Cicero BCE Also sometimes referred to as “Tully” Rome’s greatest orator He was everything from an orator, lawyer, statesman, politician, and philosopher

Early Life  His family was land-owning and part of the equestrian order  He lived during turbulent times of civil war in Rome when the empire was facing an inevitable decline  He was educated in Rome along side Atticus  He was able to study under the renowned Roman politician Quintus Mucius Scaevola after serving in the military  Because Cicero came from the second tier of aristocracy he had to enter politics through either military service or practicing law  He briefly served in the military under Pompeius Strabo and Sulla but left to go study under Scaevola

Philosophy and Studies  While studying in Rome Cicero gained a wide variety of philosophical knowledge  Cicero mostly rejected Epicurean philosophy, while Atticus embraced it  Cicero also learned from Philo of Larissa, head of Plato’s academy in Athens  He also learned of Stoicism from Diodotus  Studying philosophy greatly influenced his politics  He translated much Greek philosophy that influenced his ideas of an ideal republic

More Philosophical Studies  There were four schools of thoughts that Cicero concentrated on (agreed and disagreed with some)  Academy Skeptics  the Epicureans  The Stoics  The Peripatetics  He mostly aligned with the Academy Skeptics: the idea that nothing is certain and truth is relative to probability  The Skeptic approach helped him navigate politics and law  The Skeptic approach also taught Cicero to find many perspectives and understand different probable outcomes in order to present a legitimate argument  Cicero also took a Stoic approach to law and justice  Stoicism is apparent in his writing where he talks about natural law from reasoning is a “man’s guiding principle”

First Big Law Case And After  Cicero received his first big case in 80 BCE  Defended Sextus Roscius against the charge of patricide (killing his father)  Accused friends of the general Sulla, who he served in the military under, of murder  He won the case then soon left Rome for Greece, Rhodes, and Asia Minor  He met with Atticus and was soon introduced to Athenian society and the rhetoric style of Apollonius Molon of Rhodes, impacting his oratory style

Family Man?  It is assumed that around 79 BCE he married Terentia  It was most likely a marriage “of convenience” because she came from a socially and economically noble family  Her family was supposedly interested in Cicero’s career  Together the two had two children: a daughter Tullia and a son Marcus  However, years later Cicero believed his wife to have “betrayed him” so he divorced her  A few years after the divorce he remarried a young woman around BCE  It can be assumed that this second marriage was out of financial need  He was in debt for owing his ex-wife’s dowry  But the second marriage was short and then his daughter died, which was a rough time for Cicero  His writings on death and comfort came from Plato’s idea: The whole life of the philosopher is a preparation for death.

Politics  His oratory skills helped Cicero get elected as quaestor, aedile, praetor and consul  While consul he exposed the Catiline conspiracy in 63 BCE  The conspiracy was trying to take over the Roman state with force  He ordered the executions of the five conspirators without a trial, which was a risky move and earned him both praise and criticism  He also became a member of the Roman Senate, which did not give him any direct power or authority, but the Senate was very influential in Roman politics

Tough Times for the Statesman  During the First Truimverate a law passed that punished anyone who ordered an execution without trial  This led to Cicero being exiled  It revoked his citizenship and took away all his property  After about a year and half Cicero’s exile was revoked  Cicero now owed a debt to the Triumverate for ending his exile  He could practice law but could not enter politics  While he could not practice law he studied more philosophy and began writing more

Cicero’s Writing  Cicero wrote De republica (On the Republic) De legibus (On Laws), De officiis (On Duties)  On the Republic was lost since the middle ages but in the nineteenth century it was recreated from quotes and fragments  The books focus on conditions for human nature, citizenry, justice, and obviously, the republic  On the Republic has a past tense while On Laws has a present tense  There are only fragments of On Laws, but the main focus is on the fact that law and justice can be corrupted, and an ideal set of laws  On Duties questions the conflict between justice and individual gain

Exiled, again. Dealing with politics, again.  When the Triumverate collapsed Cicero barely sided with Pompey over Caesar  Thus he was exiled again  Once again Cicero was pardoned (a year later) but banned from political work  But then once Caesar was murdered (Cicero did not partake in the murder but fully supported it) he got back into politics trying to save the republic  Cicero sided with Octavian, there was a current a power struggle between Mark Antony, Marcus Lepidus, and Octavian, and made a series of speeches to the Senate called “the Philippics” that were aimed against Mark Antony in favor Octavian and saving the Republic

Cicero’s Failure and Death  Cicero’s speeches ultimately failed because Antony, Octavian and Lepidus allied together to form a “Second Triumvirate”  Antony declared that Cicero was a public enemy, so Antony’s soldiers caught Cicero and killed him  Supposedly Antony’s soldiers cut off Cicero’s head and right hand, and brought them to Rome to display  This was Antony’s revenge for Cicero’s speeches

Cicero’s Legacy  Many speeches, letters, and treatises have lasted through the ages and are still influential  A lot of the information known about politics and society during Cicero’s time are known because of his letters  Greek philosophy has been studied through Cicero’s translations  Enlightenment thinkers, such as John Locke, Thomas Jefferson, Montesquieu, and David Hume, have all studied and felt Cicero’s influence through borrowing his thoughts and phrases  The first century critic Quintilian said that Cicero was “the name, not of a man, but of eloquence itself.” (History.com)  Cicero’s philosophy and ideals are thought to have greatly influenced the Renaissance  Translations of Cicero’s works are often the basis of European philosophical studies  The modern era has been greatly influenced by Cicero’s work, although it does face some criticism for his discrepancy in thought and action which is revealed from his letters

Works Cited        speech-lobby-hsc5407_low.jpg speech-lobby-hsc5407_low.jpg   Bloody-knife-sketch.jpg Bloody-knife-sketch.jpg