Cicero, Marcus Tullius

Cicero, Marcus Tullius

(born 106 BC, Arpinum, Latium—died Dec. 7, 43 BC, Formiae) Roman statesman, lawyer, scholar, and writer. Born to a wealthy family, he quickly established a brilliant career in law and plunged into politics, then rife with factionalism and conspiracy. Cicero was elected consul in 63 BC. Of his speeches, perhaps the best known are those he made against Catiline, whose uprising he foiled. He vainly tried to uphold republican principles in the civil wars that destroyed the Roman Republic. After the death of Julius Caesar, he delivered his 14 Philippic orations against Mark Antony. When the triumvirate of Antony, Octavian (later Augustus), and Marcus Lepidus was formed, he was executed. His extant works include 58 orations and more than 900 letters, as well as many poems, philosophical and political treatises, and books of rhetoric. He is remembered as the greatest Roman orator and the innovator of what became known as Ciceronian rhetoric, which remained the foremost rhetorical model for many centuries.