Can Cicero’s De officiis be considered as an excuse for justifying and supporting the common
idea that rights, aid and solidarity have been reserved only to those are “close” to us? In the
current debate concerning the real universality and the value of human rights, the interpretation
of the last work of Arpino’s author, framed in its historical and cultural context, may contribute
to a fair restitution of the meaning we assume for the virtue named ratio societatis et
communitatis
