The Life, Thoughts, and Writings of Marcus Tullius Cicero In the article, “Opposing Viewpoints – The End of the Republic: Three Views”, the third selection of writing from Cicero. In his letter to his friend Atticus, Cicero speaks his mind about what he thinks of Caesar’s actions. A couple of distinct phrases within the article really peaked my interest. The following quote was the first thing that caught my attention: “Is it a Roman general or Hannibal we are talking of? Deluded wretch, with never in his [Caesar’s] life a glimpse of even the shadow of Good! And he says he is doing all this for his honor’s sake! Where is honor without moral good?” (Spielvogel). This quote indicated to me that Cicero heavily disagreed with the actions of Caesar
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Some of the famous philosophic writings include On the Laws, On the Republic, and On the Nature of the Gods. Cicero made the many speeches as a lawyer and as a Senator. About 60 of his speeches remain. The speeches provide insight into the cultural, political, social, and intellectual life of Romans. Many of his speeches also include descriptions of the corruption and immortality of the Roman elite class, the senatorial class. The category which includes the document Letter to Atticus, is Cicero’s roughly 900 letters (including some letters that were addressed to him). Most of Cicero’s letters were to his close friend Atticus or to his brother Quintius. Some letters to and from some other famous Romans, like Caesar, have also been preserved. Apparently it is important to exercise caution in drawing any conclusions from his letters about Cicero’s true moral beliefs, because a lot of them were written with a political agenda in mind, which may make them less truthful and straightforward (Clayton). Also, a very large portion of Cicero’s letters were, by no surprise, written out of his mood within the moment and he didn’t really consider that these letters would possibly be published someday. Therefore, the style of the letters is fairly relaxed and use familiar conversation
Some of the famous philosophic writings include On the Laws, On the Republic, and On the Nature of the Gods. Cicero made the many speeches as a lawyer and as a Senator. About 60 of his speeches remain. The speeches provide insight into the cultural, political, social, and intellectual life of Romans. Many of his speeches also include descriptions of the corruption and immortality of the Roman elite class, the senatorial class. The category which includes the document Letter to Atticus, is Cicero’s roughly 900 letters (including some letters that were addressed to him). Most of Cicero’s letters were to his close friend Atticus or to his brother Quintius. Some letters to and from some other famous Romans, like Caesar, have also been preserved. Apparently it is important to exercise caution in drawing any conclusions from his letters about Cicero’s true moral beliefs, because a lot of them were written with a political agenda in mind, which may make them less truthful and straightforward (Clayton). Also, a very large portion of Cicero’s letters were, by no surprise, written out of his mood within the moment and he didn’t really consider that these letters would possibly be published someday. Therefore, the style of the letters is fairly relaxed and use familiar conversation