Selected letters of Cicero, with notes for the use of schools

by Marcus Tullius Cicero

This is a reproduction of a book published before 1923. This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book.

Genres: Classics, Philosophy, History, Nonfiction, Politics, Literature, Ancient

226 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1925

About the author

Born 3 January 106 BC, Arpinum, Italy
Died 7 December 43 BC (aged 63), Formia, Italy

Marcus Tullius Cicero was a Roman philosopher, statesman, lawyer, political theorist, and Roman constitutionalist. Cicero is widely considered one of Rome's greatest orators and prose stylists.

Alternate profiles:
Cicéron
Marco Tullio Cicerone
Cicerone

Note: All editions should have Marcus Tullius Cicero as primary author. Editions with another name on the cover should have that name added as secondary author.

Reviews

[Ernst Roets · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have been on a journey to read everything by Cicero I can lay my hands on. He has written some wonderful books on philosophy and political theory, such as The Republic, The Laws and On Obligations. However, to truly understand Cicero, you need to read his letters and his speeches. What annoyed me at first was that Cicero had a strange self-obsession. This self-obsession is, however, quite different from the modern self-centredness described by the likes of Ayn Rand, and even (forgive me) Enlightenment thinkers like John Locke. Cicero was dubbed the “Little Greek Boy” because of his obsession with Greek philosophy. Even though he was extremely ambitious, his concept of ambition (and thanks to Cicero, now also my own) is wonderfully captured in Homer’s Iliad, where Glaucus and Diomedes meet on the battlefield and Glaucus says that he intends to win the battle, because his father was a great man, and his father before him, and because he is part of a great people. So ambition, in the Greek conception, and also that of Cicero was to “always be the best”, not merely for self-glorification, but in order to bring honour and glory to your ancestors who were indeed great, and your people, who are indeed great. So even though Cicero’s self-conception was a bit over the top (for example, asking people to write books about him), his entire life was devoted to the good of his people and the Republic which, as he writes more than once in his letters, he loved more than himself. What strikes me from his letters is firstly that it gives us much more than just a glimpse into the life of this man who lived thousands of years ago. He spoke at length about his love for his family and friends, his sorrow about losing loved ones and so forth, his concern about everyday issues, such as his finances and so on. Philosophically speaking, the value of this book is that it helps us to understand Cicero’s republicanism. In a sense, Cicero’s life project was a failure, because the Republic did in fact die in many important ways with the death of Cicero. However, retrospectively we can ask whether Cicero’s life project was indeed a failure, given that he is today regarded as one of the founders and great thinkers of Western Civilization. His concept of republicanism was clearly one that indicated a reciprocal relationship. In his letters he speaks about the things he has given to the Republic, and the things he has received from the Republic (gratitude is also an important underlying theme). It is also clear from his letters that losing the Republic means losing an important part of himself as well. Cicero saw the Republic as the road towards freedom for the community, and to contribute to the Republic was to contribute to the freedom of your people.

[Illiterate · Rating 3 out of 5]

I prefer Cicero as philosophical hack to man of the world.

[Jeff Dawson · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this collection but found many errors and punctuation issues. I don’t believe a man as learned as he would have made all these mistakes. I did take into consideration the time they were written and how the Latin translation could have been bungled, but not to the degree I came across. Looking forward to reading a much more complete better compiled version: “Cicero—Political Speeches,” by D.H. Berry

Three Stars

[Калоян Захариев · Rating 5 out of 5]

Това е втората най-ефектна книга, която съм чел. На пръв поглед изглежда несъществена - просто сборник с писма на Цицерон. Онзи, който има бледа представа от история би отминал. Но онези, които знаят кой е Марк Тулуй Цицерон и смайващите времена, в които е живял ще останат смаяна. Писмата му ни позволяват да надникнем буквално в последните дни на Републиката и първите дни на Империята (добре де, Принципата, но това са подробности). Можем да прочетем какво е писал на Гай Юлий Цезар (да, точно онзи Цезар), на Брут и Касий (същите Брут и Касий, за които си мислиш) и на още много исторически личности, за които сме чели в учебниците по история или сме гледали по филмите.
Между тези две корици има достатъчно история за десет енциклопедии.
Очарован съм. Отлично похарчени 5 лв.

[Robert · Rating 4 out of 5]

Extremely dense and will make no sense to you if you haven't studied the period elsewhere. Start somewhere else if you're new to Roman history.

Also, it is literally a collection of letters ordered chronologically. So the normal elements of a book (structure, context, theme, tension, payoff etc.) are entirely absent.

But, if you're into the period and are wanting an eyewitness account of an ancient democracy going *totally* off the rails it makes for a fascinating time.

[Timothy Phin · Rating 3 out of 5]

My review is NOT of Cicero, but of this particular edition. While I have no qualms with Professor Bailey's selection of letters, I do have some issues with the commentary itself. I'd selected this for my advanced, undergraduate course, and but in retrospect I'm not sure it was the best decision. The commentary was wide-ranging, and certainly showcases Professor Bailey's considerable knowledge of Cicero, but it was also unhelpful for undergraduates puzzling their way through the particular, and often confusing turns of Cicero's grammar and vocabulary in the letters. I appreciated several of Professor Bailey's insights, however, and so I was glad of the text myself. I just don't feel that it was the best fit for even sturdy, capable undergraduates in their second or third semester of advanced Latin.

[Zachary Rudolph · Rating 4 out of 5]

“I absorb myself in literary work, writing or reading. Some of my visitors listen to me as a man of learning, because I know a little more than themselves. All the rest of the time is given to the claims of the body. As for my country, I have already mourned her longer and more deeply than any mother ever mourned her only son.”

[Lauren Contreras-Loreto · Rating 3 out of 5]

Although Cicero's insight comes through even in his personal letters, his excessive use of flattery for servants of the state makes this book rather dry reading. It is an interesting peek into the great senator and orator's mental life.

[Lance · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really surprised at how much I enjoyed these.

[Laure]

Read or translated them in Latin. Cicero seemed very human and the grief he has over his daughters dead was very touching, he wrote some things that are very accurate today.

[Sunny · Rating 3 out of 5]

Super interesting book that probably goes into a bit more detail than I could handle. Cicero was one of the leaders of Rome who was around at the time of the first triumvirate and when Julius Caesar was around. This was around 50 BC. The book is essentially his letters, a lot of them to his own brother and occasionally to Julius Caesar and a few other leaders of Rome in and around that time. Hhonestly I found the letters a little bit boring 'cause I did't know the history of that area that well but one thing that stood out an absolute mile was the way Cicero wrote, almost Machiavellian at times but always very self deprecating and always with the intentions to make the recipient feel as though he's worth $1,000,000. He was able to be firm at times but the way he spoke using flowery Latin would have definitely won over many hearts. That's something I'll definitely take away maybe try to apply in my own writing.

Here are some of the best bits from the book:

After protracted maneuvering the upshot was another civil war which broke out at the beginning of 49 BC when Caesar led his troops across the river Rubicon into the homeland. Hardly more than two months later after Caesar had encircled and captured a large republican army at Corfinium, Pompey, the consoles and a large part of the Senate crossed the Adriatic with their remaining troops, leaving Caesar in undisputed control of Italy and Rome.

“Humanitas” which Cicero so often associates with him, that untranslatable Roman amalgam of kindness and culture width of mind and tact of manner. Sunny: wow what a combination.

I not only part in your irritation, I highly commend it, my own experience of the power of a brothers affection is my monitor. In return I ask you to be fair in your judgment of a similar feeling on my part and to take the view that if I had been the victim of a bitter, savage and unprovoked attacked by a member of your family it was not incumbent on me to give way. I shall sooner give up my resentment against your brother out of affection for you then abate a jot of the goodwill between us out of animosity towards him. Sunny: As this previous example shows, Cicero was very good at making sure he added a lot of words to make sure they didn't offend and was able to fully get his meaning across: for example here again: redeeming the promise I made as I took my leave of you to write to you all the news of Rome in the fullest detail. I have been at pains to find a person to cover the whole ground so meticulously that I am afraid you may find the results too wordy. However I know how curious you are and how much everybody abroad likes to be told of even the most trifling happenings at home. But I do hope you won't find me guilty of a business in my performance of this office because I have delegated the work to someone else.

Until Julius Caesar reformed the calendar the Roman year consisted of 355 days divided into 12 months, all of which had the Latin forms of their present names accept quintilis July and sextilis August. Each month had 29 days except February with 28 and March, may, July and October with 31. The first fifth and 13th days of each month were called the Kalends, nones and ides respectfully. Except that in March, may, July and October the nones turn on the 7th and the ides on the 15th.

Nomenclator: a slave whose duty was to remind his master of the names of clients and acquaintances whom he happened to meet.

[Andrada · Rating 4 out of 5]

There are certain parts of history that I always enjoy revisiting and the civil wars that marked the downfall of the Roman republic is one of them. To hear a first-person account of those times from one of its most illustrious figures is, I think, one of the best ways to truly grasp the meaning of these events to those living them.

This collection of selected letters from Cicero’s extensive surviving correspondence does a good job of tracing the highs and lows of his life and career down to his final stand in defence of his beloved republic. His informal letters to Atticus in particular felt like an intimate look into his private emotions and thoughts.

Because of his letters, Cicero is perhaps one of the few ancient historical figures we can best envision not just as the brilliant orator and philosopher behind his speeches or the political figure that played a crucial role in the dying days of the republic, but also as an actual person. His letters highlight both his ambition and strong moral principles, but also his indecisiveness and vainglory. He was a steadfast friend and stalwart in his support of the republic, but not intransigent. It was interesting to see the progress of his thinking as the republic system he loved and supported all his life unravelled around him. He understood there would be no going back from the civil wars, but he did not live to witness his own farsightedness become a reality.

After finishing the book, I was left with a desire to read Cicero’s entire correspondence along with any surviving letters he might have received. I would particularly like to read Atticus’ letters to Cicero to get a better understanding of the dynamic of their friendship.

[Boris Glebov · Rating 4 out of 5]

The letters on their own are a great pleasure to read. Where this becomes something of a thorny experience, is that Cicero was deeply embedded in the politics and culture of his time, and the letters are constantly referencing and endless array of historical events large and small, personages of all manner of importance, and everything from the greatest philosophers to off-hand quotes from long-lost poems and plays.

This is to be expected for a person of high intelligence who was deeply engaged with his times. But this means that there is a lot of context one needs to know to truly appreciate these letters. This book provides a few scant details, at a level that can be expected from such a small volume. I frequently found myself browsing Wikipedia just to figure out what is he talking about.

That's not a negative mark at all, I must add.

[Alexander · Rating 5 out of 5]

Marcus Tullius Cicero, един от най-великите римляни (а може би и най-великият) е безспорно една изключително многопластова личност. Общественият му образ - този, запазил се най-добре в историята, е на остроумния и успешен оратор, юрист, публичен защитник, но преди всичко държавник.
Но зад всички тези постижения - консулството, разкрития заговор на Катилина и успешните военни кампании проличава и един друг човек. Именно запазените и до днес негови писма ни позволяват да надникнем, макар и ограничено, в света на човека Марк Цицерон.
Пред нас се разкрива мъж, който притежава извънредно голямо чувство за собственото си достойнство, искрено обичащ своето семейство и своите най-близки съмишленици. Наред с тях трябва да прибавим и силната му любов към родината му. Но тук не става въпрос за тази родина, в която се вижда принуден да прекара по-късните си години, а за идеала - Републиката, на която е посветил най-добрите свои години.
Неправилно ще е обаче да изобразяваме всяка велика личност изключително едностранно, удобно пропускайки, че, дори и велики, тези хора са все пак хора. Марк Цицерон не прави изключение. Дори самият той признава своето двуличие пред силните на деня - нещо, което противоречи на всичко, което го е направило прочут, за да съхрани и себе си, и близките си. Това негово качество, което векове по-късно ще бъде описано от Niccolò Machiavelli във Владетелят. Размишления върху първите десет книги на Тит Ливий, обаче по никакъв начин не опетнява образа на този човек. Напротив - кореспонденцията му единствено прави образа му по-достоверен, по-истински. Но дори и да можем да обвиним Марк Цицерон в лицемерие (а също и в няколко финансови злоупотреби), използвайки думите на същия този Макиавели, ще можем спокойно да заявим, че "целта оправдава средствата".

[John Lucy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Letters, I think, are often the best way to get to know a person. The introduction to Cicero's letters will help give a good lens for reading the letters, too. Cicero was a politician, no question about it. Anyway, if someone is looking for primary sources to get to know one of the big names of history, go for it. You'll probably find his flip-flopping, doing whatever he needs to do to be important, a little frustrating... yet illuminating.

[Christopher Day · Rating 4 out of 5]

Deeply personal insight into Cicero the man. Personal reflections and affairs (financial, family, etc) juxtaposed with his relationship to the republic - his feeling of gratitude for what it had given him, as well as his sense of obligation towards it. Gigantic ego to go along with these views is evident throughout.

[Aki Ranin · Rating 3 out of 5]

It’s an exciting opportunity to get in the mind of one of the great orators of Rome. Sadly, the letters offer only occasional points of interest and references to major events.

[Renee]

Everybody. Has. The. Same. Names.

[Marcos Augusto · Rating 4 out of 5]

From Cicero’s correspondence between 67 and July 43 bce more than 900 letters survive, and, of the 835 written by Cicero himself, 416 were addressed to his friend, financial adviser, and publisher, the knight Titus Pomponius Atticus, and 419 to one or other of some 94 different friends, acquaintances, and relatives. The number obviously constitutes only a small portion of the letters that Cicero wrote and received. Many letters that were current in antiquity have not survived; for instance, the account of the suppression of Catiline’s conspiracy, mentioned in the Pro Sulla and Pro Plancio, which Cicero sent to Pompey at the end of 63; Pompey hardly as much as acknowledged it, and Cicero was mocked about it in public later. Many letters were evidently suppressed for political reasons after Cicero’s death.

The letters constitute a primary historical source such as exists for no other part of the ancient world. They often enable events to be dated with a precision that would not otherwise be possible, and they have been used, though with no very great success, to discredit the accuracy of Caesar’s commentaries on the civil war. On the other hand, his reporting of events, naturally enough, is not objective, and he was capable of misremembering or misrepresenting past events so as to enhance his own credit.

[Nathan Albright · Rating 4 out of 5]

Once upon a time, schoolkids were intimately familiar with the writings of Cicero, a late Roman politician and onetime consul of great reputation.  These letters, in translation, are certainly useful in making a contemporary reader familiar with him, although few seem greatly interested in that at present [1].  This book, indeed, may make the reader too familiar with Cicero to the extent where he ceases to be someone who the reader holds in great respect by reputation and instead has to come to grips with his writing, which is immensely whiny and at best charmingly gossipy.  Given the fact that Cicero's times are not so different from our own in terms of political violence and the threat of demagoguery, this book is immensely practical for those readers who want to become familiar with the late Roman Republic.  Even so, this book demonstrates that Cicero himself was not a man of great bravery and he could whine with the best in history, including our own contemporary generation of 'statesmen.'  A reader who looks at the fall of the Roman Republic can ponder the fact that if such men as Cicero were the best that age had to offer, it is little wonder that the Republic fell the way that it did.

This book consists of 175 pages or so of Cicero's letters in translation.  Some of these letters are short notes jotted down to some politician/crony encouraging some sort of action in support of Cicero and his interests, or apologies on behalf of someone else. Some of the letters show Cicero engaged in some sort of plan to improve his political career and that of his allies or clients.  Some of the letters are chummy notes that brag about how much of a friend Pompey is to Cicero.  Many of the letters, though, show Cicero in some sort of despondence over some sort of reversal related to politics.  At one point Cicero admits fleeing the Senate because two rival groups of thugs were fighting each other.  At other points Cicero shows despondency about and to his brother about the way that touchy people were quick to take offense.  At other times, though, Cicero shows a great deal of tact in trying to appeal to people for their sense of virtue and being honest about his considerable ambition and the troubles it involved him in.

Ultimately, these letters are worthwhile because they tell us of corrupt times not very unlike our own.  Decent men, and Cicero was at least a decent man, feared death and exile and dishonor for seeking to serve both themselves as well as their country in the face of wild swings of political favor.  Cicero seems to be a political figure like that of Hilary Clinton, for better or worse, frequently going down in defeat, of the tendency to blame other people for problems and failure, and with a Taylor Swift-like tendency of claiming to be the victim and eliciting the sympathy of those he wrote letters to while using his canniness and considerable intellect and rhetorical skills to try to manipulate the situation to his advantage.  In reading Cicero, we see our own times and the fact that we cannot have any more safety in political position than he did in his own time, even if we are people with more bravery and more consistency than he had.  Still, he was among the greatest figures of his time, and was on a close personal basis with all kinds of people we still know of, like Julius Caesar, Pompey, Cato, as well as Brutus and Cassius.  If Cicero is not as great a man as one would have thought before reading his letters, perhaps we might do well to think of how we and our reputations would fare if people became familiar with our own personal letters and notes. 

[1] See, for example:

https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2014...

https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2016...

https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2016...

https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2016...

https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2017...

[Emily · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Cambridge edition edited by Shackleton Bailey is so so great. I've read excerpts from Cicero's correspondence before but reading so many letters back-to-back was really entertaining. Cicero's letters are much less formal in style than his speeches. Though, I got the distinct feeling that Cicero cannot quite help himself from the occasional, unnecessary rhetorical trick. Shackleton Bailey includes very few letters not written by Cicero and I could immediately tell the difference in writing style. The exchange between Metellus and Cicero is a particularly good example (Fam. 5.1-2).

I may be the exception because I neither love nor hate the Cicero that's been handed down to us in his writings, but I am indeed fascinated by him. Thus I really enjoyed the letters that exhibit more of his personality or relationship with family, friends, and associates. I was also drawn to the letters that discussed Roman theater/morality (e.g. Fam. 7.1). We have so little information about theater that these are usually brought up when the subject arises. It's nice to read them in their entirety and for their own sake.

Finally, the critical commentary is very useful. Since Shackleton Bailey's an expert on Cicero and in the correspondence in particular I felt like I was in good hands. The introduction on Cicero is mostly readable and the appendices are great compendia of basic information (e.g. Roman dating and appellation). Shackleton Bailey's expertise really shines in his commentary on word usage in Cicero. For instance, I learned that Cicero does not use "dudum with a present tense except in combination with iam or tam or quam. I always wonder a bit at the sanity of the classicists who compiled such statistics, but hey, good to know. The only potential downside to the commentary is the notes on the Greek. Cicero inserts Greek words and phrases almost every letter and sometimes Shackleton Bailey translates them outright and sometimes he only includes background information on the word(s). Thus access to the Middle-Liddell or Perseus' online Greek Dictionary will be necessary for students familiar but not masters of Greek.

[Aleksandar Dimitrov · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Нямам какво да ти пиша по държавните въпроси, освен за всеобщата крайна ненавист срещу тези, които държат всичко. Все пак никаква надежда за промяна. Но както лесно можеш да разбереш самият Помпей се отвращава и горко се разкайва. Не виждам достатъчно добре какъв ще бъде изходът, но без съмнение, тези неща нанякъде ще избият."

"Какви подробности да ти съобщя за държавните дела? Всичко загина и положението на държавата е по-окаяно, отколкото ти го остави. Тогава държавата бе подтисната от тирания, която беше приятна за множеството, за честните - тягостна, но не и гибелна, а сега изведнъж стана толкова омразна на всички, че се страхувам накъде ще избие. Изпитахме гневливостта и невъздържаността на онези, които сърдити на Катон, погубиха всичко, като, изглежда си послужиха с такива леки отрови, та смъртта ни се струваше безболезнена. А сега се боя, че те пламнаха от гняв от осквиркванията от тълпата, от приказките на честните хора, от негодуванието на Италия"

[Judy · Rating 5 out of 5]

For those who treasure glimpses into the minds and hearts of historical figures, and who enjoy filling out the record with greater insights into personality and character, letters such as these are a boon. It's a wonder to think that after two thousand years we can look in on the great statesman during his informal moments - though of course the business of office/court was never far from his mind (consequently several letters also provide interesting pathways into events of the time).
This selection is just a fraction of the corpus, which tallies at over 800 letters - an amazing resource! - but is an excellent starting point for Cicero's correspondence as a whole. Shackleton-Bailey's introductions and notes are concise and helpful, even though there are some gaps, and the translation highly readable. Highly recommended.

[Jimmy Lu · Rating 5 out of 5]

Triumph. Bravery. Disillusionment. Vanity. Righteousness. A desire to do his country good. A desire to prove his own worth. A desire for acknowledgement, from the world and from himself. Cicero the man was of many faces. For as much as the ancients insisted that a man's character remained fixed since birth, Cicero was always evolving. Justification. Rationalization. Excuses to friends and to himself. His letters afford us a front seat to the portrait of Cicero, the politician and the man, of his thoughts and motives, of his sense of honor and justice, and finally of his own place in history.

[David Hunt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cicero was a man of quick wit, as evidenced by his speeches, of deep conviction, as evidenced by his essays, and, from the evidence of his letters at least, a good friend.

(This isn't the exact edition I read.)

[Jeanette]

supposed to be a wonderful read...recommended by alberto manguel

[Silvio Curtis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read for class. The closest thing we'll get to an unedited look into the thought processes of a politician from the last chaotic years of the Roman Republic.

[l · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Nothing tends more to the reader's enjoyment than varieties of circumstance and vicissitudes of fortune." Basically!

[Ian Vloke-wurth · Rating 5 out of 5]

A must read for everyone.

[Ben GS · Rating 4 out of 5]

great to re-read this from my uni days. history is often lost on the young!