Thoughts of Marcus T. Cicero
In the year 106 B.C.E. during the month of January, Cicero Marcus Tulluis was born in a town near Rome known as Arpinum. Cicero was brought up in a well to do family as his father was a landowner who was extremely wealthy. This seems to be a contributing factor in making him one of the world’s greatest philosophical thinkers. As a young boy, he would study books found in the library, which his father owned. Growing up reading the works of famous and earlier philosophers contributed to his success in the future. Were it, not for the library where he obtained influential books, he probably would not be known today (Forsyth, 2002. 23).
As a result of reading widely from various authors, he grew intellectually and later on became a renowned public speaker and philosophic. Cicero attended the best Roman schools after his father noticed his potential. Also, the need to make Cicero and his brother join the upper class was a reason why they were sent to study in Rome (Everett, 2002. 45). Life seems to favor him a lot as he evaded participating in the wars that took place during his time. Cicero is known for his bold acts, which made him have many admirers. It was while representing a client in court that he spoke of the ills of the then Sulla Regime. People were not free as the ruler assumed more power than he had, and as he ruled through absolute power. This incident would give rise to many other scenarios where he proved to be a brilliant thinker of philosophy.
As fate had it, he married a young lady from a wealthy family, and this further made him be known in the society. As a member of the Roman Senate, he had more opportunities to make his sentiments and thoughts be known. After finding Caius Verres guilty of mismanagement and misusing of government resources, he had him prosecuted. Cicero will be remembered for his acts of bravery and the role played by him in making the Roman Empire successful. Cicero made progress in his career, and by the year 69 B.C.E, he assumed the title of a Judge and head of games and public works (Ingo, 2011. 67). So far, his life has had only positive elements from the time he was born. One can easily claim that the Gods were in favor of Cicero. During this time, he made a political speech, and this made him gain favor from the top leaders. Six years later he attained the highest title anyone could achieve at an age such as his. Cicero knew how to network and form unions with people who would enrich his life. This makes one think of Cicero as an opportunist and a go getter.
Later on it seemed his lack ran out as he was exiled after refusing to join the First Triumvirate. His kind heated nature was opposed to violent methods of attaining power used by Caesar. In the year 57 BC.E, he went back home and tried to make Pompey leave the first Triumvirate. He was a free spirit and fighter who could not be derailed from what he believed in. Tragedy struck his life as his daughter died, he divorced his wife, constantly received threats from Caesar, and Pompey lost his life. At this time in this life, he kept on writing philosophical works, which made his depression end. They believed that he was a threat due to his outspoken nature, and they had to find a way of containing him. His death will forever be remembered as he faced it with the utmost dignity and courage that a man would do. Most people would react differently if they were in the same situation as Cicero.
More problems seemed to affect him, as even though Caesar met his death, other people interfered with his life. A second triumvirate similar to that of the first one was formed, and the members had to find a way of terminating Cicero. Mark Antony is the one responsible for sending his men to kill Cicero. The political life of Cicero was not successful as compared to that of being a writer, thinker and public speaker. Some of the speeches written by Cicero show his vast knowledge and intellect in many areas. The speeches had meaning and often were for the purposes of making evils in society be known. An example of one his speeches is the Pro Archia, a short speech that advocated for quality of life enhancement, as it was persuasive as well as sincere. The books, which he read when he was young, contributed to the many speeches concerning diverse subjects. Finally, his letters are famous due to the nature of their content as well as being valuable and fascinating. In his lifetime, he wrote over eight hundred letters that were in the form of dialogues and speeches. Furthermore, the fact that he well experienced in the Latin language makes him more notably a famous philosopher (Everitt, 2001. 12). In conclusion, the thoughts and life of Cicero are extremely intriguing and need to be known by lovers of philosophy.
Work Cited
Everett, Anthony. Cicero: The Life and Times of Rome’s Greatest Politician. New York: Random House, 2002. Print.
Forsyth, Fiona. Cicero: Defender of the Republic. New York: Rosen Central, 2002.Print.
Everitt, Anthony. Cicero. A turbulent life. London: John Murray Publishers, 2001.Print.
Ingo, Gildenhard. Creative Eloquence: The Construction of Reality in Cicero’s Speeches .Oxford/New York: Oxford University Press, 2011.Print.
