works. The term is used most frequently in Cicero’s orations (approximately 100 times), especially in the invectives ‘Against Verres’ (55 examples), least of all - in his epistles (6 times). Avarice for Cicero is one of the most serious vices. It means an exaggerated opinion of money. Alongside with the negative moral categories (‘luxuria’ ‘luxuries’, ‘crudelitas’, ‘superbia’, etc.) and the positive ones opposed to avarice (the ethical notions of the Stoic philosophy (‘honestum’ / ‘honestas’, ‘virtus’, ‘officium’, ‘justitia’, ‘liberalitas’, ‘cogitatio’, ‘temperantia’, etc.) and primordially Roman ethical, political and juridical terms (‘dignitas’, ‘jus’, ‘lex’, etc.) the concept of ‘avaritia’ forms the core of the ethical, philosophical and political conceptual apparatus of Cicero’s works.