Cicerto’s final year and Antony

• Cicero had been confronted by the first triumvirate and the civil war
• In his return to Rome he was now ruled by a dictator
• His political ideals of Concordia ordinum was in the dust
• His conservative love for the Republic was nothing more than nostalgia
• It would’ve been easy for Cicero to capitulate at this point, curry favour with those in power and preserve his own self-interests
• The final year of his life witnessed him fighting for his political beliefs with a renewed vigour through to his death
• Cicero wasn’t directly involved in the assassination of Caesar on the Ides of March in 44
• Cicero mourned the fact that he hadn’t been approached for advice regarding the assassination of Caesar
• Each member of the triumvirate was now dead
• Caesar’s death had not revived Republican freedom
• The conspirators had underestimated how beloved Caesar had been with the people of Rome and his armies
• Cicero’s main political obstacle came from Mark Antony, Caesar’s right-hand man
• Mark Antony had governed Rome while Caesar was away completing the final battles of the civil war against remaining Republicans
• Antony handed over all Caesar’s papers and plans, including his will and funds, to Caesar’s widow, Calpurnia
• A temporary compromise was reached where Antony assumed responsibility for delivering Caesar’s plans as consul that year
• Riots broke out in Rome demanding Caesar’s assassins to be brought to justice after his lavish public funeral
• Caesar’s will included news that he had adopted his nephew, Gaius Octavius, to be his heir
• Octavius was to replace Caesar and continue his work, buoyed by popular support
• Mark Antony bribed Caesar’s veterans for their military loyalty and secured a 5-year command of Gaul for himself
• Cicero left Rome in early August 44 to visit his son in Greece but was forced to return due to political developments
• By the time Cicero reached Rome on 1st September 44, the rivalry for Caesar’s position had been settled by the need for Octavian and Antony to publicly reconcile
• Cicero was immediately thrown into the political sway upon his return to Rome
• Cicero delivered his first Philippic on 2nd September 44, appealing for harmony and moderation and criticizing Antony’s policies in the name of Caesar
• Antony attended a meeting of the senate on 19th September, in which Cicero didn’t attend as he understood the situation had grown in urgency and anger
• Lupa Carnia is a ritual
• During the ritual, a dog and a goat are killed in a mountain
• Their blood is smeared on the forehead
• Their skin is made into strips
• The leather strips are made into a loin cloth
• Men strip off and get drunk in a cave
• They then do a lap of the hill in Rome
• Women come out to watch
• Cicero was unhappy he hadn’t been involved in Caesar’s assassination
• Cicero would've liked to have been approached for advice
• If women get hit by a whip during the ritual

  It supposedly increases their fertility
• Serious politicians shouldn't take part in this ritual
• All the triumvirate were dead
• Surely now was the time for principled statesmen to govern Rome
• The ordinary people didn’t appreciate Caesar being murdered
• Reasons why the ordinary people liked Caesar

  • He gave them more rights, entertained them, etc.