Cicero
description: A famed Roman statesman and philosopher, Marcus Tullius Cicero (106-43 BCE) was known for both his contributions to politics via the Roman senate and his works on ethics, political philosophy, and rhetoric. Cicero was born into wealth and thus received a thorough education in Greece and Rome, and immediately embarked into the political life. His talent for oration quickly ensured his meteoric rise to the rank of praetor, delivering speeches both deliberative and judicial. In terms of his philosophy, Cicero was an avid scholar of Plato, Socrates, and Aristotle. Their influence can be observed in his conception of ethics, Cicero having borrowed the foundations for his virtue theory from the three. In Cicero’s work De Officiis, his model of virtue is similar to that of Plato’s—consisting of justice, prudence/wisdom, temperance, and courage (Cicero, Book I) (Plato, Book IV). Likewise, Cicero shared the belief that a virtuous life was a prerequisite to a truly happy one. However, Cicero disagreed on the case of rhetoric. Rejecting Plato’s assertion that all rhetoric was mere pandering independent from knowledge of the relevant subject (Gorgias 453b-465e), Cicero declared that rhetoric was an intricate art requiring expertise in the topic. Furthermore, much like Aristotle, Cicero believed that rhetoric was necessary for the progression of society. While Plato portrayed rhetoric as inherently evil, Cicero presented the opposite, culminating in his representation of the “ideal orator” (De Oratore, Book I). The works of Cicero, along with Plato and Aristotle, composed a significant portion of Petrarch’s revival of classical literature (see item “Petrarch” in “Political Philosophy of Classical Antiquity”). Cicero’s relevance to Early Modern Europe arises not just in his philosophy, but in the latter half of his life. Having been a firsthand witness to the ascension of Julius Caesar, the transition from a republic to a dictatorship provoked a power struggle between the senate …
source: Balsdon, John, and John Ferguson. "Marcus Tullius Cicero." Encyclopedia Britannica.October 4, 2018. Accessed November 16, 2018. https://www.britannica.com/biography/Cicero. Cicero, Marcus Tullius. De Oratore. Edited by E. H. Warmington. Translated by E. W. Sutton. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. Accessed November 16, 2018. https://archive.org/stream/cicerodeoratore01ciceuoft/cicerodeoratore01ciceuoft_djvu.txt. Cicero, Marcus Tullius. De Officiis. Translated by Walter Miller. New York, NY: MacMillan Company, 2014. September 29, 2014. Accessed November 16, 2018. http://www.gutenberg.org/files/47001/47001-h/47001-h.htm. Luiz, José. Bust of Cicero. September 24, 2016. Capitoline Museums, Rome. In Wikimedia. December 10, 2016. Accessed November 17, 2018. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Bust_of_Cicero_(1st-cent._BC)_-_Palazzo_Nuovo_-_Musei_Capitolini_-_Rome_2016.jpg. Plato. Gorgias. Translated by Chris Emlyn-Jones and Walter Hamilton. New York, NY: Penguin Books, 2004. Wiesner-Hanks, Merry. Early Modern Europe 1450-1789. 2nd ed. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2013.
date: Cicero (106-43 BC) Bust of Cicero (100 AD)
contributor: Moses Jehng
rights: Photo is Creative Commons