Cicero

• Everitt - Cicero

  "Cicero was a statesman and public servant of outstanding ability"
• Everitt - Cicero's aims

  "His basic aim - to restore the traditional political values - remained unchanged throughout his life, although in his last two years his character hardened and he became willing to adopt unconstitutional methods"
• Everitt - Cicero's weakness

  "His weakness as a politician was that his principles rested upon a mistaken analysis"
• Everitt - Cicero's success

  "In a society where politicians were also expected to be good soldiers, he was pre-eminently a civilian and this makes his success all the more remarkable"
• Everitt - Cicero and the triumvirs

  "The turning point in his career was his refusal to join Julius Caesar, Pompeius and Crassus in their political alliance during the 50s"
• Scullard - Cicero's sacrifice

  "He was willing to sacrifice his life in the attempt rather than live under a tyranny"
• Scullard - Concordia Ordinum

  "But he had no army to help him enforce his will, and as a novus homo he lacked the full backing of a faction; he therefore was unable to achieve his ideal of Concordia Ordinum between senators and knights"
• Shotter - efficacy of Corcordia Ordinum

  "Throughout his life Cicero continued to believe that Catiline had been blocked by an impressive coalition of senators, equestrians and Italians whose first thought was the good of the republic; for him, therefore the episode represented positive proof of the efficacy of the Concordia Ordinum"
• Scullard - Cicero's friends

  "Though Verres' victims included some of Pompey's Sicilian clients, he had many powerful friends in Rome, among them the orator Hortensius and three members of the Metellus family"
• Phillips - Catiline conspiracy

  "The first Catilinarian Oration marked the culmination of a series of false allegations made against him by Cicero, who then proceeded to fabricate evidence"
• Tempest - death penalty for the conspirators

  "After the consuls-elect, the former consuls spoke: there were fourteen of them, and they, too, unanimously opted for the death penalty"
• Brunt - Catiline conspiracy

  "An agitation against Cicero began before he laid down office. Ever again did he enjoy the popularity he had claimed before"
• Bradley - Pompey and Cicero


  "He was a catalyst in the breakdown of the republic, and yet his friendship was eagerly sought by the conservative Cicero and he died in 48 leading the republicans"
• Tempest- Cicero’s politics in final months

  ”From then on he translated his philosophical musings into political pragmatism,: war, Cicero believed, was the only way to save Rome from Antony’s grasp”