Plutarch’s Lives: Life of Cicero

by Plutarch

Text with facing translation, commentary and notes. (Aris and Phillips 1989)

Genres: Biography

46 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 100

About the author

Plutarch (later named, upon becoming a Roman citizen, Lucius Mestrius Plutarchus; AD 46–AD 120) was a Greek historian, biographer, and essayist, known primarily for his Parallel Lives and Moralia. He is classified as a Middle Platonist. Plutarch's surviving works were written in Greek, but intended for both Greek and Roman readers.

Reviews

[David Sarkies · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Great Orator
7 February 2020

I first heard of Cicero back in university when we were studying his letters, and we certainly have quite a lot of them. In fact, even Plutarch makes a specific point about the number of letters that he had written, and that have been saved as well. This I must admit finding quite interesting because letters aren’t exactly something that I would expect people to keep, especially if they happen to be of a personal nature. Then again, it isn’t as if Cicero is the only person whom we have a bunch of letters published, it is just that not only is he an ancient (though not the only one), but thanks to the letters we actually know more about him than any other person in the ancient world.

Plutarch pairs Cicero with Demosthenes, which shouldn’t surprise us at all since both characters became famous do to their speeches in which they attacked another person (Mark Antony in Cicero’s case, and Phillip of Macedon in Demosthenes’). The other similar thing is that you can say that neither of these attacks actually worked, and in Cicero’s case, he was chased around the Roman countryside until caught, and then was literally cut to pieces.

Cicero was a lawyer, and in fact, we have some of his speeches that he made in defence of some rather notable cases. Mind you, it probably shouldn’t surprise us all that much that he then went on to enter politics because it seems that a lot of lawyers end up in politics – in a way it certainly does suit them due to the fact that they literally have to spend their time delivering speeches, and when not doing that writing legislation (though I suspect that they have staff for that). On the other hand, I also get the impression that people don’t trust politicians or lawyers.

However was is really notable is that he fell on to the wrong side when the whole Julius Caeser fiasco turned up, but it is also interesting that he found himself living during the time of Sulla and the Cataline conspiracy. In fact, it was his actions that saved Rome during the Cataline conspiracy, though I should point out that the Republic was definitely on a downward slide at the time, and it seems that no matter who ended up taking charge, people would become upset, and even more people would die.

I could say that Cicero was a conservative, or at least he was a Republican, preferring the older Republican ideals, though it seemed that by his time the Republic was well and truly dead. Sure, it was a republic in name, but it was being torn apart by civil wars, and people trying to gain power. Even when they did obtain some mediocum of stability, there was pretty quickly be a rift, and fighting would break out again.

It is interesting that after the death of Caeser the major threat was considered to be Mark Antony (and some portrayals of the guy don’t make him a particularly nice person – especially the series Rome that I saw a number of years back). However, we who have the benefit of hindsight know that eventually Mark Antony was defeated, and Rome then slipped into imperialism (though most of the emporers were hedonistic tyrants if they weren’t fighting amongst themselves).

Another thing that struck me as I was reading this is the distance in time between Plutarch and Cicero. Plutarch was writing around 100 AD, while Cicero died in 43 BC. That is just under 150 years. This would be the distance between now and the Franco-Prussian War – which while being fought in 1870, seems to be beyond living memory for, well, anybody. Sure, there might be somebody alive who knew somebody, who in turn knew somebody, that remembers the war. Mind you, it does sort of put things into perspective though, since in our minds both Plutarch and Cicero lived in ancient times, but we don’t realise that 100 years separated them.

[Peter Bradley · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Life of Cicero by Plutarch

https://www.amazon.com/gp/customer-re...

I read this for the Online Great Books program.

Cicero has held a conflicted position throughout history. He was a gifted orator, writer, and thinker. His lost text, Hortensius turned St. Augustine towards the direction of philosophy. His philosophical writing have inspired generations. Yet, Mortimer Adler left his writings completely out of the Great Books. Cicero was close, but didn't make the cut.

Cicero's life in Rome was like that. Cicero was another prodigy of the terminal stage of the Roman Republic. He was the advocate people went to when it mattered. Cicero was an outsider - a new man - who made his way up the slippery ladder of Roman offices to the position of consul. Cicero's time as consul coincided with the Catiline conspiracy. The Catiline Conspiracy was like January 6, but real, or maybe it was as real as January 6, according to some takes on the issue. Plutarch does not seem to think that the Catiline Conspiracy was anything other than a real threat to the Roman Republic. Forces within Rome planned on murdering the Consuls and members of the Senate at the same time that Rome was threatened by a Roman-led military force. Cicero used all of his powers of persuasion to protect the Roman Republic for one last moment. For his efforts, at the behest of Cato, Cicero was named "father of his country."

After that moment of glory, Cicero's quest for glory made him something of a joke. All factions wanted him on their side, but he would give himself to no faction. He would side with Pompey and then Caesar. One side or the other was going to win, but all Cicero got out of the situation was a reputation for being irrelevant and indecisive.

At the end, his fate was determined by the fact that his indecision had made him irrelevant. When Antony and Octavian got around to the serious business of proscription lists, Antony wanted the head and hands of the orator who had so viciously denounced him. Octavian initially defended Cicero, but ultimately gave Cicero up in a petty trade.

[Dimas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Este livro é interessante para conhecer a história deste orador, mas Plutarco a escreve assumindo que o leitor conhece o período e a edição não tem suficientes notas de rodapé. Se eu não tivesse ganhado uma familiaridade com boa parte dos fatos e personagens, lendo antes o Rubicon, do Tom Holland, eu não teria gostado a leitura

[Carrie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mainly it's a translation of what Plutarch wrote. Interesting reading but you better already know your Roman history because Plutarch isn't going to help.

[Eleanor Carson · Rating 4 out of 5]

The audiobook has some slight imperfections - I counted at least three times that the narrator, Andrea Giordani, repeated herself as if she had lost her place in the text and reread a line without realizing it. Thus, I give this book only 4 stars, although the content itself is worth more like 4.5 stars.

Plutarch was decidedly partial to Cicero in this book, and defended him against Gaius Julius Caesar when the two disagreed. He also glossed over early shortcomings that were to plague Cicero`s life later, particularly his military service in which his inability to face blood placed him within the power of Pompei (later known as Pompei Magnus) who protected Cicero from his no-nonsense father, nicknamed "Pompei the Butcher." At the same time, he noted Cicero`s unfortunate tendency to laud himself at the expense of others after thwarting a plot to overthrow the Roman government and to make jokes at the expense of others that unnecessarily created enemies for Cicero. It was refreshing to listen to an accounting of Cicero`s life from the viewpoint of someone much close to Cicero`s times, as modern writers tend to be much more biased in their historical novels based closely on historical research. I was also happy to hear about Tiro, Cicero`s secretary, confirming what has been written about this relatively unknown character whose existence strongly supported Cicero`s life.

This book was well-written and fast-paced, and I recommend it to anyone who wants a quick review of Cicero`s life.

[Aaron Michael · Rating 2 out of 5]

“Cicero… was the one man above all others who made the Romans feel how great a charm eloquence lends to what is good, and how invincible justice is, if it be well spoken; and that it is necessary for him who would dexterously govern a commonwealth, in action, always to prefer that which is honest before that which is popular, and in speaking, to free the right and useful measure from everything that may occasion offence.”

[Brittany Lindvall · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really good. It took us forever to finish this life but the timing was good. We took a break to read Stories from the History of Rome and that helped so much with context. We also were reading the Julius Caesar Landmark and the play at the same time and the kids were making connections all over the place.

[Rachel]

My first of "Plutarch's Lives." Challenging to get through, but glad we made it. With E age 11.