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| Cicero |
QUOTE: A war is never undertaken by the ideal State, except in
defense of its honor or its safety. [De Re Publica, Book 3, Chapter 22]
AUTHOR: Cicero A.K.A Marcus Tullius Cicero (3 January 106 BC – 7 December 43 BC;
sometimes anglicized as Tully) was a Roman philosopher, statesman,
lawyer, orator, political theorist, consul and constitutionalist. He came from
a wealthy municipal family of the equestrian order, and is widely considered
one of Rome's greatest orators and prose stylists.
His influence on the Latin language was so
immense that the subsequent history of prose in not only Latin but European
languages up to the 19th century was said to be either a reaction against or a
return to his style. According to Michael Grant, "the influence of Cicero
upon the history of European literature and ideas greatly exceeds that of any
other prose writer in any language". Cicero introduced the Romans to the
chief schools of Greek philosophy and created a Latin philosophical vocabulary
(with neologisms such as humanitas, qualitas, quantitas,
and essentia) distinguishing himself as a linguist, translator, and
philosopher.
Petrarch's rediscovery of Cicero's letters is
often credited for initiating the 14th-century Renaissance in public affairs,
humanism, and classical Roman culture. According to Polish historian Tadeusz
Zieliński, "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 eighteenth-century
Enlightenment, and his impact on leading Enlightenment thinkers such as John
Locke, David Hume, and Montesquieu was substantial. His works rank among the
most influential in European 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.
Though he was an accomplished orator and
successful lawyer, Cicero believed his political career was his most important
achievement. It was during his consulship that the Second Catilinarian
Conspiracy attempted the government overthrow through an attack on the city
from outside forces, and Cicero suppressed the revolt by executing five
conspirators without due process. During the chaotic latter half of the 1st
century BC marked by civil wars and the dictatorship of Gaius Julius Caesar,
Cicero championed a return to the traditional republican government. Following
Julius Caesar's death Cicero became an enemy of Mark Antony in the ensuing
power struggle, attacking him in a series of speeches. He was proscribed as an
enemy of the state by the Second Triumvirate and subsequently murdered in 43
BC.
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