Cicero

Hello! My name is Marcus Tullius Cicero. I was born on January 3rd, in the year 106 BCE, in a small town called Arpinum, not far from the great city of Rome. My family wasn't part of the ancient nobility, but we were respected landowners. From a very young age, I loved to learn. My brother Quintus and I would spend hours reading and studying. Our father saw our passion and sent us to Rome to receive the best education possible. There, I fell in love with philosophy, the law, and especially rhetoric—the art of speaking persuasively. I learned from the greatest minds in the city, and I knew that with well-chosen words, I could make a difference in the world.

My career as a lawyer began with a very risky case in 80 BCE. I defended a man named Sextus Roscius against a powerful and dangerous figure connected to Rome's dictator. Many thought I was foolish to take the case, but I believed in justice and the rule of law. When I won, my name became known throughout Rome. I then began my journey up the Cursus Honorum, the required sequence of political offices. In 75 BCE, I was elected quaestor, a financial administrator, and served in Sicily. A few years later, in 70 BCE, the Sicilians asked me to prosecute their former governor, Gaius Verres, who had been terribly corrupt. My speeches against him were so powerful that he fled the city in shame before the trial was even over. This victory showed everyone that I would always fight for what was right, no matter how powerful the opponent.

The proudest year of my life was 63 BCE, when I was elected consul, the highest position in the Roman Republic. It was a special achievement because I was a 'novus homo,' or 'new man'—the first in my family to reach this honor in many generations. But my year as consul was not peaceful. A disgruntled nobleman named Catiline plotted to overthrow the entire government. I worked tirelessly, using a network of informants to uncover his conspiracy. In the Senate, I delivered a series of famous speeches, now called the Catilinarian Orations, exposing his wicked plans to everyone. To save the Republic, I had to make a very difficult decision to have the conspirators executed without a formal trial. This act saved Rome from civil war, but it was a controversial choice that would come back to haunt me.

My decision during the Catiline conspiracy made me enemies. A few years later, in 58 BCE, a powerful politician named Publius Clodius Pulcher, who held a grudge against me, passed a law aimed directly at me. It stated that anyone who had executed a Roman citizen without a trial should be banished. I was forced into exile, stripped of my property and banished from my home, my family, and my beloved city of Rome. It was the saddest time of my life. I spent over a year traveling, writing letters, and hoping I could one day return. Thankfully, my friends in Rome never gave up on me. They worked to have the law overturned, and in 57 BCE, I was recalled from exile. My return to Rome was a triumph. The citizens lined the streets to welcome me home. I felt like I had been born again.

The final years of my life were a time of great turmoil for Rome. A civil war broke out in 49 BCE between two powerful generals, Julius Caesar and Pompey the Great. I sided with Pompey and the Senate because I believed they were fighting to protect the Republic from becoming a dictatorship. After Caesar won the war, he pardoned me, and I retired from politics to focus on my writing. But when Caesar was assassinated on the Ides of March in 44 BCE, I hoped the Republic could be restored. I saw a new threat in one of Caesar's generals, Mark Antony, who I believed wanted to be a dictator himself. I returned to the Senate and delivered my final great speeches, the Philippics, warning the people of the danger Antony posed to their freedom.

My passionate speeches against Mark Antony sealed my fate. He and his allies declared me an enemy of the state in 43 BCE. My attempts to save the Republic with my words ultimately cost me my life. I lived to be 63 years old. Though the Republic I fought for did not survive, my ideas did. My books on philosophy, government, and the art of speaking were copied and studied for thousands of years. They influenced the Roman Empire, scholars in the Middle Ages, and even the founders of modern countries like the United States. I am remembered as a dedicated statesman, Rome’s greatest orator, and a tireless defender of freedom.