Cicero: Philippics II

by Marcus Tullius Cicero

~Cicero's great polemic against Antony, a literary masterpiece, is here made available to Latin students early in their reading programme and to students of classical civilisation. The introduction to this edition deals with the historical setting, Roman rhetoric and Cicero's style while the notes are mainly literary; not historical.

Genres: History, Classics

254 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1963

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


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

[Uroš Đurković]

“Na meni je, gospodo senatori, da čak i poželim umreti, sad kada sam okončao sve poslove i izvršio poverene mi dužnosti. Imam samo ove dve želje: jednu, da umirući ostavim Rimljane u slobodi - ništa veće od toga besmrtni bogovi ne mogu da mi daju - i drugu, da svaki čovek dobije ono što mu i sleduje prema njegovim zaslugama za državu.” (209)

[Ageless Tailoress]

My classics teacher said if you only read one Philippic in your life, read the 2nd one: so I did. I LOVED it! Cicero is so sassy and clever, and reading all the insults he throws at Anthony while simultaneously furthering the Liberators' cause was very fun. If you are new to Roman text and/or to Cicero I would recommend the 2nd Philippic as well because even though its long (117 verses) there's enough wittiness within to make it an enjoyable read. It also was the base of my term paper for the class I spoke of earlier in my review, in which I aruged the closing verses is a direct threat against Mark Antony.

[Eric Komar]

Mister Cicero modeled this particular oration (although delivered as a pamphlet to the Roman Senate) off of Demosthenes' *On The Crown* delivered about three hundred years earlier. And it shows. The peroration of this oration is the most masculine thing I've ever read.

Some people get their ideas of what a man is from contact sports. I get my idea of what a man is from Cicero and Demosthenes.

I recommend the 1872 translation (which keeps the Victorian grandeur) by E. S. Shuckburgh. It can be located easily online.

[Lucy]

His actions and morals aside, I LOVE ANTONIUS. Cicero could never make me hate him. This argument is the ultimate straw man. Can’t blame a guy for partying too hard and being a romantic. And what, was he meant to be wearing clothes at the LUPERCALIA?!

[Jessie Sonnen]

If you ever thought that politicians used to be kinder to each other, you thought wrong

[Margo]

a surprising amount of dick jokes