| Roman orator and statesman Date of Birth: Country: Italy |
Marcus Tullius Cicero ( BC) was a Roman orator, writer, and statesman who played a significant role in the development of Roman narrative prose. His life was marked by both great success and bitter adversity. Cicero achieved high positions, serving as consul in Rome and suppressing the conspiracy against the aristocratic republic led by Catiline. He also became proconsul of Cilicia and gained immense popularity through his defense and prosecution speeches, as well as literary treatises. However, he also experienced exile and harsh persecution during certain periods when fortune turned against him.
Cicero was a passionate advocate for freedom and the republic, defending his ideals through scathing speeches known as "invectives" or "denunciations." In 70 BC, his series of speeches against Gaius Verres, the governor of Sicily, caused such outrage that Verres was forced to go into exile before the trial even concluded. Cicero painted a damning portrait of a cruel and greedy man who engaged in the looting of valuable works of art and the unjust persecution of ordinary citizens. Through his speeches, Cicero also provided a bleak portrayal of the morals of his time, as the Roman Republic teetered on the brink of catastrophe.
Cicero's speeches against Lucius Sergius Catilina, delivered in 63 BC and later written in literary form, contributed to the "salvation of the state." These speeches played a role in suppressing the conspiracy, preventing the burning of Rome, and the massacre that could have followed. In a legal speech delivered in 61 BC in defense of the Greek poet Aulus Licinius Archias, whose citizenship rights were being unlawfully revoked, Cicero emphasized the moral and social value of artistic creation in elevating human beings. He stated, "These pursuits educate youth, bring joy to old age, adorn prosperity, provide solace and comfort in misfortune, bring joy in times of joy, do not burden us when we are abroad, keep watch with us at night, travel with us, and live with us in the countryside." This eloquent phrase was later modified by the Russian enlightener M. Lomonosov as follows: "Youth is nourished by the sciences, joy is provided to the elderly, in happy life they embellish it, they protect in times of misfortune."
Each of Cicero's speeches is a complete pamphlet with a sharp plot, corresponding to the event that prompted his passionate criticism or defense. His speeches are filled with anecdotes about famous people, novellas, examples of similar cases, vivid domestic scenes, vivid character portraits, fictional dialogues, quotes or sayings, jokes, and mockery. Cicero also ventured into other genres, writing a unique dialogue that imitated Plato's utopia titled "On the Republic" in 51 BC, followed by the unfinished dialogue "On the Laws."
According to Cicero, the "ideal" order is achieved through the principles of "justice," "reason," and "consent" between the Senate and the people, established by a special individual who possesses extensive knowledge and the art of oratory. This mastery is the subject of his treatise "On the Orator" (55 BC). Cicero also dedicated his works "On Old Age," "On Friendship," and "On Duties" (44 BC) to moral issues. In the latter, Cicero continues his socio-political utopia through instructions to his son Marcus Cicero, creating an image of an ideal citizen. Comparing autocratic rule to the betrayal of the state, which he describes as "the most abhorrent and detestable parricide against the homeland" and the "most heinous of all crimes" against humanity, Cicero writes, with Caesar in mind, "If anyone says that this passionate desire is morally excellent, then he is insane."
According to Voltaire, "On Duties" is the best work on moral philosophy ever written. In 44 BC, Cicero composed a philosophical dialogue called "Tusculan Disputations," dedicated to Marcus Junius Brutus, the future assassin of Caesar and a fellow enthusiast of philosophy. The dialogues mainly revolve around moral reflections on what troubles humans the most in their lives, vulnerabilities, contempt for death, overcoming pain, finding consolation in grief, passions, and virtues.
After the assassination of Julius Caesar in 44 BC, Cicero, following the tradition of the ancient Greek orator Demosthenes of the 4th century BC, whose speeches against the Macedonian king Philip II were called Philippics, delivered his own Philippics against the consul Mark Antony. In 14 pamphlets ( BC), Cicero called his opponent a braggart, scoundrel, fool, and coward, accusing him of possessing despicable human vices and threatening him with the fate of Catiline and the declaration of civil war.
Cicero became a victim of the ensuing persecution and was brutally murdered in 43 BC. His head was displayed on the Forum, where he had previously exposed social evil and defended justice.
Cicero's works, with their impassioned eloquence, captured the attention of the era of the French Revolution, as seen in the figures of Mirabeau and Robespierre. A.I. Radishchev and the Russian Decembrists viewed Cicero's struggle against despotism as a symbol of the "spirit of freedom."