 Book III lays out Cotta's criticism of Balbus' claims.Cicero's conclusions are ambivalent and muted, "a strategy of civilized openness"; he does, however, conclude that Balbus' claims, in his mind, more nearly approximate the truth (3.95).In Book 1 Cicero visits the house of Cotta the Pontifex Maximus, where he finds Cotta with Velleius – a Senator and Epicurean, and Balbus supporter of the Stoics.