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Writings of Cicero

Historical Roman statesman, theorist, and philosopher From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Writings of Cicero

The writings of Marcus Tullius Cicero constitute one of the most renowned collections of historical and philosophical work in all of classical antiquity. Cicero was a Roman politician, lawyer, orator, political theorist, philosopher, and constitutionalist who lived during the years of 106–43 BC. He held the positions of Roman senator and Roman consul (chief-magistrate) and played a critical role in the transformation of the Roman Republic into the Roman Empire. He was extant during the rule of prominent Roman politicians, such as those of Julius Caesar, Pompey, and Marc Antony. Cicero is widely considered one of Rome's greatest orators and prose stylists.[1][2]

Quick Facts Marcus Tullius Cicero, Born ...
Marcus Tullius Cicero
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BornJanuary 3, 106 BC
Arpinum, Italy
DiedDecember 7, 43 BC
Formia, Italy
OccupationPolitician, lawyer, orator and philosopher
NationalityAncient Roman
Subjectpolitics, law, philosophy, oratory
Literary movementGolden Age Latin
Notable worksOrations: In Verrem, In Catilinam I–IV, Philippicae
Philosophy: De Oratore, De Re Publica, De Legibus, De Finibus, De Natura Deorum, De Officiis
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Cicero is generally held to be one of the most versatile minds of ancient Rome. He introduced the Romans to the chief schools of Greek philosophy, and also created a Latin philosophical vocabulary; distinguishing himself as a linguist, translator, and philosopher. A distinguished orator and successful lawyer, Cicero likely valued his political career as his most important achievement. Today he is appreciated primarily for his humanism and philosophical and political writings. His voluminous correspondence, much of it addressed to his friend Atticus, has been especially influential, introducing the art of refined letter writing to European culture. Cornelius Nepos, the 1st-century BC biographer of Atticus, remarked that Cicero's letters to Atticus contained such a wealth of detail "concerning the inclinations of leading men, the faults of the generals, and the revolutions in the government" that their reader had little need for a history of the period.[3]

During the chaotic latter half of the first century BC, marked by civil wars and the dictatorship of Gaius Julius Caesar, Cicero championed a return to the traditional republican government. However, his career as a statesman was marked by inconsistencies and a tendency to shift his position in response to changes in the political climate. His indecision may be attributed to his sensitive and impressionable personality; he was prone to overreaction in the face of political and private change. "Would that he had been able to endure prosperity with greater self-control and adversity with more fortitude!" wrote C. Asinius Pollio, a contemporary Roman statesman and historian.[4][5]

A manuscript containing Cicero's letters to Atticus, Quintus, and Brutus was rediscovered by Petrarch in 1345 at the Capitolare library in Verona. This rediscovery is often credited for initiating the 14th-century Italian Renaissance, and for the founding of Renaissance humanism.[6]

Works

Summarize
Perspective

Cicero was declared a "virtuous pagan" by the early Church, and therefore many of his works were deemed worthy of preservation. Important Church Fathers such as Saint Augustine and others quoted liberally from his works, e.g. "On the Commonwealth" (De Re Publica) and "On Laws" (De Legibus), as well as Cicero's (partial) Latin translation of Plato's Timaeus dialogue. Cicero also articulated an early, abstract conceptualisation of rights, based on ancient law and custom.[7]

Speeches

Of his speeches, eighty-eight were recorded, fifty-two of which survive today. Some of the items below include more than one speech.

Several of Cicero's speeches are printed, in English translation, in the Penguin Classics edition Murder Trials. These speeches are included:

  • In defence of Sextus Roscius of Ameria (This is the basis for Steven Saylor's novel Roman Blood.)
  • In defence of Aulus Cluentius Habitus
  • In defence of Gaius Rabirius
  • Note on the speeches in defence of Caelius and Milo
  • In defence of King Deiotarus

Political speeches

Early career (before exile)
Mid career (between exile and Caesarian Civil War)
  • (57 BC) Post Reditum in Quirites (To the Citizens after his recall from exile)
  • (57 BC) Post Reditum in Senatu (To the Senate after his recall from exile)
  • (57 BC) De Domo Sua (On his House)
  • (57 BC) De Haruspicum Responsis (On the Responses of the Haruspices)
  • (56 BC) De Provinciis Consularibus (On the Consular Provinces)
  • (55 BC) In Pisonem (Against Piso)
  • (52 BC) Pro Milone (In Defence of Titus Annius Milo)
Late career

(The Pro Marcello, Pro Ligario, and Pro Rege Deiotaro are collectively known as "The Caesarian speeches").

Rhetoric and politics

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4th/5th century manuscript of De Re Publica (palimpsest)
  • (84 BC) De Inventione (About the composition of arguments)
  • (55 BC) De Oratore ad Quintum fratrem libri tres (On the Orator, three books for his brother Quintus)
  • (54 BC) De Partitionibus Oratoriae (About the subdivisions of oratory)
  • (52 BC) De Optimo Genere Oratorum (About the Best Kind of Orators)
  • (51 BC) De Re Publica (On the Republic, also known as "On the Commonwealth", and referred to as such, above)
  • (46 BC) Brutus (For Brutus, a short history of Roman rhetoric and orators dedicated to Marcus Junius Brutus)
  • (46 BC) Orator ad M. Brutum (The Orator, addressed to Brutus)
  • (44 BC) Topica (Topics)
  • (?? BC) De Legibus (On the Laws)
  • (?? BC) De Consulatu Suo (On his consulship – epic poem about Cicero's own consulship, fragmentary)
  • (?? BC) De temporibus suis (His Life and Times) – epic poem, entirely lost

Philosophy

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Illuminated manuscript of the Tusculanae Disputationes (1450s)
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15th-century manuscript of De Natura Deorum

Letters

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14th-century manuscript of Epistulae ad Familiares

Cicero's letters to and from various public and private figures are considered some of the most reliable sources of information for the people and events surrounding the fall of the Roman Republic. While 37 books of his letters have survived into modern times, 35 more books were known to antiquity that have since been lost. These included letters to Caesar, to Pompey, to Octavian, and to his son Marcus.[10]

Spurious works

Several works extant through having been included in influential collections of Ciceronian texts exhibit such divergent views and styles that they have long been agreed by experts not to be authentic works of Cicero. They are also never mentioned by Cicero himself, nor any of the ancient critics or grammarians who commonly refer to and quote passages from Cicero's authentic works.

See also

Notes

References

Further reading

External links

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