CICERO, MARCUS TULLIUS, the greatest Roman orator; born in Arpinun 106 B. C. His family was of equestrian rank and his father, though living in re tirement, was a friend of some of the chief public men. He received the best education available, studied philosophy and law, became familiar with Greek literature, and acquired some military knowledge from serving a campaign in the Marsic war. At the age of 25 he came forward :IS a pleader, and having undertaken the defense of Sextus Roscius, who was accused of parricide, procured his acquittal. He visited Greece 79 B. C., conversed with the philosophers of all the schools, and profited by the instruction of the masters of oratory. Here he formed that close friendship with Atticus of which his letters furnish such interest ing evidence. He also made a tour in Asia Minor and remained some time at Rhodes, where he visited the most dis tinguished orators and took part in their exercises. On his return to Rome his dis plays of eloquence proved the value of his Grecian instruction, and he became one of the most distinguished orators in the forum.
In 75 B. C. he was appointed qurcs tor of Sicily, and behaved with such justice that the Sicilians gratefully re membered him and requested that he would conduct their suit against their governor Verres. He appeared against this powerful robber, and the crimes of Verres were painted in the liveliest colors in his immortal speeches. Seven of the Verrine orations are preserved, but only two of them were delivered, and Verres went into voluntary exile. After this suit Cicero was elected to the office of edile, 70 B. C., became prmtor in 67, and consul in 63. It was now that he suc ceeded in defeating the conspiracy of CATILINE (q. v.), after whose fall he re ceived greater honors than had ever be fore been bestowed upon a Roman citizen. He was hailed as the savior of the state and the father of his country, and thanks givings in his name were voted to the gods. But Cicero's fortune had now reached the culminating point, and soon was to decline. The Catilinarian con spirators who had been executed had not been sentenced according to law, and Cicero, as chief magistrate, was responsi ble for the irregularity. Publius Clodius, the tribune of the people, raised such a storm against him that he was obliged to go into exile (58 B. C.) On the fall of
the Clodian faction he was recalled to Rome, but he never succeeded in regain ing the influence he had once possessed. In 52 B. C. he became nroecnsul of Cilicia, a province which he administered with eminent success. As soon as his term of office had expired he returned to Rome (Jan., 49 B. C.) , which was threatened with serious disturbances owing to the rupture between Csar and Pompey. He espoused the cause of Pompey, but after the battle of Pharsalia he made his peace with Cwsar, with whom he continued to all appearance friendly, and by whom he was kindly treated, until the assassina tion of the latter (44 B. c.).
He now hoped to regain his political influence. The conspirators shared with him the honor of an enterprise in which no part had been assigned him; and the less he had contributed to it himself the more anxious was he to justify the deed and pursue the advantages which it of fered. Antony having taken Cmsar's place, Cicero composed those admirable orations against him, delivered in 43 B. C., which are known to us by the name of Philippics (after the speeches of De mosthenes against Philip of Macedon).
His implacable enmity toward Antony in duced him to favor young Octavianus, who professed to entertain the most friendly feelings toward him. Octavi anus, however, having possessed himself of the consulate, and formed an alliance with Antony and Lepidus, Cicero was proscribed. In endeavoring to escape from Tusculum, where he was living when the news of the proscription ar rived, he was overtaken and murdered by a party of soldiers 43 B. c.; and his head and hands were publicly exhibited in the forum at Rome.
Cicero's eloquence has always remained a model. After the revival of learning he was the most admired of the ancient writers; and the purity and elegance of his style will always place him in the first rank of Roman classics. His works, which are very numerous, consist of ora tions; philosophical, rhetorical, and moral treatises; and letters to Atticus and other friends. The life of Cicero was written by Plutarch, and there are modern lives by Middleton, Forsyth, and others.