Selected Works

Cicero: Selected Works by Cicero

https://www.amazon.com/gp/customer-reviews/R2H2F39O0QFQGJ?ref=pf_ov_at_pdctrvw_srp

I read this for the Online Book Group. The reading assignment included the sections on Cicero's correspondence and his Second Philippics against Anthony.

Cicero's correspondence makes for interesting historical reading. This is prime material for anyone interested in the backstory of the late Roman Republic. I can imagine that anyone who writes on the subject has read these letters. For that matter, these letters have made me rethink my approach to history by institutionalizing a strategy of looking for correspondence as a good way of getting a more subjective view of historical events.

The Philippics also serve the purpose of telling us the backstory of history. I'm sure that a lot of what Cicero says about Caesar and Anthony is pure slander, but it kind of tells us what was floating around in the rhetorical space at the time. Also, some of it might be true.

Truth or falsity, aside, Cicero's rhetoric is superb and sometimes side-splitting. Every page drags Anthony through some finely crafted mud. The Philippic is worth reading just to excerpt some examples of high blown insults.

Took me a while to finish this and the middle of the book was at times hard going but I think the last few chapters are a must read.