Known for the power and eloquence of his speeches, Cicero (106–43 BC) was a Roman statesman, lawyer, and philosopher who was celebrated as the greatest orator of his time. He was elected to a variety of offices during a turbulent period of Rome’s history and died fighting to preserve the city’s vanishing republican traditions.
Cicero, born Marcus Tullius Cicero, was from Arpinum, a town south of Rome. His father was a member of the aristocratic, or equestrian, class. Educated in both Latin and Greek, Cicero studied law and philosophy in Rome and traveled to Athens in 79 BC, where he took lessons in rhetoric. He married in the same year.
After returning from Greece, Cicero embarked on his political career, first winning appointment as a magistrate in the province of Sicily. He prosecuted the island’s Roman governor for corruption, a case that helped establish his reputation for honesty and rhetorical brilliance. Cicero then held a number of other positions that honed his expertise in Roman constitutional law until he was elected consul in 63 BC.
In the Roman Republic, two consuls were elected every year and were jointly responsible for running the government of Rome. During Cicero’s tenure, he foiled a plot called the Catiline conspiracy that sought to overthrow the republican government, and then gave four moving speeches urging the death penalty be implemented without trying the conspirators. In his speeches, Cicero swayed the reluctant Senate to support the executions by portraying himself as the republic’s savior: “Why should not I rejoice that my consulship has taken place almost by the express appointment of fate for the preservation of the republic?”
In the Roman civil war between Julius Caesar (100–44 BC) and Pompey (106–48 BC), Cicero took Pompey’s side but was pardoned by Caesar after his victory. Cicero was troubled by the dictatorial powers Caesar assumed, but was not involved in the assassination plot of 44 BC. After Caesar’s death, however, Cicero organized an effort in the Senate to block his successor, Mark Antony (83–30 BC), from taking power.
Antony, enraged, put Cicero on a hit list of his political enemies. The orator was cornered by Antony’s men and beheaded on December 7, 43 BC; he was sixty-three. In a grim testament to his oratorical skill, Cicero’s severed tongue was supposedly displayed in the Senate as a warning to Antony’s would-be critics.
ADDITIONAL FACTS
- Although he was not a part of the plot himself, Cicero urged amnesty for those who had been involved in the assassination of Julius Caesar on March 15, 44 BC.
- Unlike most other Roman politicians, Cicero served only briefly in the army and never used his military service to advance his political career. He fought in the Social War of 91–88 BC, a conflict between Rome and several other Italian cities that left him with a hatred of warfare and violence.
- The name Cicero is derived from the Latin name for a chickpea. According to Plutarch (c. 46–c. 120), one of the orator’s ancestors acquired the name because his nose resembled the seed.
