 The only extant pieces of the Consolatio are fragments, of which seven were preserved by the early Christian author Lactantius in his work Divinarum Institutionum (The Divine Institutes). In the work, Lactantius used the excerpt from the Consolatio both to point out the futility of paganism, as well as to argue that pagans actually accept some tenets of Christianity, without them even realizing it. Lactantius criticized what Cicero wrote, but also applauded Cicero for paralleling — albeit coincidentally — what the Bible says at times. However, the quotes preserved by Lactantius have been criticized due to their lack of context. MacKendrick notes that Lactantius was using partial quotations in order to frame what Cicero wrote so that Lactantius could more easily refute his ideas. Other excerpts from the Consolatio were preserved by Cicero himself, of which two sections were quoted by him in his Tusculanae Disputationes.
