Selected Works (Classics)
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Lawyer, philosopher, statesman and defender of Rome's Republic, Cicero was a master of eloquence, and his pure literary and oratorical style and strict sense of morality have been a powerful influence on European literature and thought for over two thousand years in matters of politics, philosophy, and faith. This selection demonstrates the diversity of his writings, and includes letters to friends and statesmen on Roman life and politics; the vitriolic Second Philippic Against Antony; and his two most famous philosophical treatises, On Duties and On Old Age - a celebration of his own declining years. Written at a time of brutal political and social change, Cicero's lucid ethical writings formed the foundation of the Western liberal tradition in political and moral thought that continues to this day.
About the Author
Marcus Tullius Cicero (106-43 bc), Roman orator and statesman, was born at Arpinium of a wealthy local family. Having been educated in Rome, by 70 bc he had established himself as a leading barrister and was beginning a successful political career. Cicero received honors usually reserved only for the Roman aristocracy and was one of the greatest Roman orators.
Michael Grant has been successively Chancellor's Medallist and Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge, Professor of Humanity at Edinburgh University, first Vice-chancellor of Khartoum University, President and Vice-chancellor of Queen's University, Belfast and President of the Classical Association.
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Born in 106 b.c. at the central Italian hill-town of Arpinum (Arpino), Marcus Tullius Cicero received his education at Rome in rhetoric (public-speaking - the basis of higher education of the day) and philosophy, as well as in law which, combined with politics, was to be his career. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
Born in 106 b.c. at the central Italian hill-town of Arpinum (Arpino), Marcus Tullius Cicero received his education at Rome in rhetoric (public-speaking - the basis of higher education of the day) and philosophy, as well as in law which, combined with politics, was to be his career. Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
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9 of 9 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Cicero perhaps doesn't need introducing. He was a powerful politician of the last decades of the Roman Republic, the 70s to the 40s BC. Originally a lawyer and an orator, he made his name prosecuting corrupt figures of the senatorial establishment, before joining the conservative camp against the populist tribunes and against Caesar. Cicero was consul in 63BC. His writings are massive and are one of the period's key historical sources, even if obviously not unbiased. He also wrote a set of philosophical treatises.
This edition contains only a tiny portion of the 800 or so letters, countless speeches, works on the constitution, on laws, and on moral questions that Cicero produced. The selection, furthermore, is problematic. The editors have labelled the larger section, comprising political texts, `Against Tyranny' (which they also call, anachronistically, `totalitarianism'). This section includes the Verrine indictment and speeches in defiance of Marc Antony, glossing over Cicero's switching to the side of Verres' friends in the intervening decades. Moreover, the editors avoid mention of Cicero's contentious role, as consul, in using extra-judicial means to repress the Catilinarian conspiracy. The Catilinarian speeches, perhaps his best known, are essential to an honest portrait of Cicero's politics; they are missing from this edition. The philosophical, second section likewise aims to portray Cicero as a grand old moral figure, comprising only On Duties and On Old Age. It misses fancier but interesting essays such as On Divination (Cicero was also an augur, an official soothsayer) and On the Nature of the Gods. The selection of letters, finally, is interesting, though only for the reader with good basic knowledge of their background (the editors' notes don't quite suffice).
Cicero's style is easy to read. Without necessarily wanting to reach for the multiple tomes of the complete Loeb edition, you may consider browsing for a meatier sample of Cicero's political writings, perhaps the Oxford Classics, and a separate selection of the treatises and letters.
This edition contains only a tiny portion of the 800 or so letters, countless speeches, works on the constitution, on laws, and on moral questions that Cicero produced. The selection, furthermore, is problematic. The editors have labelled the larger section, comprising political texts, `Against Tyranny' (which they also call, anachronistically, `totalitarianism'). This section includes the Verrine indictment and speeches in defiance of Marc Antony, glossing over Cicero's switching to the side of Verres' friends in the intervening decades. Moreover, the editors avoid mention of Cicero's contentious role, as consul, in using extra-judicial means to repress the Catilinarian conspiracy. The Catilinarian speeches, perhaps his best known, are essential to an honest portrait of Cicero's politics; they are missing from this edition. The philosophical, second section likewise aims to portray Cicero as a grand old moral figure, comprising only On Duties and On Old Age. It misses fancier but interesting essays such as On Divination (Cicero was also an augur, an official soothsayer) and On the Nature of the Gods. The selection of letters, finally, is interesting, though only for the reader with good basic knowledge of their background (the editors' notes don't quite suffice).
Cicero's style is easy to read. Without necessarily wanting to reach for the multiple tomes of the complete Loeb edition, you may consider browsing for a meatier sample of Cicero's political writings, perhaps the Oxford Classics, and a separate selection of the treatises and letters.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Cicero was one of the greatest of Roman orators and one of the joys of reading him should be to bask in his superb writing style and use of language. For non Latin readers like me that will of course depend on the skill of the translator. I bet Michael Grant did a fine job but I did not much enjoy reading this translation even though I have long wanted to read two of the chapters: Cicero's spectacular prosecution of the corrupt ex-governor Verres and the famous Phillipic Against {Mark} Anthony. I got no tingling sensation. There is a chapter here including selected letters but there's a whole book of them published by Oxford World Classics and translated by P.G. Walsh which I enjoyed far more and which I found to be far more vibrant. The one chapter here that I enjoyed very much was the essay "On Old Age", a fictional conversation between Cato and friends inquiring of him what it is like to be old. This is very very good.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
What a fabulous read this is. Anybody wishing to get an idea of Ancient Roman justice in practice should read this. Cicero orates beautifullySelected Works (Classics) if the translations are accurate, in an easy, florid style that has the reader immersed, desperately angry one moment and in stitches the next. 'In Defence of Sextus Roscius' kept me glued. I could wax lyrical for an age if I had the talent! Buy this and enjoy! I followed on reading Cicero's 'Selected Works'
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