Cicero (Marcus Tullius Cicero) |
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A first century AD bust of Cicero in the Capitoline Museums, Rome
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Consul of the Roman Republic | |
In office 63 BC – 63 BC Serving with Gaius Antonius Hybrida |
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Preceded by | Lucius Julius Caesar and Gaius Marcius Figulus |
Succeeded by | Decimus Junius Silanus and Lucius Licinius Murena |
Personal details | |
Born | 3 January 106 BC Arpinum, Roman Republic (modern-day Arpino, Lazio, Italy) |
Died | 7 December 43 BC (aged 63) Formia, Roman Republic |
Nationality | Roman |
Political party | Optimates |
Occupation | Politician, lawyer, orator, philosopher and poet |
Cicero | |
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Subject | Politics, law, philosophy, rhetoric |
Literary movement | Golden Age Latin |
Notable works |
Orations: In Verrem, In Catilinam I-IV Philosophy: De Oratore, De Re Publica, De Natura Deorum, De Officiis |
Marcus Tullius Cicero (/ˈsɪsᵻroʊ/; Classical Latin: [ˈmaːr.kʊs ˈtʊl.lɪ.ʊs ˈkɪ.kɛ.roː]; Greek: Κικέρων, Kikerōn; 3 January 106 BC – 7 December 43 BC) was a Roman philosopher, politician, lawyer, orator, political theorist, consul, and constitutionalist. He came from a wealthy municipal family of the Roman equestrian order, and is considered one of Rome's greatest orators and prose stylists.
His influence on the Latin language was so immense that the subsequent history of prose in not only Latin but European languages up to the 19th century was said to be either a reaction against or a return to his style. According to Michael Grant, "the influence of Cicero upon the history of European literature and ideas greatly exceeds that of any other prose writer in any language". Cicero introduced the Romans to the chief schools of Greek philosophy and created a Latin philosophical vocabulary (with neologisms such as evidentia,humanitas, qualitas, quantitas, and essentia) distinguishing himself as a translator and philosopher.