Cicero
Marcus Tullius Cicero was born on the 3rd of January 106 BC in the hill town of Arpinum. His family belonged to the wealthy equestrian order, yet his name carried a humble origin. The cognomen Cicero derives from the Latin word for chickpea. Plutarch explains that an ancestor received this nickname because he had a cleft in the tip of his nose resembling the legume. Other famous Roman families bore names like Fabius or Lentulus, all derived from beans and peas. Cicero refused to change his name when entering politics. He declared he would make Cicero more glorious than Scaurus or Catulus. This small detail defined his early identity before he ever stepped into a courtroom.
At age fifteen in 90 BC, Cicero served under Pompey Strabo during the Social War. He later studied philosophy with Greek academics who fled the First Mithridatic War. In 87 BC, Philo of Larissa arrived in Rome as head of the Platonic Academy. Cicero sat at his feet with extraordinary zeal and absorbed Carneades' Academic Skeptic philosophy. He also studied Roman law under Quintus Mucius Scaevola. His fellow students included Servius Sulpicius Rufus and Titus Pomponius Atticus. These two men became friends for life. Cicero later called Atticus "as a second brother." Their lifelong correspondence preserved much of the era's political history.
In 81 BC, Cicero delivered Pro Quinctio, his first major court speech defending commercial transactions. The following year, he defended Sextus Roscius of Ameria on charges of parricide. Cicero accused Chrysogonus, a freedman of Sulla, of fabricating Roscius' father's proscription to steal family property. He won the case while tactfully avoiding incriminating Sulla himself. This success established his oratorical reputation. Four years later, he prosecuted Gaius Verres, governor of Sicily from 73 to 71 BC. Despite Verres hiring Quintus Hortensius, the best lawyer in Rome, Cicero collected evidence in Sicily and returned to win the case. His unique style set him apart from Hortensius' flamboyance. After this trial, Cicero was considered the greatest orator in Rome.
Cicero was elected consul for 63 BC with support from every unit of the centuriate assembly. Lucius Sergius Catilina led a conspiracy to overthrow the Republic using foreign armed forces. Cicero procured a senatus consultum ultimum to legitimize force against the rebels. He drove Catiline from the city with four vehement speeches known as the Catilinarian orations. These speeches remain outstanding examples of his rhetorical style. Catiline fled but left followers behind to start revolution from within. Cicero seized letters that incriminated five conspirators and forced them to confess before the Senate. The Senate debated their punishment. Julius Caesar argued for life imprisonment while Cato the Younger defended the death penalty. Cicero had the conspirators strangled in the Tullianum prison without formal trial. He received the honorific pater patriae for suppressing the rebellion.
In 58 BC, Publius Clodius Pulcher passed legislation denying fire and water to anyone who executed Roman citizens without trial. This law targeted Cicero for his actions during the Catilinarian conspiracy. Cicero went into exile on the 23rd of May 58 BC, arriving at Thessalonica. He wrote to Atticus describing his depression: "Your pleas have prevented me from committing suicide." Clodius confiscated Cicero's house and erected a temple of Liberty on the land. Titus Annius Milo later secured Cicero's recall through political maneuvering. Cicero returned to Italy on the 5th of August 57 BC, landing at Brundisium. A cheering crowd greeted him alongside his daughter Tullia. He convinced the College of Pontiffs that consecrating his land was invalid, allowing him to rebuild his home on the Palatine Hill.
Cicero accepted a promagistracy as proconsul of Cilicia in 51 BC. He arrived three months later around August. Prince Pacorus, son of King Orodes II of Parthia, had crossed the Euphrates and ravaged Syria. Cicero marched with two understrength legions to relieve Cassius in Antioch. His cavalry defeated another troop of Parthian horsemen while scouting ahead. He besieged the fortress of Pindenissum for forty-seven days before it fell in December. Cicero left the province on the 30th of July 50 BC, handing command to his brother Quintus. During his governorship, he restored calm by returning embezzled public property. He exempted from penalties those who returned stolen goods. His frugal outlays made him highly popular among natives.
After Julius Caesar's assassination on the 15th of March 44 BC, Cicero attacked Mark Antony in speeches called the Philippics. These speeches named after Demosthenes' denunciations of Philip II of Macedon. Antony was declared an enemy of the state when he refused to lift the siege of Mutina. Octavian reconciled with Antony and Lepidus to form the Second Triumvirate. The lex Titia passed on the 27th of November 43 BC gave each triumvir consular imperium for five years. They immediately proscribed their enemies including Cicero. On the 7th of December 43 BC, soldiers under Herennius and Popilius found Cicero leaving Formiae in a litter. He bowed to his captors and bared his neck to ease their task. Herennius slew him then cut off his head. Antony ordered his hands nailed to the Rostra alongside his head. Fulvia reportedly pulled out his tongue and jabbed it with her hairpin.
Quintilian declared that Cicero was "not the name of a man, but of eloquence itself." Cicero transformed Latin from a utilitarian language into a versatile literary medium. His works include six books on rhetoric and parts of seven on philosophy. Eighty-eight speeches were recorded but only fifty-two survive. Petrarch's rediscovery of Cicero's letters initiated the Renaissance in public affairs. Erasmus criticized humanist scholars who asserted no Latin word should be used unless appearing in Cicero's works. Voltaire called Cicero "the greatest as well as the most elegant of Roman philosophers." John Adams stated Cicero was greater than any statesman or philosopher united. Thomas Jefferson named Cicero among major figures contributing to American understandings of common sense rights. Nicolaus Copernicus found ancient views on earth motion within Cicero's writings.
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Common questions
When and where was Marcus Tullius Cicero born?
Marcus Tullius Cicero was born on the 3rd of January 106 BC in the hill town of Arpinum. His family belonged to the wealthy equestrian order, yet his name carried a humble origin.
What is the meaning behind the name Cicero derived from Latin?
The cognomen Cicero derives from the Latin word for chickpea because an ancestor received this nickname due to having a cleft in the tip of his nose resembling the legume. Other famous Roman families bore names like Fabius or Lentulus all derived from beans and peas.
How did Cicero gain fame as an orator during the Social War era?
Cicero delivered Pro Quinctio in 81 BC which was his first major court speech defending commercial transactions. He later won the case against Sextus Roscius of Ameria while tactfully avoiding incriminating Sulla himself establishing his oratorical reputation.
Why did Publius Clodius Pulcher force Cicero into exile in 58 BC?
Publius Clodius Pulcher passed legislation denying fire and water to anyone who executed Roman citizens without trial targeting Cicero for his actions during the Catilinarian conspiracy. Cicero went into exile on the 23rd of May 58 BC arriving at Thessalonica before returning to Italy on the 5th of August 57 BC.
What were the circumstances surrounding the death of Marcus Tullius Cicero?
On the 7th of December 43 BC soldiers under Herennius and Popilius found Cicero leaving Formiae in a litter and slew him then cut off his head. Antony ordered his hands nailed to the Rostra alongside his head after Fulvia reportedly pulled out his tongue and jabbed it with her hairpin.