Select Orations of Marcus Tullius Cicero, With Explanatory Notes, and a Special Dictionary

by Marcus Tullius Cicero

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446 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1842

About the author

Born 3 January 106 BC, Arpinum, Italy
Died 7 December 43 BC (aged 63), Formia, Italy

Marcus Tullius Cicero was a Roman philosopher, statesman, lawyer, political theorist, and Roman constitutionalist. Cicero is widely considered one of Rome's greatest orators and prose stylists.

Alternate profiles:
Cicéron
Marco Tullio Cicerone
Cicerone

Note: All editions should have Marcus Tullius Cicero as primary author. Editions with another name on the cover should have that name added as secondary author.

Reviews

[Ken Ryu · Rating 4 out of 5]

This review is of the Gutenberg book. The book has two primary sections. The 14 Philippic against Marcus Antonius and Cicero's orations on dialectics.

First the Philippics. Wow. These 14 speeches by Cicero to the Roman Senate took place in the year after the murder of Julius Caesar. Cicero was an unabashed backer and apologist for his good friend Brutus. He took it upon himself to denounce Marcus Antonius and champion Brutus. Although he did not trust the youthful Octavius Caesar, he sided with the ambitious adopted son of Julius against his hated rival Marcus Antonius. These 14 speeches are full of vitriol. He pulls no punches and denounces Marcus Antonius as a drunkard, a philander, a murderer, a fool, a thief, a corrupt politician and an enemy of the state. He continues his attack on Antonius through the chaos as Octavius, Antonius and Brutus vie for control following the power vacuum following Julius Caesar's assassination. Cicero realizes that he was risking his life with his antagonistic behavior, and he is correct. Cicero was beheaded by Antonius' loyalists and his decapitated head was presented to a gleeful Antonius.

The second half of the book are Cicero's instructions and thoughts on public speaking. He advises on how to deliver and craft a powerful speech. He is meticulous in breaking down exact phrasing and cadence. He is carrying on the works of Plato and especially Aristotle who literally wrote the book on these subjects. He also delves into legalistic philosophy and strategy to win an argument. He offers ways to use superior delivery, thoughtfully ordering the key points, preparing with facts, past cases, historical events, and legal policy knowledge, and manipulating language with synonyms, antonyms and phrasing to win challenging cases and arguments. A bit dry and a continuation of Aristotle's work, but certainly a brilliant thinker, orator, legal mind, and political tactician.

The Phillipics are more entertaining due to the intensity and historical backdrop than the dialectics. If you are looking for the source of Cicero's inspiration on that topic, start with Aristotle and you can skip this more loquacious and detailed variation of that theme.

[Maurice Halton · Rating 5 out of 5]

My Grandfather's copy. Cicero's most important orations.