Marcus Tullius Cicero

Born in Arpinum in 106 BCE, Cicero rose from a non-aristocratic family to become one of Rome’s most famous lawyers, orators, and statesmen. He held the consulship in 63 BCE and became known for his fierce defense of the republic during a period of conspiracy, civil conflict, and shifting alliances.

Alongside his political career, he wrote enormously influential works on rhetoric, philosophy, law, and ethics. By adapting Greek philosophy into elegant Latin prose, he helped give later generations a vocabulary for discussing justice, moral duty, the ideal state, old age, friendship, and the good life.

Cicero was killed in 43 BCE during the violent power struggles that followed Julius Caesar’s assassination. His life ended brutally, but his writings endured, preserving a vivid record of the late Roman Republic and making him one of the most important voices in the history of Western literature and political thought.