Cicero (55 page)
Authors: Anthony Everitt
Our knowledge of the late Republic has been enhanced by twentieth-century archaeology, especially through coins and inscriptions.
Modern literature on Cicero and the Roman Republic is multitudinous. (See Further Reading for full details of works mentioned in this and the next paragraph.) Information on further reading in English can be found in two excellent surveys, H. H. Scullard's standard textbook
From the Gracchi to Nero
, and Michael Crawford's analytical study
The Roman Republic
. Matthias Gelzer's masterpiece
Caesar, Politician and Statesman
, with full annotations, is perhaps the classic account of Caesar's life. Christian Meier's
Caesar
is authoritative and readable and, as well as giving a lively narrative of the life, offers a profound insight into the nature of Rome's constitutional crisis. Ronald Syme's great
The Roman Revolution
is forthright and challenging about Cicero's behavior. F. R. Cowell's
Cicero and the Roman Republic
is a thorough and readable account of the politics and economic and social development of ancient Rome.
Among previous books on Cicero to which the present work is indebted are the following: Gaston Boissier's delightful
Cicero and His Friends
, applying to its subject the perceptions of a nineteenth-century French man of the world, skeptical, witty and without illusions; scholarship has moved on, but this remains
a convincing evocation of a vanished society. Elizabeth Rawson's
Cicero
is the last full-length biography to have been published in Britain by an English author and is both scholarly and attractively written. T. N. Mitchell's two-volume
Cicero: The Ascending Years
and
Cicero: The Senior Statesman
constitutes an authoritative and monumentally comprehensive study.
The major classical authors cited above are available in the original with English translations, in Loeb Classical Library, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Mass.
Appian,
The Civil Wars
, trans. John Carter, Penguin Classics, 1996.
Caesar,
The Civil War
, trans. Jane F. Gardner, Penguin Classics, 1967.
âââ,
The Conquest of Gaul
, trans. S. A. Handford, Penguin Classics, 1951.
Catullus,
Odes
, trans. Peter Whigham, Penguin Classics, 1966.
Cicero,
Letters to Atticus and to His Friends
, ed. and trans. D. R. Shackleton Bailey, Penguin Classics, 1978.
âââ,
Selected Political Speeches
, trans. Michael Grant, Penguin Books, 1969.
âââ,
Works
, Loeb Classical Library, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Mass.
Plutarch,
The Fall of the Roman Republic
, trans. Rex Warner, Penguin Classics, 1958.
âââ,
The Makers of Rome
, trans. Ian Scott-Kilvert, Penguin Classics, 1964.
âââ,
Parallel Lives
, Loeb Classical Library, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Mass.
Polybius,
The Rise of the Roman Empire
, trans. Ian Scott-Kilvert, Penguin Classics, 1979.
Sallust,
The Jugurthine War; Conspiracy of Catiline
, trans. S. A. Handford, Penguin Classics, 1963.
Suetonius,
The Twelve Caesars
, trans. Robert Graves, revised Michael Grant, Penguin Classics, 1979.
Gaston Boissier,
Cicero and His Friends
, Ward, Lock, 1897, first published in France, 1865.
F. R. Cowell,
Cicero and the Roman Republic
, Penguin Books, 1948.
Michael Crawford,
The Roman Republic
, Fontana Collins, 1978.
Florence Dupont,
Daily Life in Ancient Rome
, Basil Blackwell, 1992.
Matthias Gelzer,
Caesar, Politician and Statesman
, Basil Blackwell, Oxford, with corrections 1969; first published in Germany, 1921.
Christian Meier,
Caesar
, HarperCollins, 1995, first published by Severin & Siedler, Germany, 1982.
T. N. Mitchell,
Cicero: The Ascending Years
and
Cicero: The Senior Statesman
, Yale University Press, 1979 and 1991.
Elizabeth Rawson,
Cicero
, Allen Lane, 1975.
H. H. Scullard,
From the Gracchi to Nero
, Routledge, 5th ed., 1982.
Ronald Syme,
The Roman Revolution
, Oxford University Press, 1939.
ACIâCicero,
Ad Caesarem iuniorem (frag.)
[
To the younger Caesar
]
AppâAppian,
The Civil Wars
ArchâCicero,
For Archias (Pro Archia)
AscâAsconius,
Commentaries on Five Speeches by Cicero
(Bristol University Press)
AttâCicero,
Letters to Atticus
(ed. Shackleton Bailey)
Bell civâCaesar,
The Civil War (Commentarii de bello civili)
Bell gallâCaesar,
The Conquest of Gaul (Commentarii de bello gallico)
BoissâGaston Boissier,
Cicero and His Friends
BrutâCicero,
Brutus
BrutusâCicero,
Letters to Brutus
(ed. Shackleton Bailey)
CaelâCicero,
In Defense of Caelius (Pro Caelio)
CastleâE. B. Castle,
Ancient Education and Today
(Pelican, 1961)
Cat IâCicero,
First Speech Against Catilina (In Catilinam I)
Cat IIâCicero,
Second Speech Against Catilina
Cat IVâCicero,
Fourth Speech Against Catilina (In Catilinam IV)
CatullâCatullus,
Odes (Carmina)
CluâCicero,
In Defense of Cluentius (Pro Cluentio)
CommâQuintus Tullius Cicero,
A Short Guide to Electioneering (Commentariolum petitionis)
Corn NepâCornelius Nepos,
Life of Atticus
(from
De viris illustribus)
De invâCicero,
On Invention (De inventione)
De orâCicero,
The Ideal Orator (De oratore)
DioâDio Cassius,
Roman History
DivâCicero,
Foretelling the Future (De divinatione)
DomâCicero,
About His House (De domo sua)
FamâCicero,
Letters to His Friends (Ad familiares)
(ed. Shackleton Bailey)
HaruspâCicero,
Concerning the Response of the Soothsayers (De haruspicum responsis)
Homer IlâHomer,
Iliad
(trans. R. Fagles, Viking, 1990)
Hor SatâHorace,
Satires (Sermones)
Imp PompâCicero,
On Pompey's Commission (De imperio Gn. Pompeii)
LactâLactantius,
Divine Institutes (Institutiones divinae)
LegâCicero,
On Law (De legibus)
Leg agâCicero,
On the Land Act (De lege agraria)
LucâLucan,
Pharsalia
(trans. Robert Graves, Penguin Classics, 1956)
MarcâCicero,
In Defense of Marcellus (Pro Marcello)
Mod DigâModestinus,
Digest (Digesta)
MurâCicero,
In Defense of Murena (Pro Murena)
NicâNicolaus,
Life of Augustus
Odfâ
Orationum deperditarum fragmenta
[Fragments of Lost Speeches] (ed. I. Puccioni, Milan)
OffâCicero,
Duties (De officiis)
Para StoicâCicero,
Stoic Paradoxes (Paradoxa Stoicorum)
PhilâCicero,
Philippics (Orationes Philippicae)
PlancâCicero,
In Defense of Plancius (Pro Plancio)
PlinyâPliny the Elder,
Natural History (Naturalis historia)
(trans. John F. Healy, Penguin Classics)
Plut BrutâPlutarch,
Life of Brutus
Plut CaesâPlutarch,
Life of Caesar
Plut CatâPlutarch,
Life of Cato
Plut CicâPlutarch,
Life of Cicero
Plut CrassâPlutarch,
Life of Crassus
Plut PompâPlutarch,
Life of Pompey
Plut SullâPlutarch,
Life of Sulla
Post redâCicero,
Speech to the People after His Return (Post reditum ad quirites)
QuintâCicero,
Letters to Quintus
QuintilâQuintilianus,
The Education of an Orator (Institutio oratoria)
RabâCicero,
In Defense of Caius Rabirius on a Charge of Treason (Pro C. Rabirio perduellionis)
RepâCicero,
On the State (De republica)
RoscâCicero,
In Defense of S. Roscius Amerinus (Pro S. Roscio Amerinó)
Sall Caesâ
Letter to Caesar (Epistula ad Caesarem)
Sall CatâSallust,
The Conspiracy of Catilina (Bellum Catilinae)
Sall InvâSallust,
Invective Against Cicero (In M. Tullium Ciceronem oratio)
SenâSeneca the Elder,
Suasoriae
SestâCicero,
In Defence of Sestius (Pro Sestio)
SIG
âSylloge Inscriptionum Graecorum
[
Collection of Greek Inscriptions
] (ed. W. Dittenberger)
SuetâSuetonius,
Life of Caesar
, in
The Twelve Caesars (De vita Caesarum)
TacâTacitus,
Dialogue on Orators (Dialogus de oratoribus)
TuscâCicero,
Conversations at Tusculum (Tusculanae disputationes)
Val MaxâValerius Maximus,
Memorabilia
VellâVelleius Paterculus,
History of Rome (Historia romana)
VerrâCicero,
First Speech Against Verres (In Verrem I)
1
“What a triumph” Hugh Brogan,
The Penguin History of the United States
(Penguin Books, 1999), p. 191.
The opening account of Caesar's murder through Cicero's eyes is based on Appian, Dio Cassius, Plutarch (lives of Caesar and Mark Antony), Suetonius and Nicolaus.
2
“You too, my son?”
Dio XLIV 19
and
Suet I 82
BC
Readers who wish to go beyond this summary account should read Cowell, Scullard and Crawford. Among the sources for the historical narrative from Tiberius Gracchus to Cicero's youth are Appian and Plutarch.
3
“rank, position, magnificence”
Clu LVI 154
4
Tribal or General Assembly. Two other types of assembly existed, the
concilium plebis
, which had the same membership as the
comitia tributa
minus the Patricians, and the
comitia curiata
, which was largely concerned with legal approvals.
5
“This was the first time”
Vell II 3 3
BC
The description of Cicero's childhood is based on Plutarch together with the evocation of Arpinum in
On law (De legibus)
. The section on education is indebted
to E. B. Castle. The historical account draws on Appian, Plutarch, Sallust and Diodorus Siculus.
6
“Whenever I can get out”
Leg II 1
“We consider”
Leg II 5
7
“With your courage”
Leg III 16 36
8
“This is what I prayed for!”
Hor Sat 6 1ff
.
9
“I am going to make my
cognomen” Plut Cic II 1
10
“how our mother in the old days”
Fam 351 (XVI 26)
“We rule the world”
Val Max VI 3
11
Twelve Tables
Leg I 21 55
12
“Didn't you learn your unbridled loquacity”
Sall Inv I 2
13
“The time which others spend”
Arch VI 13
14
“Caesar and Brutus also wrote”
Tac 21
“Our people are like Syrian slaves”
De or II 265
“For as far as I can cast my mind back”
Arch 148
15
“I love Pomponius”
Fam 63 (XIII 1)
16
Crassus's “swan song”
De or III 2â5
17
“We are not asking you to pardon”
Plut Sull
18
“No, please, I beg you”
Corn Nep IV 1
“He always belonged to the best party”
Boiss 137f
.
19
“the proscriptions of the rich”
Para Stoic VI 2 46
“Victories in the field”
Off I 74
“it appeared that the whole institution of the courts”
Brut LXXXIX 306
“Seeing that the whole state”
Plut Cic III 2
20
“that we do not recklessly and presumptuously assume”
De inv II 10 “Always be the best” Homer Il VI 247
BC
The description of the Forum, as well as being based on personal visits, draws on
The Roman Forum
(Electa, 1998); and that of Rome on Florence Dupont. The accounts of the Roscius, Verres and Cluentius trials are largely drawn from the relevant speeches by Cicero. For the characters and early careers of Pompey and Crassus, Plutarch has been used.
21
“planted in mountains”
Leg ag II 35 96
“Two of my shops”
Att 363 XIV 9
22
“not (as most do) to learn my trade in the Forum”
Brut XCI 312
“a disreputable victory”
Off II 27
23
“Personally, I am always very nervous”
Clu XVIII 51
“Why, you always come”
Dio XLVI 7