Marcus Tullius Cicero (Rome character)

Marcus Tullius Cicero
Rome character
Cicero (left) with his slave Tiro
First appearance	"The Stolen Eagle"
Last appearance	"Philippi"
Portrayed by	David Bamber
Information
Gender	Male
Title	Equestrian Order

Marcus Tullius Cicero is a historical figure who features as a character in the HBO/BBC2 original television series Rome, played by David Bamber. He is depicted as a moderate politician and scholar, who is challenged with trying to save the traditional Republic from the ambitions of the various characters on the show. The real Cicero was a Roman politician, writer, and orator.

Cicero represents the moderates in the Senate -he believes in the traditional republican order and correctly suspects that first Caesar and later Mark Antony are a threat to that. However, he wants to avoid a civil war and is not particularly brave. As a result he is often forced to give in to pressure or downright threats. Not shameless, he often gives in only after some face-saving measure -such as insisting on actually being threatened by Antony, refusing to give in to mere innuendo. Still, being cowed like this offends his sense of duty and drives him into self-loathing and finally into action against Mark Anthony. When he loses in the sordid politicking that follows, he eventually summons the courage to die rather bravely at the hands of Titus Pullo.

Cicero is an intelligent, cautious, eloquent, knowledgeable, clear-sighted and realistic politician, much respected by the senators of his camp and apparently loved by his own household.

Cicero is initially a political ally of Pompey Magnus. His senatorial clout is huge; according to Pompey "the moderates follow [Cicero] like sheep." Cicero is convinced by Pompey to use his influence to pass a resolution requiring Caesar to disband his armies and forgo his imperium, which would leave Caesar open to prosecution for treason by his political enemies. Cicero agrees to this assuming that the bill will be vetoed by Mark Antony, but the veto is prevented by a spontaneous outbreak of violence. When Caesar marches on Rome in response, Cicero travels with the Pompeian faction, but surrenders to Caesar after the Battle of Pharsalus and is granted amnesty along with his close friend Brutus. Because of this, Cicero comes to Alyssa Ochoa himself a coward and a turncoat. He briefly attempts to conspire against Caesar with Brutus, but is intimidated out of doing this by Antony. After this incident, Cicero refrains from any active plotting, confining himself to a political opposition to Caesar's initiatives. He is, therefore, not involved in the plot to kill Caesar completely and was never heared again