ABSTRACT
In the first part of his book Boyancé gives the text of the Somnium Scipionis—according to Ziegler's edition (p. 12)—and its translation into very clear and adequate French. Then he discusses the most important philosophical ideas of Scipio's speech: his conception of the world (ch. II), of the soul and immortality (ch. III), of glory and the great year (ch. IV). Boyancé prefers this method of writing several essays to that of writing a commentary (p. 9) because of the main purposes which he has in mind: to show that Posidonius is not the philosopher whom Cicero follows and to determine the theories which really moulded his thinking. For Boyancé considers the myth of the Somnium to be original (ch. I) only in the sense that he ascribes originality to Cicero as a writer, not as a thinker (p. 9).
