Cicero

Marcus Tullius Cicero ( SISS-ər-oh, Classical Latin: [ˈmaːrkʊs ˈtʊlli.ʊs ˈkɪkɛroː]; 3 January 106 BC – 7 December 43 BC) was a Roman statesman, lawyer, scholar, philosopher, orator, and writer who tried to uphold optimate principles during the political crises of the Roman Republic that led to the establishment of the Roman Empire. The extensive writings of Cicero include treatises on rhetoric, philosophy, and politics. He is considered one of Rome's greatest orators and prose stylists and the innovator of what became known as "Ciceronian rhetoric". Cicero was educated in Rome and in Greece. He came from a wealthy municipal (municipium) family of the Roman equestrian order, and served as consul in 63 BC. Cicero greatly influenced both ancient and modern reception of the Latin language. A substantial percentage of his work has survived, and he was admired by ancient and modern authors alike. He adapted the arguments of the chief schools of Hellenistic philosophy in Latin and coined a large portion of Latin philosophical vocabulary via lexical innovation (e.g. neologisms such as evidentia, generator, humanitas, infinitio, qualitas, and quantitas), almost 150 of which were the result of translating Greek philosophical terms. Although he was an accomplished orator and successful lawyer, Cicero believed his political career was his most important achievement. During his consulship in 63 BC, he suppressed the Catilinarian conspiracy; however, because he had summarily and controversially executed five of the conspirators without trial, he was exiled in 58 but recalled the next year. Spending much of the 50s unhappy with the state of Roman politics, he took a governorship in Cilicia in 51 and returned to Italy on the eve of Caesar's civil war. Supporting Pompey during the war, Cicero was pardoned after Caesar's victory. After the assassination of Caesar in 44 BC, he led the Roman Senate against Mark Antony, attacking him in a series of speeches (Philippicae). He elevated Caesar's heir Octavian to rally support against Antony in the ensuing violent conflict (War of Mutina); however, after Octavian and Antony reconciled to form the Second Triumvirate (with Lepidus), Cicero was proscribed and executed in late 43 BC while attempting to escape Italy for safety. His severed hands and head were then displayed on the Rostra. Cicero's hands and head were taken by order of Antony and displayed to represent the repercussions of his anti-Antonian actions (notably his Philippicae) as a writer and as an orator respectively. Petrarch's rediscovery of Cicero's letters is often credited for initiating the 14th-century Renaissance in public affairs (res publica), humanism, and classical Roman culture. According to Polish historian Tadeusz Zieliński, "the Renaissance was above all things a revival of Cicero, and only after him and through him of the rest of Classical antiquity." The peak of Cicero's authority and prestige came during the 18th-century Enlightenment, and his impact on leading Enlightenment thinkers and political theorists such as John Locke, David Hume, Montesquieu, and Edmund Burke was substantial. His works rank among the most influential in global culture, and today still constitute one of the most important bodies of primary material for the writing and revision of Roman history, especially the last days of the Roman Republic.