Historical Roman statesman, theorist, and philosopher
Marcus Tullius Cicero
Born
January 3, 106 BC Arpinum, Italy
Died
December 7, 43 BC Formia, Italy
Occupation
Politician, lawyer, orator and philosopher
Nationality
Ancient Roman
Subject
politics, law, philosophy, oratory
Literary movement
Golden Age Latin
Notable works
Orations:In Verrem, In Catilinam I–IV, Philippicae Philosophy:De Oratore, De Re Publica, De Legibus, De Finibus, De Natura Deorum, De Officiis
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]
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]
^Rawson, E.: Cicero, a portrait (1975) p. 303
^Haskell, H.J.: This was Cicero (1964) pp. 300–01
^Cornelius Nepos, Atticus 16, trans. John Selby Watson.
^Haskell, H.J.:"This was Cicero" (1964) p. 296
^Castren and Pietilä-Castren: "Antiikin käsikirja" /"Handbook of antiquity" (2000) p. 237
^"History". Biblioteca Capitolare di Verona. Retrieved 2022-11-16.
and 28 Related for: Writings of Cicero information
The writingsof Marcus Tullius Cicero constitute one of the most renowned collections of historical and philosophical work in all of classical antiquity...
Marcus Tullius Cicero (/ˈsɪsəroʊ/ SISS-ə-roh; Latin: [ˈmaːrkʊs ˈtʊlli.ʊs ˈkɪkɛroː]; 3 January 106 BC – 7 December 43 BC) was a Roman statesman, lawyer...
soldiers learned how to prepare it." The writingsofCicero and Martial also mention Lucania as the birthplace of the sausage, confirming its origins in...
was thought to mean literally "gold copper". It is known from the writingsofCicero that the metal which they called orichalcum resembled gold in color...
wrote a number of books. Three of these were scholarly sermons. His subjects also included the writingsofCicero and the life and writingsof St Irenaeus...
traditions of classical rhetoric, and more specifically by the writingsofCicero. In the final chapter of On Christian Doctrine, Augustine uses much of Cicero's...
always persons of distinction, the duties of their office were held in high respect. And yet no mention of them occurs in the writingsofCicero or Livy, and...
memoirs of an unknown staff officer who served under Caesar. The writingsofCicero, who knew her personally, provide an unflattering portrait of Cleopatra...
war were acceptable, originated in the writingsof earlier non-Christian Roman and Greek thinkers such as Cicero and Plato. Later, this theory was adopted...
wavering, saying of every single thing that it no more is than is not, or both is and is not, or neither is nor is not.' In the writingsofCicero and Seneca...
Latin), a treatise by the ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle One of the WritingsofCicero The Topica Edtech Group This disambiguation page lists articles...
§ 10–12. Cicero, Academica, ii. 20. Cicero, de Finibus, iv. 4. Sextus Empiricus, adv. Math. vii. 253. Cicero, Academica, ii. 6, 24. Cicero, Academica...
are known through the writingsofCicero, while others are mentioned in inscriptions from Umbria and Etruria. According to Cicero, Titus Matrinius received...
antiquity, particularly the bravery and heroism of knights, such as those described in the writingsofCicero. During her youth, she was a sprinter and also...
Hobbes' reflection began with the idea of "giving to every man his own," a phrase he drew from the writingsofCicero. But he wondered: How can anybody call...
is a 44 BC treatise by Marcus Tullius Cicero divided into three books, in which Cicero expounds his conception of the best way to live, behave, and observe...
All of Antiochus' writings are lost, but his philosophical doctrines can be reconstructed from the philosophical writingsofCicero, especially the Lucullus...
depicted as stepping on or dragging defeated barbarian enemies. Per the writingsofCicero, what made people barbarians was not their language or descent, but...
improbos suspicatur", written on the outer edge. This phrase is from the writingsofCicero, a Roman orator, and can be translated as "The more virtuous any man...
expounded the writingsofCicero as guidance in public affairs. He was of sufficient stature to be sent to Seville on an embassy to Alfonso el Sabio of Castile...
continued as a senior student. Between 1764 and 1766, Miranda studied the writingsofCicero and Virgil, grammar, history, religion, geography and arithmetic....
scholar. She is Professor of Classics at the University of Glasgow. Steel is an expert on the Roman Republic, the writingsofCicero, and Roman oratory. She...
they are known chiefly from the writingsofCicero and Vitruvius, as well as a number of inscriptions. Minidia, the name of two women named in an inscription...
epitomes of his lectures preserved among the writingsof his pupil Philodemus. Zeno was born in the city of Sidon. He was a contemporary ofCicero, who heard...
during the Ptolemaic Kingdom. Cicero enumerates several deities referred to as "Hermes": a "fourth Mercury (Hermes) was the son of the Nile, whose name may...
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