Cicero

Roman statesman, orator, and philosopher who shaped Latin rhetoric and thought.

Marcus Tullius Cicero was a Roman statesman, lawyer, scholar, philosopher, orator, and writer who tried to uphold optimate principles during the political crises of the Roman Republic.^[1] Regarded as among the finest orators and prose writers of Rome, he originated the style later termed "Ciceronian rhetoric."^[2] His family was wealthy, belonged to the equestrian order, and lived in a Roman municipium; he held the consulship in 63 BC.^[3]

Quick Facts

Born

3 January 106 BC

Birthplace

Arpinum, Roman Republic

Died

7 December 43 BC (aged 63)

Place of death

Formiae, Roman Republic

Cause of death

Assassination (by order of Mark Antony)

Occupation

Statesman
lawyer
writer
orator

Spouse

Terentia (79–51 BC), Publilia (46–45 BC)

Children

Tullia and Cicero Minor

Facts from the source article.

Life and work

His education took place in Rome, where he studied philosophy with Greek scholars who had escaped the First Mithridatic War.^[4] As consul in 63 BC, he put down the Catilinarian conspiracy; because he executed five conspirators without a trial, a controversial act, he was sent into exile in 58 BC and brought back the following year.^[3] He promoted Octavian, Caesar's heir, to gather support against Antony; but once Octavian and Antony formed the Second Triumvirate, Cicero was outlawed and killed in late 43 BC as he tried to flee Italy.^[3]

What the cited sources add

Plutarch reports that Cicero was born without travail or pain on the part of his mother, on the third day of the new Calends.^[5] According to Plutarch, when Cicero was quaestor in Sicily and dedicating a piece of silver plate, he had his first two names inscribed but instead of the third he ordered the artificer to engrave a chick-pea in due sequence.^[5] Clayton's account states that Cicero's family, though aristocratic, was not one of the great families nor did it have great wealth, but Cicero had a great deal of political ambition.^[6] Clayton also notes that Cicero proved to be an excellent orator and lawyer, and a shrewd politician.^[6]

Nicgorski's account reports that Thomas Jefferson explicitly names Cicero as one of a handful of major figures who contributed to a tradition "of public right" that informed his draft of the Declaration of Independence.^[7] Nicgorski further states that Cicero's impact on important post-Renaissance thinkers such as Locke, Hume, and Montesquieu was substantial.^[7]

References

Wikipedia, "Cicero" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Balsdon Ferguson 2023 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
Wikipedia, "Cicero" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Haskell, "This was Cicero", Fawcett Publications Incorporated, 1964, p. 300–301; Rawson 1975, p. 303; "Cicero Biography, Philosophy, Writings, Books, Death, & Facts Encyclopædia Britannica", Britannica.com, 10 May 2023 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
Wikipedia, "Cicero" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Blasi Noviello 2025, p. 25–64 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
Wikipedia, "Cicero" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Tempest 2011, p. 27; Tempest 2011, p. 27; Tempest 2011, p. 27 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
Plutarch. Cicero 32.. facts only, no text reused. penelope.uchicago.edu
Clayton, "Cicero (106–43 BC)", 2022. facts only, no text reused. iep.utm.edu
Nicgorski, "Cicero and the Natural Law", Natural Law, Natural Rights, and American Constitutionalism. facts only, no text reused. nlnrac.org

Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Cicero (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.