Cicero

Marcus Tullius Cicero's life coincided with the decline and fall of the Roman Republic, and he was an important actor in many of the significant political events of his time. His writings are now a valuable source of information to us about those events, and his literary legacy had enormous influence in the West through the mid-15th century.

Cicero began his political career as an orator and lawyer. He was elected to each of the principle Roman offices on his first try. Having held office automatically made him a member of the Roman Senate.

During his term as consul in 63 b. c.e. he was responsible for unraveling and exposing a conspiracy to take over the Roman state by force. Five of the conspirators were put to death without trial on Cicero's orders. Later, during the political struggles between Julius Caesar and Pompey, this action was used as an excuse to send Cicero—a stanch supporter of the Republic—into exile.

After less than two years of exile, he was allowed to return to Rome but not to take part in politics. When Caesar was murdered in 44 B. C.E., Cicero hoped the Republic would be restored. He made a series of speeches to the Senate, known as the Philippics, that made him many political enemies, and the following year he, his brother, and his nephew were killed while trying to flee Italy.

Cicero felt philosophy should serve politics, and his philosophical writings sought to defend the Roman Republic. The politicians of his time, he believed, were corrupt and no longer possessed the virtuous character that had been the main attribute of Romans in the early days. This loss of virtue was, he believed, the cause of the Republic's difficulties. He said the Republic could only be renewed if the Roman elite would improve their character and commit themselves first and foremost to individual virtue and social stability.

Philosophy was an activity in which Greece (and especially Athens) still held the lead. To make philosophy more accessible to the Romans, Cicero drew on an idealized version of Roman history to provide examples of appropriate conduct. He also created many new Latin words for Greek philosophical concepts, including the Latin words that eventually gave us the English words morals, property, individual, science, image, and appetite. Cicero also summarized in Latin many of the beliefs of the primary Greek philosophical schools of the time, which is how we know about them today.

While he is not as widely read today, in previous centuries he was considered one of the great philosophers of the ancient era. Probably the most notable example of his influence is St. Augustine's claim that it was Cicero's Hortensius (an exhortation to philosophy, the text of which is unfortunately lost) that turned him away from his sinful life and toward philosophy, and ultimately, to God.

In both Greek and Latin that students used to sharpen their oration skills.

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The Latin Alphabet

Like so much of Rome's culture, its alphabet had Greek and Etruscan roots. Today, most of the Western world still uses the Latin alphabet, with some minor changes. The Romans did not have the letters J, U, or W. J evolved out of the letter I, and some English words that begin with J started with an I in their Latin form. For example, the Latin ius, or law, became the root for such English words as judge and judicial. Both U and W developed out of V. In Latin, V could be spoken with either a W or U sound. So, for example, in Roman times ius would have been written as iVs.

The reign of Augustus marked what modern historians call the Golden Age of Roman literature. The noted writers of the Republic focused on drama and non-fiction, but the writers of this Golden Age were mostly poets. They often wrote about similar themes, especially the glory of Rome in the past and its new-found glory under Augustus. Most famous of these poets today is Virgil (70-19 B. C.E.). His Aeneid is the best-known version of the story of Aeneas, the legendary ancestor of Romulus. The poem describes how Aeneas was forced out of Troy, landed at Carthage, then finally settled in the Italian peninsula. Virgil wrote that Jupiter himself chose the Romans to achieve their great success:

A race shall rise

All powerful. . . you will see them

By virtue of devotion rise to glories

Not men nor gods have known

For centuries, until about 1900, every educated Westerner knew Virgil’s work in its original form, since schools regularly taught Latin. The Aeneid is still read today, although usually in translation. Virgil’s writing style and themes influenced many Roman writers and later English poets, such as John Spenser, William Shakespeare, and John Milton.

The other major poets of the Golden Age include Horace (658 B. C.E.) and Ovid (43 B. C.E.-17 c. e). Horace was famous for his short poems, called odes, which dealt with a variety of topics ranging from daily activities to philosophy. Among his memorable lines is this one, taken from his first book of odes: “It is sweet and honorable to die for one’s country” (as quoted in Barlett’s Quotations). That notion fit in well with the Roman value of sacrifice, especially for the state. Ovid is best remembered today for a series of books called The Metamorphoses. The

Poet traces the history of the world, up to the time of Julius Caesar, and provides information on the Greek gods and goddesses adopted by the Romans. For centuries, artists and writers used scenes from The Metamorphoses in their works, and in 2002, a staged version of some of these stories became a hit play in New York City.

Under Claudius and Nero, another group of talented writers emerged, though not as polished as the generation before them. Later literary critics called this period the Silver Age. Seneca the Younger (c. 4 B. C.E.-65 C. E.), was Nero’s teacher. His many writings included tragic plays, essays, and a book on science. Seneca often focused on morality in his works. Another scientific writer was Pliny the Elder (23-79), who