CIC'ERO, Uarcr5 T•i.mus (106-43 me.). The greatest orator .4 Rome. and one of the most illustrious of her statesmen and Men of letters, born at _krpintim -January 3, me. Dni. Ile belonged to an ancient family. of the eples trian order, and Was possessed of considerable influence in his native district. ilis father, him self a titan of culture, and desirous that his son ibould acquire an eminent position in the State, rennived him at. an early age to 1;ome. where. under the direction of the orator CI-assns. he was instrueted in the language and literature of Ilreeee, and in all the other of a liberal (dneation, in his sixteenth year he assumed the logyi r;•i/is, or manly toga, and was intro duced to the piddle life of a Roman eitizen. Ile now acquired a kmi•ledge of law, and underwent a et inplete course of training in oratory. At the time he studied philosophy under three successive instructors, of the Epicurean, Aca demic, and Stoic schools. and neglected no mental exercise, however arduous, which might con duce to his future eminence; being thus early of the opinion which he afterwards maintained in his treatise Dr Ora tore, that an orator should possess almost universal knowledge. With the exception of a brief campaign under Sul la, in the •sovial War, he passed his time in these pre liminary studies until his twenty-sixth year. NN hen he began to plead in public. In one of his earliest causes he distinguished himself by defending the rights of lloscius, a private citizen, against one of the favorites of Salta, who was then theta tor.
Soon after, for the benefit of his health, and to pursue his oratorical studies, lie traveled to the chief scats of learning in Greece and Asia, and in his return was regarded as second to no orator at the Roman bar. Having been elected qmestor (n.c. 761, he was appointed by lot to a government in Sicily• a post which he filled with great ability, and to the entire sat isfaction of those whom lie governed. Some years after his return lie laid the Sicilians under still greater obligation by his successful prosecu tion to their praetor, •erres, against whom he prepared no fewer than six orations, although the first had the effect of disheartening the accused so effectually that he voluntarily retired into exile. This was Cicero's first great triumph. for Verres hail as his counsel and advocate the famous pleader Hortensia, who was at that time the acknowledged head of the Roman liar. In me. 69 Cicero tilled the office of tedile. and in (Ili that of praetor. Supported by Ponmeius, whose favor he had gained by his advocacy of the Ala nilian giving to that general the command of the Mithridatie War, Cicero was at length elected, by an overwhelming majority, to the consulship in.c. 113). His tenure of olliee was rendered memorable by the conspiracy of Cati line, \\Ad•il he frustrated with admirable skill and promptitude. (See CATILIN E.) The highest praise, mu ens showered upon Cicero; he was hailed by Cato and Catullus as the 'father of his country :' and public thanksgivings in his name were voted to the gods. Poll his popularity did not last after the expiration of his consul ship. His enemies charged him with a public crime in having put the conspiring nobles to death without a formal trial, and he found it necessary to leave Borne, and to take up his residence in Thessaloniea (me. 5S). A formal
edict of banishment was pronounced against him, but lie was recalled from exile in about sixteen months, and on his return to Was received with great, enthusiasm.
His recovered dignity. however. soon excited the envy of the very party in the Senate with which lie had desired to make common ea while Pompeitis and Caesar, the greatest power, in the State. from whose enmity he had most to dread, courted his alliance and miiperation. Thu-, 'while preserving an appearance of inde p•ndence, he was betrayed into many actions which he could not but regard as humiliating, and which, by increasing the power of the tri umvirs, led indirectly to the ruin of the Re hddle. A remarkable exception to this trimming policy is to be found in his assisting Milo when suing for the consulship. Against the wish of Pompeius, and in spite of the hostile feeling of the populace, he defended him after he had slain the demagogue Clad ins in an accidental encounter. During, this period he composed his works, De Dru I ore. De Brpublieu, and De 'Awl bus. After a year's admirable administration of the Province of Cilicia (use. 51 tee 511). he re turned to Italy on the eve of the Civil War. With the convictions lie avowed, there was lint one course which it would have been honor able for hint to pursue—to enlist himself, at all hazards, on side of Ponipcius and the Repub lic. But instead of this lie hesitated, balanced the claims of duty and of interest, blamed Pont peius for his want of preparation, and criticised the plan of his campaign. even after he had joined the army of the Senate, so that Pom peii!: found his coriperation more annoying than his opposition. After the battle of Pha• salia had wrecked the Pompeian valise, Cie L•o abruptly quitted his friends, and resolved to throw himself upon the generosity of the conqueror. After nine nninths' miserable suspense at Brundisium. he was kindly re ceived by Cxsa r. whom he followed to Rome. During the years which ensued he remained in comparative retirement, composing his principal works in philosophy and rhetoric, including those entitled Hortensia:: ; Finilnes; Tus Disputatimws; De Natura Deorum ; be .scncetul•; De and De 011iciis. (In death. of Caesar, he was disposed to unite his in terests with those of Brutus and the either conspirators. but was restrained by dictates of prudence. In the civil 11 /Si 11 rb:111CVS \Odell fol lowed, he espoused the cause of Detavia nns. and composed his demmeiatory orations against An tonia, which are known as the Philippics. These orations were the occasion of his death. When Oeta•ianus and Lepidus joined with Antonia in a triumvirate, Cicero was among the proscribed, and his life' was relentlessly sought. The sol diers of Antonia overtook lulu while his attend ants were bearing him, now old and in an in firm state of health, from his Fonnian villa to Caieta, \Olen. he intended to embark. He met his death with greater fortitude than he had shown during many of the untoward incidents of his life. Forbidding his attendants to make any resistance, he stretched forward in the litter, and offered his neck to the sword of his execu tioners. lie died in the sixty-fourth year of his age, on December T. uses 43.