The Dream of Scipio, written by Cicero, is the sixth book of De re publica, and describes a dream vision of the Roman general Scipio Aemilianus, set two years before he oversaw the destruction of Carthage in 146 BC.
"Scipio Lying in Bed Dreaming; Guillaume de Lorris Lying in Bed Dreaming" (c. 1405)
Scipio Africanus the Elder (pictured) appears to his grandson and tells him of the universe and his destiny in the Somnium Scipionis.
The Universe, the Earth in the centre, surrounded by the seven planets within the zodiacal signs.
Initial E shaped in the form of a writing man, probably representing Macrobius himself.
De re publica is a dialogue on Roman politics by Cicero, written in six books between 54 and 51 BC. The work does not survive in a complete state, and large parts are missing. The surviving sections derive from excerpts preserved in later works and from an incomplete palimpsest uncovered in 1819. Cicero uses the work to explain Roman constitutional theory. Written in imitation of Plato's Republic, it takes the form of a Socratic dialogue in which Scipio Aemilianus takes the role of a wise old man.
Bust of Cicero, author of De re publica
Vatican palimpsest containing De re publica