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Cicero: In Catilinam 1-4. Pro Murena. Pro Sulla. Pro Flacco: B. Orations
Cicero (Marcus Tullius, 106-43 BCE), Roman lawyer, orator, politician and philosopher, of whom we know more than of any other Roman, lived through the stirring era which saw the rise, dictatorship, and death of Julius Caesar in a tottering republic. In his political speeches especially and in his correspondence we see the excitement, tension and intrigue of politics and the part he played in the turmoil of the time. Of about 106 speeches, delivered before the Roman people or the Senate if they were political, before jurors if judicial, 58 survive (a few of them incompletely). In the fourteenth century Petrarch and other Italian humanists discovered manuscripts containing more than 900 letters of which more than 800 were written by Cicero and nearly 100 by others to him. These afford a revelation of the man all the more striking because most were not written for publication. Six rhetorical works survive and another in fragments. Philosophical works include seven extant major compositions and a number of others; and some lost. There is also poetry, some original, some as translations from the Greek.
The Loeb Classical Library edition of Cicero is in twenty-nine volumes.
640 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 60
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About the author
Marcus Tullius Cicero
8,045 books1,953 followersBorn 3 January 106 BC, Arpinum, Italy
Died 7 December 43 BC (aged 63), Formia, Italy
Marcus Tullius Cicero was a Roman philosopher, statesman, lawyer, political theorist, and Roman constitutionalist. Cicero is widely considered one of Rome's greatest orators and prose stylists.
Alternate profiles:
Cicéron
Marco Tullio Cicerone
Cicerone
Note: All editions should have Marcus Tullius Cicero as primary author. Editions with another name on the cover should have that name added as secondary author.
Died 7 December 43 BC (aged 63), Formia, Italy
Marcus Tullius Cicero was a Roman philosopher, statesman, lawyer, political theorist, and Roman constitutionalist. Cicero is widely considered one of Rome's greatest orators and prose stylists.
Alternate profiles:
Cicéron
Marco Tullio Cicerone
Cicerone
Note: All editions should have Marcus Tullius Cicero as primary author. Editions with another name on the cover should have that name added as secondary author.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
January 6, 2024
A tidy little collection starting with Cicero's suppression of Catiline and how the events of 63 shaped political discourse in the following years. Cicero's styling is absorbing and I am enjoying this picture of him as an active judicial actor
June 30, 2014
It is difficult to get a real grip on history, on the times that have gone before us, by just reading through a modern analysis of what happened, who was involved and what, if any, the repercussions of a particular action were. Biographies of famous figures, accounts of battles, famous crimes and trials, political landmarks tend to be viewed from a distant place, from a modern point of view. To really be able to appreciate an event, often many centuries after it occurred, a reader or student needs to be able to place themselves in that time, to immerse themselves in a society which has possibly disappeared from the face of the earth. We, living in these times, can hardly visualize what it must have been like to live in a major city, a hamlet, on the seas two centuries, let alone many thousands of years ago.
Fortunately we still have many original manuscripts available to us which were written as events took place. We have opinions penned as they were formed, laws as they were legislated, events as they unfolded captured on paper - or the Internet - which show us not just the social living standards of a particular time, but also give us an insight into a different world. The orations of Marcus Tullius Cicero (106 - 43 BCE) are an exceptional example of such works.
Cicero was a Roman orator, a lawyer, politician and philosopher who lived during times of great upheaval for the Roman Empire. The empire had expanded its borders to become the most powerful nation on the known earth and imposed a form of law which survives - in somewhat altered forms - down to this day. Many of the writings and enactments from over two thousand years ago survive to this day, but few of them bring the modern reader as much insight, as much pleasure as those of Cicero. His four orations attacking Lucius Sergius Catilina (In Catilinam) and his defence of Lucius Licinius Murena (Pro Murena) are rhetorical works of almost sublime quality. The flow across the page and into the reader's mind as if Cicero himself is speaking to us in person. His eloquence seems almost unmatched, his skills as an orator of the highest quality, his intelligence and understanding of complicated legal arguments as much as of ways to win a jury over are more than convincing. The reader is taken into the Forum, into the Senate where Cicero proclaims guilt or innocence in his arguments for and against these two men, where he belittles their defenders and prosecutors alike with subtlety alongside seemingly outrageous exaggeration.
The modern reader is taken into the depths of a corrupt, warmongering system intent upon its own survival at all costs, intent on preserving the way of life that has been built up over hundreds of years, intent on keeping its borders and the city of Rome itself free to continue along that path which we now know to have been one of eventual destruction. We learn of the infighting for power, the levels of bribery, the pride and arrogance of certain classes within the empire, within Rome, as one group jostles with another for a larger portion of power and influence. We learn how families have neared the brink of ruin, how names and reputations have been created through war or political activity, how individuals have taken up the reins of leadership for good or bad, and see in glorious detail how they succeed, how they fail. It is possible to recognize the infighting, the rivalry, jealousy and hungering after power and fame, riches and position as if it were our own, modern society.
That Cicero was a master of rhetoric is enforced by these speeches. That he was one of the foremost orators of his time, that his keen knowledge and speaking style convinced and influenced the ways of the Roman people come across in these orations as if they are being performed live on the modern stage. The collected orations in this work can only enhance the reputation of the man himself, despite the passage of time, and bring us a lasting impression of life and vitality no modern-day analysis can hope to rival.
Fortunately we still have many original manuscripts available to us which were written as events took place. We have opinions penned as they were formed, laws as they were legislated, events as they unfolded captured on paper - or the Internet - which show us not just the social living standards of a particular time, but also give us an insight into a different world. The orations of Marcus Tullius Cicero (106 - 43 BCE) are an exceptional example of such works.
Cicero was a Roman orator, a lawyer, politician and philosopher who lived during times of great upheaval for the Roman Empire. The empire had expanded its borders to become the most powerful nation on the known earth and imposed a form of law which survives - in somewhat altered forms - down to this day. Many of the writings and enactments from over two thousand years ago survive to this day, but few of them bring the modern reader as much insight, as much pleasure as those of Cicero. His four orations attacking Lucius Sergius Catilina (In Catilinam) and his defence of Lucius Licinius Murena (Pro Murena) are rhetorical works of almost sublime quality. The flow across the page and into the reader's mind as if Cicero himself is speaking to us in person. His eloquence seems almost unmatched, his skills as an orator of the highest quality, his intelligence and understanding of complicated legal arguments as much as of ways to win a jury over are more than convincing. The reader is taken into the Forum, into the Senate where Cicero proclaims guilt or innocence in his arguments for and against these two men, where he belittles their defenders and prosecutors alike with subtlety alongside seemingly outrageous exaggeration.
The modern reader is taken into the depths of a corrupt, warmongering system intent upon its own survival at all costs, intent on preserving the way of life that has been built up over hundreds of years, intent on keeping its borders and the city of Rome itself free to continue along that path which we now know to have been one of eventual destruction. We learn of the infighting for power, the levels of bribery, the pride and arrogance of certain classes within the empire, within Rome, as one group jostles with another for a larger portion of power and influence. We learn how families have neared the brink of ruin, how names and reputations have been created through war or political activity, how individuals have taken up the reins of leadership for good or bad, and see in glorious detail how they succeed, how they fail. It is possible to recognize the infighting, the rivalry, jealousy and hungering after power and fame, riches and position as if it were our own, modern society.
That Cicero was a master of rhetoric is enforced by these speeches. That he was one of the foremost orators of his time, that his keen knowledge and speaking style convinced and influenced the ways of the Roman people come across in these orations as if they are being performed live on the modern stage. The collected orations in this work can only enhance the reputation of the man himself, despite the passage of time, and bring us a lasting impression of life and vitality no modern-day analysis can hope to rival.
March 18, 2018
These orations by Cicero, especially "In Catilinam" and "Pro Murena", showcase his exceptional skills as a lawyer and supreme orator, his political foresight and vision as an eminent statesmen, his intellectual capacity and erudition in law, politics, history and philosophy, and, above all, his "masterful urbanity" as a fine specimen of human being.
"In Catlilinam" (Against Catiline) is the crowning achievement of Cicero's political career. In discovering the Catilinarian Conspiracy, exposing and suppressing the conspirators, and safeguarding the Roman Republic, he demonstrated outstanding ability as a statesman, and shrewdness in military stratagems characteristic of a general, though he was a civilian.
Some, including the translator of this book, criticized Cicero for self-aggrandizement. Their words would have carried more weight if they had been statesmen themselves, lived through the tumultuous times with honor and distinction and died with courage as Cicero did.
In "Pro Sulla", Cicero defends a man, whom he personally dislikes, from a sense of obligation and his compassionate nature, as well as political circumstances. In the process, he schools, nay squelches, the prosecutor who hurls personal insult at himself.
(Read full review at Nemo's Library)
"In Catlilinam" (Against Catiline) is the crowning achievement of Cicero's political career. In discovering the Catilinarian Conspiracy, exposing and suppressing the conspirators, and safeguarding the Roman Republic, he demonstrated outstanding ability as a statesman, and shrewdness in military stratagems characteristic of a general, though he was a civilian.
Some, including the translator of this book, criticized Cicero for self-aggrandizement. Their words would have carried more weight if they had been statesmen themselves, lived through the tumultuous times with honor and distinction and died with courage as Cicero did.
In "Pro Sulla", Cicero defends a man, whom he personally dislikes, from a sense of obligation and his compassionate nature, as well as political circumstances. In the process, he schools, nay squelches, the prosecutor who hurls personal insult at himself.
(Read full review at Nemo's Library)
March 22, 2014
The intro is very good, giving what is known of the historical situation. The senate's order to the consul is vague, leaving whatever illegality he has to take to save the state to him that he can be tried on it later. Obviously whatever cicero did was bound to be illegal. Therefore that he had killed citizens without trial, which was illegal, doesn't mean he wasn't justified or that he wouldn't subsequently be thought to be justified if it saved the state, as Cicero did. The question to be answered would have to be could he have saved the state without transgressing that law.
July 19, 2025
cicero’s speeches against catiline are an oratorical masterpiece and there is no equal to the original latin. his speeches for murena, sulla, and flaccus contain great lines and points of historical interest regarding roman attitudes towards jews and greeks. the actual content of his arguments in his legal speeches are, however, worse than worthless.
September 23, 2008
A masterpiece of the ciceronian library....it has a really good approach to the topic. Also has a great description of the age of the consulship of cicero...finally, i'd said that this book must be at any personal library
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November 20, 2011I'm not going to presume to rate this one. I didn't read it as literature per se anyway; I translated it for Latin practice.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews