The personal life of Marcus Tullius Cicero provided the underpinnings of one of the most significant politicians of the Roman Republic. Cicero, a Roman statesman, lawyer, political theorist, philosopher, and Roman constitutionalist, played a critical role in the transformation of the Roman Republic into the Roman Empire. A contemporary of Julius Caesar, Cicero is widely considered one of Rome's greatest orators and prose stylists.Rawson, E.: Cicero, a portrait (1975) p. 303Haskell, H.J.: This was Cicero (1964) pp. 300–01
Cicero is generally perceived to be one of the most versatile minds of ancient Rome. He introduced the Romans to the chief schools of Greek philosophy and created a Latin philosophical vocabulary, distinguishing himself as a linguist, translator, and philosopher. An impressive orator and successful lawyer, Cicero probably thought his political career his most important achievement. Today, he is appreciated primarily for his humanism and philosophical and political writings. His voluminous correspondence, much of it addressed to his friend Atticus, has been especially influential, introducing the art of refined letter writing to European culture. Cornelius Nepos, the 1st-century BC biographer of Atticus, remarked that Cicero's letters to Atticus contained such a wealth of detail "concerning the inclinations of leading men, the faults of the generals, and the revolutions in the government" that their reader had little need for a history of the period.Cornelius Nepos, Atticus 16, trans. John Selby Watson.
During the chaotic middle period of the first century BC, marked by civil wars and the dictatorship of Gaius Julius Caesar, Cicero championed a return to the traditional republican government. However, his career as a statesman was marked by inconsistencies and a tendency to shift his position in response to changes in the political climate. His indecision may be attributed to his sensitive and impressionable personality; he was prone to overreaction in the face of political and private change. "Would that he had been able to endure prosperity with greater self-control and adversity with more fortitude!" wrote C. Asinius Pollio, a contemporary Roman statesman and historian.Haskell, H.J.:"This was Cicero" (1964) p. 296Castren and Pietilä-Castren: "Antiikin käsikirja" /"Handbook of antiquity" (2000) p. 237
Childhood and family Cicero was born January 3, 106 BC, in Arpinum (modern-day Arpino), a hill town south of Rome. The Arpinians received Roman citizenship in 188 BC, but had started to speak Latin rather than their native Volscian before they were enfranchised by the Romans.Rawson, E.: Cicero, a portrait (1975) p. 1 The assimilation of nearby Italian communities into Roman society, which took place during the 2nd and 1st centuries, made Cicero's future as a Roman statesman, orator and writer possible. Although a great master of Latin rhetoric and composition, Cicero was not "Roman" in the traditional sense; he was quite self-conscious of this for his entire life.
During this period in Roman history, if one was to be considered "cultured", it was necessary to be able to speak both Latin and Greek. The Roman upper class often preferred Greek to Latin in private correspondence, recognizing its more refined and precise expressions, and its greater subtlety and nuance. Knowledge about Greek culture and literature was extremely influential for upper class Roman society. When crossing the Rubicon in 49 BC, one of the most symbolic and infamous events in Roman history, Caesar is said to have quoted the Athenian playwright Menander.Plutarch: "Lives" p. 874 Greek was already being taught in Arpinum before the city was allied with Rome, which made assimilation into Roman society relatively seamless for the local elite.Rawson, E.: "Cicero, a portrait" (1975) p. 7. Cicero, like most of his contemporaries, was also educated in the teachings of the ancient Greek rhetoricians, and most prominent teachers of oratory of the time were themselves Greek.Rawson, E.: "Cicero, a portrait" (1975) p. 8 Cicero used his knowledge of Greek to translate many of the theoretical concepts of Greek philosophy into Latin, thus translating Greek philosophical works for a larger audience. He was so diligent in his studies of Greek culture and language as a youth that he was jokingly called the "little Greek boy" by his provincial family and friends. But it was precisely this obsession that tied him to the traditional Roman elite.Everitt, A.: "Cicero: The Life and Times of Rome's Greatest Politician" (2001) p. 35
Cicero's parents were Marcus Tullius Cicero and Helvia, and he had a brother, Quintus Tullius Cicero, who later married Pomponia, the sister of Cicero's friend Atticus. Cicero's family belonged to the local gentry, domi nobiles, but had no familial ties with the Roman senatorial class. Cicero was only distantly related to one notable person born in Arpinum, Gaius Marius,Rawson, E. "Cicero, a portrait" (1975) pp. 2–3 though he received little political benefit from this connection. In fact, it may have hindered his political aims, as Marius's political allies were defeated in a civil war during the 80s BC, and anyone connected to the Marian regime was viewed as a potential troublemaker.Rawson, E.: "Cicero, a portrait" (1975) p. 17
Cicero's father was a well-to-do eques (knight) with good connections in Rome. Though he was a semi-invalid who could not enter public life, he compensated for this by studying extensively. Although little is known about Cicero's mother, Helvia, it was common for the wives of important Roman citizens to be responsible for the management of the household. Cicero's brother Quintus wrote in a letter that she was a thrifty housewife.Rawson, E.: Cicero, a portrait (1975) pp. 5–6; Cicero, Ad Familiares 16.26.2 (Quintus to Cicero)
Cicero's cognomen, personal surname, is derived from the Latin for chickpea. Romans often chose down-to-earth personal surnames. Plutarch explains that the name was originally given to one of Cicero's ancestors who had a cleft in the tip of his nose resembling a chickpea. Plutarch adds that Cicero was urged to change this deprecatory name when he entered politics, but refused, saying that he would make Cicero more glorious than Scaurus ("Swollen-ankled") and Catulus ("Puppy").Plutarch, Cicero 1.3–5
Studies
According to Plutarch, Cicero was an extremely talented student, whose learning attracted attention from all over Rome,Plutarch, Cicero 2.2 affording him the opportunity to study Roman law under Quintus Mucius Scaevola.Plutarch, Cicero 3.2 In the same way, years later, a young Marcus Caelius Rufus and other young lawyers would study under Cicero; an association of the sort was considered a great honour to both teacher and pupil. He also had the support of his family's patrons, Marcus Aemilius Scaurus and Lucius Licinius Crassus. The latter was a model to Cicero both as an orator and as a statesman.
Cicero's fellow students with Scaevola were Gaius Marius Minor, Servius Sulpicius Rufus (who became a famous lawyer, one of the few whom Cicero considered superior to himself in legal matters), and Titus Pomponius. The latter two became Cicero's friends for life, and Pomponius (who received the cognomen "Atticus" for his philhellenism) would become Cicero's chief emotional support and adviser. "You are a second brother to me, an 'alter ego' to whom I can tell everything," Cicero wrote in one of his letters to Atticus.Rawson, Elizabeth: "Cicero, a portrait" (1975) pp. 14–15
In his youth, Cicero tried his hand at poetry, although his main interests lay elsewhere. His poetic works include translations of Homer and the Phaenomena of Aratus, which later influenced Virgil to use that poem in the Georgics. He also wrote, probably during his exile, a poem 'de consulatu suo' (On his Own Consulship), which has been, perhaps unfairly, ridiculed.
In the late 90s and early 80s BC Cicero fell in love with philosophy, which was to have a great role in his life, ultimately adopting Academic Skepticism. He would eventually introduce Greek philosophy to the Romans and create a philosophical vocabulary for it in Latin. The first philosopher he met was the Epicurean philosopher Phaedrus, when he was visiting Rome c. 91 BC. His fellow student at Scaevola's, Titus Pomponius, accompanied him. Titus Pomponius (Atticus), unlike Cicero, would remain an Epicurean for the rest of his life.
In 87 BC, Philo of Larissa, the head of the Academy that was founded by Plato in Athens about 300 years earlier, arrived in Rome. Cicero, "inspired by an extraordinary zeal for philosophy",Rawson: "Cicero, a portrait" (1975) p. 18 sat enthusiastically at his feet and absorbed Plato's philosophy, even calling Plato his god. He most admired Plato's moral and political seriousness, but he also respected his breadth of imagination. Cicero nonetheless rejected Plato's Theory of forms.
Shortly thereafter, Cicero met Diodotus, an exponent of Stoicism. Stoicism had already been introduced to Roman society during the previous generation, and it maintained popular appeal among the Romans. Cicero did not completely accept Stoicism's austere philosophy, but he did adopt a modified Stoicism prevalent during the time. Diodotus the Stoic became Cicero's protégé and lived in his house until his death. Diodotus demonstrated a truly Stoic attitude when he continued to study and teach despite losing his sight.
In the years 79–78 BC, Cicero continued his studies while on a tour of Greece, Asia Minor, and Rhodes. Some believed that Cicero left for Greece to avoid the anger of Sulla: according to Plutarch, Sulla was angered by Cicero's defence of Sextus Roscius in the Pro Roscio Amerino of 80 BC (as Cicero's argument challenged the authority of Sulla's freedman, Lucius Cornelius Chrysogonus),Plutarch, Cicero 3.2–5cf. Cicero, de Officiis 2.51 while it seems that Cicero also criticised Sulla in the lost speech In defence of the women of Arretium sometime in early 79 BC.Cic. Caec. 97. However, Cicero himself says his departure was to hone his oratorical skills, and in particular to strengthen his body, which at the time was dangerously frail.Cicero, Brutus 313–14 In Athens, he studied philosophy with Antiochus of Ascalon, the 'Old Academic' and initiator of Middle Platonism.Cicero, Brutus 315 In Asia Minor, he met the leading orators of the region and continued to study with them. Cicero then journeyed to Rhodes to meet with Apollonius Molon, a famous rhetorician who had previously taught Cicero while on a visit to Rome. Molon helped Cicero hone the excesses in his style, as well as train his body and lungs for the demands of public speaking.Cicero, Brutus 315–17
Cicero probably took part in the Eleusinian Mysteries as he wrote about them: "For it appears to me that among the many exceptional and divine things your Athens has produced and contributed to human life, nothing is better than those Eleusinian mysteries. For by means of them we have transformed from a rough and savage way of life to the state of humanity, and have been civilized. Just as they are called initiations, so in actual fact we have learned from them the fundamentals of life, and have grasped the basis not only for living with joy but also for dying with a better hope."
Marriages