Writings of Marcus Tullius Cicero

Infobox Writer
name = Marcus Tullius Cicero

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caption = Marcus Tullius Cicero
birthdate = January 3, 106 BC
birthplace = Arpinum, Italy
deathdate = December 7, 43 BC
deathplace = Formia, Italy
occupation = Politician, lawyer, orator and philosopher
nationality = Ancient Roman
subject = politics, law, philosophy, oratory
movement = Golden Age Latin
notableworks = Politics: '
Philosophy:"' "De Inventione"
influences = Plato
Middle Platonism
Stoicism
influenced = Tacitus
Plinius
Quintilian
Has had an immense influence on European culture for over 2000 years

The Writings of Marcus Tullius Cicero constituted one of the most famous bodies of historical and philosophical work in all of Classical Antiquity. Cicero, a Roman statesman, lawyer, political theorist, philosopher, and Roman constitutionalist, lived from 107 to 43 BC. He was a Roman Senator and Roman Consul (chief-magistrate) who played a critical role in the transformation of the Roman Republic into the Roman Empire. A contemporary of Julius Caesar, Cicero is widely considered one of Rome's greatest orators and prose stylists. [Rawson, E.: "Cicero, a portrait" (1975) p.303] [ Haskell, H.J.: "This was Cicero" (1964)p.300-301]

Cicero is generally perceived to be one of the most versatile minds of ancient Rome. He introduced the Romans to the chief schools of Greek philosophy and created a Latin philosophical vocabulary, distinguishing himself as a linguist, translator, and philosopher. An impressive orator and successful lawyer, Cicero probably thought his political career 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. [Cornelius Nepos, " [http://www.tertullian.org/fathers/nepos.htm#Atticus Atticus] " 16, trans. John Selby Watson.]

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. [Haskell, H.J.:"This was Cicero" (1964) p.296 ] [ Castren and Pietilä-Castren: "Antiikin käsikirja" /"Handbook of antiquity" (2000) p.237]

Works

Cicero was declared a “righteous pagan” by the early Catholic Church, and therefore many of his works were deemed worthy of preservation. Saint Augustine and others quoted liberally from his works “On The Republic” and “On The Laws,” and it is due to this that we are able to recreate much of the work from the surviving fragments. Cicero also articulated an early, abstract conceptualisation of rights, based on ancient law and custom.

Books

Of Cicero's books, six on rhetoric have survived, as well as parts of eight on philosophy.

Speeches

Of his speeches, eighty-eight were recorded, but only fifty-eight survive. Some of the items below are more than one speech.

;Judicial speeches
* (81 BC) "Pro Quinctio" ("On behalf of Publius Quinctius")
* (80 BC) "Pro Sex. Roscio Ameriae" ("On behalf of Sextus Roscius of Ameria")
* (77 BC) "Pro Q. Roscio Comoedo" ("On behalf of Quintus Roscius Gallus the Actor")
* (70 BC) "Divinatio in Caecilium" ("Spoken against Caecilius at the inquiry concerning the prosecution of Gaius Verres")
* (70 BC) "In Verrem" ("Against Gaius Verres", or "The Verrines")
* (71 BC) "Pro Tullio" ("On behalf of Tullius")
* (69 BC) "Pro Fonteio" ("On behalf of Marcus Fonteius")
* (69 BC) "Pro Caecina" ("On behalf of Aulus Caecina")
* (66 BC) "Pro Cluentio" ("On behalf of Aulus Cluentius")
* (63 BC) "Pro Rabirio Perduellionis Reo" ("On behalf of Gaius Rabirius on a Charge of Treason")
* (63 BC) "Pro Murena" ("On behalf of Lucius Licinius Murena")
* (62 BC) "Pro Sulla" ("On behalf of Publius Cornelius Sulla")
* (62 BC) "Pro Archia Poeta" ("On behalf of the poet Aulus Licinius Archias")
* (59 BC) "Pro Flacco" ("On behalf of Lucius Valerius Flaccus")
* (56 BC) "Pro Sestio" ("On behalf of Sestius")
* (56 BC) "In Vatinium" ("Against Publius Vatinius at the trial of Sestius")
* (56 BC) "Pro Caelio" ("On behalf of Marcus Caelius Rufus"): ""
* (56 BC) "Pro Balbo" ("On behalf of Cornelius Balbus")
* (54 BC) "Pro Plancio" ("On behalf of Plancius")
* (54 BC) "Pro Rabirio Postumo" ("On behalf of Gaius Rabirius Postumus")

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)
* (66 BC) "Pro Lege Manilia" or "De Imperio Cn. Pompei" ("in favor of the Manilian Law on the command of Pompey")
* (63 BC) "De Lege Agraria contra Rullum" ("Opposing the Agrarian Law proposed by Rullus")
* (63 BC) "In Catilinam I-IV" ("Catiline Orations" or "Against Catiline") waybackdate|site=http://www.uah.edu/student_life/organizations/SAL/claslattexts/cicero/incatilinam.html|date=20050302093516
* (59 BC) "Pro Flacco" ("In Defense of Flaccus")

;;Mid career (after exile)
* (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")

;;Late career
* (52 BC) "Pro Milone" ("On behalf of Titus Annius Milo")
* (46 BC) "Pro Marcello" ("On behalf of Marcellus")
* (46 BC) "Pro Ligario" ("On behalf of Ligarius before Caesar")
* (46 BC) "Pro Rege Deiotaro" ("On behalf of King Deiotarus before Caesar")
* (44 BC) "Philippicae" ("consisting of the 14 philippics, "Philippica I–XIV", against "Marcus Antonius) [ [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.02.0021 M. Tullius Cicero, Orations: The fourteen orations against Marcus Antonius (Philippics) (ed. C. D. Yonge) ] ]

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

Philosophy

;Rhetoric
* (84 BC) "De Inventione" ("About the composition of arguments")
* (55 BC) "De Oratore" ("About oratory")
* (54 BC) "De Partitionibus Oratoriae" ("About the subdivisions of oratory")
* (52 BC) "De Optimo Genere Oratorum" ("About the Best Kind of Orators")
* (46 BC) "Paradoxa Stoicorum" ("Stoic Paradoxes")
* (46 BC) "Brutus" ("For Brutus, a short history of Roman oratory dedicated to Marcus Junius Brutus")
* (46 BC) "Orator ad M. Brutum" ("About the Orator, also dedicated to Brutus")
* (45 BC) "De Fato" ("On Fate")
* (44 BC) "Topica" ("Topics of argumentation")
* (?? BC) "Rhetorica ad Herennium" (traditionally attributed to Cicero, but currently disputed)

;Other philosophical works
* (51 BC) "De Re Publica" ("On the Republic")
* (45 BC) "Hortensius" ("Hortensius")
* (45 BC) "Lucullus or Academica Priora" ("The Prior Academics")
* (45 BC) "Academica Posteriora" ("The Later Academics")
* (45 BC) "Consolatio" ("Consolation") How to console oneself at the death of a loved person
* (45 BC) "De Finibus Bonorum et Malorum" ("About the Ends of Goods and Evils") - a book on ethics. [ [http://www.epicurus.info/etexts/De_Finibus.html Epicurus.info : E-Texts : De Finibus, Book I ] ] Source of Lorem ipsum
* (45 BC) "Tusculanae Quaestiones" ("Questions debated at Tusculum")
* (45 BC) "De Natura Deorum" ("On the Nature of the Gods")
* (45 BC) "De Divinatione" ("On Divination")
* (44 BC) "Cato Maior de Senectute" ("Cato the Elder On Old Age")
* (44 BC) "Laelius de Amicitia" ("Laelius On Friendship")
* (44 BC) "De Officiis" ("On duties")
* (?? BC) "De Legibus" ("On the Laws")
* (?? BC) "De Consulatu Suo" ("On his ((Cicero's)) consulship" - epic poem, only parts survive)
* (?? BC) "De temporibus suis" ("His Life and Times"- epic poem, only parts survive)
* (?? BC) "Commentariolum Petitionis" ("Handbook of Candidacy") [ [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?doc=Perseus:text:1999.02.0022:text=Pet.:section=1 M. Tullius Cicero, Letters (ed. Evelyn Shuckburgh) ] ] (attributed to Cicero, but probably written by his brother Quintus)

Letters

More than 800 letters by Cicero to others exist, and over 100 letters from others to him.

* (68 BC-43 BC) "Epistulae ad Atticum" ("Letters to Atticus")
* (59 BC-54 BC) "Epistulae ad Quintum Fratrem" ("Letters to his brother Quintus")
* (43 BC) "Epistulae ad Brutum" ("Letters to Brutus")
* (43 BC) "Epistulae ad Familiares" ("Letters to his friends")

In popular culture

Appearances in modern fiction, listed in order of publication

*"Julius Caesar", by William Shakespeare
*"Titus Andronicus", by William Shakespeare
*"Ides of March", (1948) an epistolary novel by Thornton Wilder
*"À rebours", by Joris-Karl Huysmans
*"A Pillar of Iron", a (1965) fictionalized biography, by Taylor Caldwell
*"Masters of Rome" series, by Colleen McCullough; Cicero first appears as a precocious young boy in The Grass Crown
*"Roma Sub Rosa" series, (1991-2005), by Steven Saylor
*Robert Olen Butler imagines Cicero's last thoughts as a short monologue in "Severance" (2006)
*"Imperium", a (2006) novel, by Robert Harris; "Imperium" is the first of a trilogy on the life of Cicero, with the second book "Conspiracy" to be published in late 2008.

Appearances in film and television

*"", a British-Italian film (2003), also shown as "Augustus The First Emperor" in some countries, where Cicero (played by Gottfried John) appears in several vignettes.

*In the 2005 ABC miniseries "Empire", Cicero (played by Michael Byrne) appears as a supporter of Octavius. This portrayal deviates sharply from history, as Cicero survives the civil war to witness Octavius assume the title of princeps.

*The HBO/BBC2 TV series "Rome" features Marcus Tullius Cicero prominently and is played by David Bamber. The portrayal broadly adheres to the historical record, reflecting Cicero's political indecision and continued switching of allegiances between the various factions in Rome's civil war. A disparity occurs in his assassination, which occurs in an orchard rather than on the road to the sea. The TV series also depicts Cicero's assassination at the hands of the fictionalized Titus Pullo, though the historical Titus Pullo was not Cicero's actual killer.

ee also

Further reading

* Francis A. Yates (1974). "The Art of Memory", University of Chicago Press, 448 pages, Reprint: ISBN 0-226-95001-8
* Taylor Caldwell (1965), "A Pillar of Iron", Doubleday & Company, Reprint: ISBN 0-385-05303-7

Notes

References

* Cicero, Marcus Tullius, Cicero’s letters to Atticus, Vol, I, II, IV, VI, Cambridge University Press, Great Britain, 1965
* Cicero, Marcus Tullius, Latin extracts of Cicero on Himself, translated by Charles Gordon Cooper , University of Queensland Press, Brisbane, 1963
* Cicero, Marcus Tullius, Selected Political Speeches, Penguin Books Ltd, Great Britain, 1969
* Cicero, Marcus Tullius, Selected Works, Penguin Books Ltd, Great Britain, 1971
* Everitt, Anthony 2001, "Cicero: the life and times of Rome's greatest politician", Random House, hardback, 359 pages, ISBN 0-375-50746-9
* Cowell, Cicero and the Roman Republic, Penguin Books Ltd, Great Britain, 1973
* Haskell, H.J.: (1946) "This was Cicero", Fawcett publications, Inc. Greenwich, Conn. USA
* Gibbon, Edward. (1793). "The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire.", The Modern Library (2003), ISBN 0375758119. Edited, Abridged, and with a Critical Foreword by Hans-Friedrich Mueller.
* Gruen, Erich, The last Generation of the Roman Republic, University of California Press, USA, 1974
* March, Duane A., "Cicero and the 'Gang of Five'," Classical World, volume 82 (1989) 225-234
* Plutarch, Fall of the Roman Republic, Penguin Books Ltd, Great Britain, 1972
* Rawson, Elizabeth (1975) "Cicero, A portrait", Allen Lane, London ISBN 0-7139-0864-5
* Rawson, Elizabeth, Cicero, Penguin Books Ltd, Great Britain, 1975
* Scullard, H. H. From the Gracchi to Nero, University Paperbacks, Great Britain, 1968
* Smith, R. E., Cicero the Statesman, Cambridge University Press, Great Britain, 1966
* Strachan-Davidson, J. L., Cicero and the Fall of the Roman Republic, University of Oxford Press, London, 1936
* Taylor, H. (1918). "Cicero: A sketch of his life and works." Chicago: A. C. McClurg & Co.

External links

* General:
** [http://www.qfrases.com/english/cicero.php Quotes with Cicero's teachings on oratory]
** [http://cicero.missouristate.edu/cicero.htm Links to Cicero resources]
** [http://www.utexas.edu/depts/classics/documents/Cic.html University of Texas Cicero Homepage]
** [http://www.iep.utm.edu/c/cicero.htm The Internet Encyclopædia of Philosophy]
* [http://latinum.mypodcast.com] LATINUM - Anglice et Latine - Extensive Latin language learning podcast. Listen to Cicero Read Aloud.
* Works by Cicero:
** [http://oll.libertyfund.org/index.php?option=com_staticxt&staticfile=show.php%3Fperson=3780&Itemid=27 Online Library of Liberty]
** gutenberg author| id=Marcus+Tullius+Cicero | name=Cicero
** Perseus Project (Latin and English): [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cache/perscoll_Greco-Roman.html Classics Collection (see: M. Tullius Cicero)]
** The Latin Library (Latin): [http://www.thelatinlibrary.com/cic.html Works of Cicero]
** UAH (Latin, with translation notes): [http://www.uah.edu/student_life/organizations/SAL/texts/latin/classical/cicero/index.html Cicero Page]
** " [http://www.constitution.org/rom/de_officiis.htm De Officiis] ", translated by Walter Miller
** [http://www.intratext.com/Catalogo/Autori/AUT76.HTM Cicero's works] : text, concordances and frequency list
* Biographies and descriptions of Cicero's time:
** At Project Gutenberg
*** Plutarch's biography of Cicero contained in the [http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/674 "Parallel Lives"]
*** "Life of Cicero" by Anthony Trollope, [http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/8945 Volume I] – Volume II
*** [http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/11448 "Cicero" by Rev. W. Lucas Collins ("Ancient Classics for English Readers")]
*** [http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/13481 "Roman life in the days of Cicero" by Rev. Alfred J. Church]
*** [http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/11256 "Social life at Rome in the Age of Cicero"] by W. Warde Fowler
** [http://web.archive.org/web/20060114090741/www.heraklia.fws1.com/contemporaries/cicero/ At Heraklia website]
** [http://classics.mit.edu/Plutarch/cicero.html Dryden's translation of "Cicero" from Plutarch's "Parallel Lives"]
** [http://community.middlebury.edu/~harris/LatinAuthors/Cicero.html At Middlebury College website]
* [http://www.rhapsodes.fll.vt.edu/cicero.htm SORGLL: Cicero, In Catilinam I; I,1-3, read by Robert Sonkowsky]

Persondata
NAME = Cicero
ALTERNATIVE NAMES = Marcus Tullius Cicero
SHORT DESCRIPTION = Roman statesman, philosopher
DATE OF BIRTH = January 3, 106 BC
PLACE OF BIRTH = Arpinum, Italy
DATE OF DEATH = December 7, 43 BC
PLACE OF DEATH = Formia, Italy