The Letters of Cicero

By Shannon Frampton

Marcus Tillius

Cicero

Image accessed 18th July 2016 @

http://ancientrome.ru/art/artwork
en/img.htm?id=871

Timeline of the Life of

Cicero

Born in Arpinum- 106 BCE

First case argued in 81 BCE
Elected quaestor in 75 BCE
Elected Praetor 66 BCE
Elected Consul in 63 BCE
Exiled
Died 43 BCE

Early Life and Education of

Cicero
Born to a wealthy but not political family in Arpinum
Educated in Greek and Latin Philosophy
Served in Military under Pompeus Strabo the father of
Pompey.(Ciceros ally for most of his political career)
Studied Roman law under Quintis Mucius Scaevola
Began political career as quaestor in Sicily

Political Career of Cicero

Appointed Quaestor in 77
Appointed praetor (important judicial office)
Gives first important political speech in 66
Defends Pompey to senate+ argues for Pompeys
appointment to head campaign in Anatolia

Appointed consul in 63
Foils plot of armed rebellion by Caitiline.
Hailed as the father of the country by ____
Highlight of Political Career

Political Career of Cicero

Refuses Caesars invitation to ally with the first
Triumvirate ( Pompey, Caesar + Cassus)
Sent into exile in 58 after Publius Clodius, who he had
angered previously, becomes tribune
Returns to Rome after allying with Caesar, Cassus and
Pompey under pressure from Pompey
Sides with Pompey after Civil War between Pompey and
Caesar breaks out
Caesar wins, Cicero goes back into exile
Cicero eventually receives a pardon from Caesar
Cicero was not invited to participate in assassination of
Caesar + was not present in the senate when it happened

Political Career of Cicero

Tried to ally with Octavian (later Augustus) to
pressure the senate to declare war on Marc Antony
Octavian later won the Consulship and entered into
the Second Triumvirate with Antony and Marcus
Aemilius Lepidus

Political Career of Cicero

The encyclopedia Britannica summarizes the
political career and character of Cicero in the
following
wayconstantly
:
In politics Cicero
denigrated his opponents and
exaggerated the virtues of his friends. As a new man, a man
without noble ancestry, he was never accepted by the dominant
circle ofOptimates, and he attributed his own political
misfortunes after 63 partly to the jealousy, partly to the spineless
unconcern, of the complacent Optimates. The close political
association with Pompey for which he longed was never achieved.
He was more ready than some men to compromise ideals in order
to preserve the republic, but, though he came to admit in theDe
republicathat republican government required the presence of a
powerful individualan idealized Pompey perhapsto ensure its
stability, he showed little appreciation of the intrinsic weaknesses
of Roman republican administration.

Letters of Cicero
Between 67 and 43 BCE- more than 900 letters are extant
835 of these were written by Cicero himself
Epistulae ad Atticum (68- 43 BCE) : 416 letters addressed to
Titus Pomponius Atticus (a knight who was a close personal
friend and financial advisor to Cicero)
Epistulae ad Familiares(62-43 BCE) 419 letters addressed to
various friends and relatives
Epistulae ad Brutum (34 BC) Letters addressed to Brutus
Epistulae ad Quintum Fratem (60/5954 BC) letters addressed
to his brother
Many letters including letters to Octavian, Antony and Pompey
do not survive. It is suspected that many letters were supressed
for political reasons
The letters of Cicero are an incredibly important historical
resource
The letters provide detailed recounts of last part of the Roman
Republic that would be otherwise unavailable. Moreover they
provide dates for many of the events during the civil wars.

Letters of Cicero
Between 67 and 43 BCE- more than 900 letters are extant
835 of these were written by Cicero himself
Epistulae ad Atticum (68- 43 BCE) : 416 letters addressed to
Titus Pomponius Atticus (a knight who was a close personal
friend and financial advisor to Cicero)
Epistulae ad Familiares(62-43 BCE) 419 letters addressed to
various friends and relatives
Epistulae ad Brutum (34 BC) Letters addressed to Brutus
Epistulae ad Quintum Fratem (60/5954 BC) letters addressed
to his brother
Many letters including letters to Octavian, Antony and Pompey
do not survive. It is suspected that many letters were supressed
for political reasons
The letters of Cicero are an incredibly important historical
resource
The letters provide detailed recounts of last part of the Roman
Republic that would be otherwise unavailable. Moreover they
provide dates for many of the events during the civil wars.

Letters of
Cicero

LV (A III,3)
TO ATTICUS (AT ROME)
Vibo, APRIL
I hope I may see the day when I shall thank you
for having Compelled me to remain alive! At
present I thoroughly repent it. But I beg you to
come and see me at Vibo at once, to which
town I have for several reasons directed my
journey.1But if you will only come there, I shall
be able to consult you about my entire journey
and exile. If you don't do so, I shall be surprised,
but I feel sure you will.

Letters of
Cicero

This letter written to his dear friend Atticus near

the beginning of his exile, expresses Ciceros
distress at his political downfall. It is written in
the same melancholic tone as many of his
letters from this period. This letter indicates the
close relationship between Atticus and Cicero,
as well as Ciceros own despair at having to go
into exile. It also suggests the high stakes of
Ciceros position at the time and his reliance on
the friendship of Atticus.

Letters of
To His Brother Quintus (on His Way to Rome) Thessalonica, 15
Cicero
June, 58 B.C.

Brother! Brother! Brother! did you really fear

that I had been induced by some angry feeling
to send slaves to you without a letter? Or even
that I did not wish to see you? I to be angry with
you! Is it possible for me to be angry with you?
Why, one would think that it was you that
brought me low! Your enemies, your
unpopularity, that miserably ruined me, and not
I that unhappily ruined you! The fact is, the
much-praised consulate of mine has deprived
me of you, of children, country, fortune; from
you I should hope it will have taken nothing but

Letters of
To His Brother Quintus (on His Way to Rome) Thessalonica, 15
Cicero
June, 58 B.C.

Certainly on your side I have experienced

nothing but what was honourable and
gratifying: on mine you have grief for my fall
and fear for your own, regret, mourning,
desertion painful or more wretched could, I
think, have happened to the most affectionate
and united of brothers - was a less misery
than would have been such a meeting
followed by such a parting. Now, if you can,
though I, whom you always regarded as a
brave man, cannot do so, rouse yourself and
collect your energies in view of any contest

Letters of
To His Brother Quintus (on His Way to Rome) Thessalonica, 15
Cicero
June, 58 B.C.

I hope, if my hope has anything to go upon,

that your own spotless character and the love
of your fellow citizens, and even remorse for
my treatment, may prove a certain protection
to you. But if it turns out that you are free
from personal danger, you will doubtless do
whatever you think can be done for me. In
that matter, indeed, many write to me at
great length and declare content with these
endless miseries of ours; among which, after
all, there is no discredit for any wrong thing
done - sorrow is the beginning and end,

Letters of
Cicero
To His Brother Quintus (on His Way to Rome) Thessalonica, 15
June, 58 B.C.

As to my daughter and yours and my

young Cicero, why should I recommend
them to you, my dear brother? Rather I
grieve that their orphan state will cause
you no less sorrow than it does me. Yet as
long as you are uncondemned they will
not be fatherless. The rest, by my hopes
of restoration and the privilege of dying in
my fatherland, my tears will not allow me
to write! Terentia also I would ask you to
protect, and to write me word on every
subject. Be as brave as the nature of the

Letters of
Cicero
To His Brother Quintus (on His Way to Rome) Thessalonica, 15
June, 58 B.C.

This is a letter to Ciceros younger brother

Quintus. It suggests a close relationship
between the two brothers. In it Cicero
comforts his younger brother assuring him
that he harbours no resentment towards
him. He also decries the idea that Ciceros
exile is Quintus fault. Cicero also gives
custody of his children to his brother in
the event of his death. Like, the letters to
Atticus from this period the frenzied and
sad tone of the letter suggests Ciceros
distress at his exile.

Rediscovery of the
Letters
In 1345 Plutarch (Italian poet and humanist)
discovered the Ciceros letters to Atticus to in
Verona. Many scholars date the beginning of
the Renaissance to this discovery.
Cicero is often considered the father of
ideas of justice and law. He was a significant
influence on thinkers such as Locke, Hume
and later Jefferson.

Works Cited

"Ancient History Sourcebook: Cicero: Selected Letters."Internet

History Sourcebooks. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 July 2016.
"Cicero (106-43 BCE)."Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy.
Encyclopedia of Philosophy, n.d. Web. 18 July 2016.
History.com Staff. "Marcus Tullius Cicero."History.com. A&E Television
Networks, 2009. Web. 19 July 2016.
N.p., n.d. Web.