Marcus Tullius Cicero 106 BC – 43 BC

Timeline of Cicero’s Political Life and Writings

• 106 BC – born to a thrifty housewife mother, who was of good birth and morals and a well educated father, who immersed himself in literature and learning
• 102 BC – Quintus (Cicero’s brother) is born
• 90s BC – Educated at Rome by Lucius Licinius Crassus; Later moves on to learn with Scaevola the Augur
• 91-88 –serves under Gnaeus Pompeius and Sulla; Italians win Roman citizenship
• 86 BC – writes On Invention
• 81 BC -- delivers For Quinctius, which is the oldest surviving oration in a civil trial
• 80 BC— appears in and wins his first criminal trial For Roscius of America
• 79-77 BC – marries Terentia and travels to Athens to study with Apollonius Molo
• 78 BC – Tullia born
• 75 BC – becomes quaster of Sicily (now considered a member of the Senate)
• 70 BC—prosecutes Verres and wins the trial against the governor of Sicily, who was exploiting his people
• 69 BC—elected plebeian aedile
• 69 BC—defends first senatorial client in For Fonteius
• 68 BC – begins to write the Letters to Atticus
• 66 BC—becomes praetor and is responsible for the extortion court
• 66 BC—delivers first political oration: On the Command of Pompey (On the Manilian Law) and appears in court again with the speech For     Cluentius
• 65 BC—Marcus born
• 65 BC—Cicero delivers For Cornelius and On the Egyptian Kingdom
• 64 BC—Campaigns for consulship and attacks Catiline and Antonius in Speech whilst a Candidate (In the White Toga)
• 63 BC—wins consulship and throughout the year delivers: On the Agrarian Law, For Gaius Rabirius on a Charge of Treason, Against Catiline, and For Murena
• 62 BC—participates in prosecution of conspirators, which includes the defense of Sulla
• 62 BC—begins to write Letters to Friends and continues until his death
• 61 BC—provides evidence against Clodius in the Bona Dea Trial but Clodius is acquitted, which creates an enemy
• 61 BC—starts writing Letters to his Brother Quintus, while Quintus is governing Asia
• 60 BC—writes poem On his Consulship and publishes collection of speeches he delivered three years ago
• 58 BC—exiled because of Clodius’ tribunate
• 57 BC—Returns to Rome; delivers On His Return to the Senate, On his return to the people, and On His House
• 56 BC—in court delivers For Sestius, Against Vatinius, For Caelius
• 56 BC—Forced to submit to triumvirs
• 55 BC—begins to write more philosophical and rhetorical works: On the Orator (finished in 55), On the Republic (published 51), On the Laws published after death)
• 54 BC—Letters to Brother Quintus ends
• 54-53 BC—Takes on several cases unwillingly, includes the defense of Vatinius and Gabinius
• 52 BC—elected onto board of augurs
• 51-50 BC—elected governor of Cilicia
• 49 BC—Civil War between Caesar and Pompey begin; Caesar visits Cicero, but Cicero allies with Pompey, but then becomes ill
• 48 BC—Pompey is defeated; Cicero return and awaits Caesar’s orders
• 47 BC—pardoned by Caesar and can return to Rome
• 46 BC—divorces Terential; delivers speeches and works for the recall of Pompeians (For Marcellus and For Ligaruys)
• 46 BC—continues writing rhetorical and philosophical works: Brutus; Stoic Paradoxes; Cato; The Orator; Classification (Divisions) of Oratory
• 45 BC—Tullia dies; writes Consolation; Hortensius; Academic Questions; On Ends; Tusculan Disputations
• 44 BC—Cicero leaves Rome after Caesar’s assassination; continues to write: On the Nature of the Gods; On Divination; On Fate; On Old Age; On Glory; On Friendship; The Topics; Second Philippic; On Duties
• 44 BC—Fights with Antony in the senate, leaves Rome for a few months, upon return delivers Third Philippic and the Fourth Philippic
• 43 BC— Delivers rest of Philippics—fifth to the fourteenth, which really makes an enemy of Antony
• 43 BC—December 7—Cicero murdered

Important Rhetorical and Philosophical Works:

**The only time that Cicero really wrote philosophical works was when he was forced out of politics and/or Rome. This is not a complete list.

Brutus (Cicero’s Brutus or History of Famous Orators)—consists of a dialogue between Brutus, Atticus, and Cicero. Cicero describes the characteristics, weaknesses and strengths, of hundreds of Roman orators. Although similar to the ideal orator, Cicero does imply that sometimes the orator must be able to lie at times in order to get their point across effectively.

On Fate—addresses whether or not human beings can truly have free will. He rejects the belief that fate really determines our actions and that humans can actually make their own life.

On Invention—a handbook for orators about the composition of arguments in four books, only two of which have survived. He wrote this as a teenager, and years later, he felt that other works had rendered it obsolete

On the Laws—Dialogue between Cicero, Quintus, and their friend Titus Pomponius Atticus. The men discuss Natural law, religious laws of Rome, and proposed reforms to the Roman Constitution. Cicero basically outlines the laws that would be enacted in an ideal city, where justice always prevails. The dialogue also addresses the gods, who contribute to the fairness of the state through caring, punishing, and rewarding the people.

On the Orator— the three books consist of a dialogue between Crassus, Scaevola, Orator, Cotta and Rufus. The men debate whether or not the ideal orator should serve as a moral guide of the state. More than just a rhetoric handbook, this text also included discussion of philosophical principles, and the danger in teaching men to become orators. Cicero also connects law, philosophy, and rhetoric to each other, arguing that the ideal orator would have a strong grasp of all three of these topics.

On the Republic— a text in six parts written in the form of a Socratic dialogue between Scipio Africanus Minor having conversations with a variety of others. The books address politicians of the time, Roman history and its constitution, role of justice in the government, education, and the qualities of an ideal citizen.

Stoic Paradoxes—Cicero lays out the six Stoic principles and attempts to make them more understandable and positive to his contemporary reader, who would have been extremely skeptical of the Stoics. Within the text, Cicero addresses how moral worth is the only good, virtue is enough to lead a man to happiness, all sins and virtues are equal, every fool is insane, and only wise men can be free and rich.

The Orator—Cicero writes a letter in which he defends his own oratorical style. He claims that the orator must be able to prove things to the audience, make them happy, and elicit emotional responses from them.

Topics of Argumentation—this text consists of a basic approach to the science of argument. He lists topics an orator must be able to discuss, such as law, rhetoric, and philosophy and various types of arguments that an orator might encounter. 

Works Consulted:

Smith, R.E. Cicero the Statesman. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1966. Print.

Stockton, David. Cicero: A Political Biography. London: Oxford UP, 1971. Print.

Tempest, Kathryn. Cicero: Politics and Persuasion in Ancient Rome. New York City: Continuum, 2011. Print.