Marcus Tullius CiceroRezensionen

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The life of Cicero should be a cautionary tale for politicians of any era. He was a patrician, an aristocratic man of the Roman senate, a fan of the dying Republic, an opponent of tyrants like Julius Caesar, and a critic of the democracy that empowered them. He was at one time the head of state. Later, he was exiled, and his property was confiscated. As a politician, he was always caught in the middle and often charged with abandoning his own principles. He did not take part in the assassination of Julius Caesar, but he was not sorry to see him go. He wanted rule by the landed gentry, by men of his own class and education. In the end, young Octavian, operating from pure political expediency, had him assassinated. Roman politics was never for the faint-hearted.
Cicero's power as an orator was unparalleled in an era that revered long-winded speeches. In his Second Philippic, he skillfully dismantled Mark Anthony, painting him as a drunk, a greedy sycophant, a liar, and a lewd bisexual womanizer. He was the type of person, Cicero said, who would invite himself to dinner, consume all your wine, vomit on the table, and swipe your silver on his way out.
His Latin style was universally admired when Latin was a language every educated person knew.
His stoic philosophy and Republican theory of government reverberate through our legal and governmental history. He was a stern moralist praised by men who abandoned principle at every turn.

Neste límpido texto sobre a velhice, Cícero desenvolve a tese de que a arte de envelhecer é encontrar o prazer que todas as idades proporcionam, pois todas têm as suas virtudes. Em A Amizade, temos o tratado definitivo sobre a fraternidade e as relações sociais.

An excellent study of ethics, if one desires to maintain some standards in a world gone debauched by liars, prostitutes, profiteers, thieves, cleverness confused for wisdom and sedition and corruption confused for thrift and acumen. Oftenwise people behave like they do because they are taught to in the process of socialization amongst peers in such a manner. Rarely ever do they inspect with reason why to behave ethically, and what are the ideas they truly cherish. The pillars upon which both philosophy, theology and government should stand is reason that is ethically, morally grounded. In similitude to rhetorics, "one cannot speak well if he is not a good man in all honesty", he may appear as good or worth adoration to the inexperienced, but the wise will peel off his masks to the utter core. That is especially worth remembering among the rising populist autocratic sentiment, seducing peoples into the lowest common denominator and praising crooks that from a public treasury spoil the populace from the latter's own pocket to their utter demoralization. This work is a benchmark for ethics that are pertaining to the waning Republic, but they also stand as a testimony to a great, begrieved man. Marcus Tullius' son for whom this work was written as a didactic teaching did not spoil the teachings of Cratyllus and his father, scattering them to four winds, he excelled in a manner that would make his father proud. My favorite idea from the whole book is that "one should not measure his strength by others' weakness, but by his own character"

Beautiful Clinker Press edition. Fascinating fragment.

Esta conferencia de Jacob Grimm, traducida por primera vez al castellano, comparte con el texto clásico de Cicerón una visión optimista y serenamente alegre de la vejez. Los dos autores enfrentados al dolor de una perdida reciente, Cicerón la de su querida hija y Grimm la de su hermano, son capaces de sobreponerse para hablarnos de las ventajas de llegar a una edad en la que podemos disfrutar de los placeres de la vida de una manera más sosegada y menos exigente. La satisfacción de una vida plena, la capacidad de apreciar el día a día, los paseos, las lecturas o el trabajo en el huerto, se convierten de la mano del gran filósofo romano y del filólogo alemán en un panegírico valiente y calmado de esa etapa de la vida.

Ci sono molte cose che mi sono piaciute in questo testo: l'eleganza dello stile e l'esposizione ben strutturata, l'atmosfera serena e fiduciosa, il fervore con cui l'Africano descrive spiega ed esorta, l'immagine di un universo ordinato e armonioso: un cosmo, per l'appunto, fatto di sfere concentriche, sensato e prevedibile, finito e comprensibile, ma che ha anche un pizzico di magico e di fantastico, e dotato di una dimensione morale: le anime sono immortali e dopo la morte del corpo andranno in cielo, nella via lattea e nella felicità, ma quelle dei virtuosi ci arriveranno prima, e sarà questo il vero premio della virtù. Tutto questo ho trovato in questo "Sogno di Scipione": è bello, ma, appunto, è solo un sogno, nient'altro che un sogno.

Una grazia e una leggerezza di tocco che neppure i Greci avrebbero potuto superare.
Robert Nisbet

Probabilmente la maggior parte delle persone si immagina Cicerone come un uomo dall'aria greve, accigliata, seriosa. Uno assolutamente incapace di far ridere chicchessia.

Ebbene, nella Pro Caelio, Cicerone dimostra di essere in grado di usare una ironia e arguzia in modo così elegante e misurato da essere assolutamente irresistibile anche per i giorni nostri. Ad una ad una, smonta tutte le accuse, riducendole a dicerie, maldicenze e puntando il dito contro la vera artefice di quel processo-farsa: Clodia, donna "scandalosamente priva di inibizioni" che voleva vendicarsi per esser stata scaricata.

Eppure, nella Pro Caelio c'è molto più di questo. Sullo sfondo si intravedono il conflitto generazionale, la disaffezione verso la politica (vista ormai solo come una corsa all'accaparramento della poltrona migliore), il ribaltamento dei vecchi valori (e quindi amore per il lusso, sperpero dei patrimoni familiari, carriere facili)... Vi ricorda qualcosa?

Un'orazione quanto mai attuale. Vi consiglio l'edizione Bur perché arricchita di un'interessantissima introduzione e correlata di note che aiutano nella comprensione del testo.

An exciting read, that's for sure. While it doesn't go deep into the points of Rhetoric, it's a great introduction to the field. My knowledge within the area is small, to say the least; this was the first book on logic and reasoning that I read... I assume that once I have more overall knowledge and skill within the faculty of rhetoric, I will be able to get more out of the translated passages of Cicero himself. Still, for now, I had to do it with the comments of James M. May and was able to get some interesting ideas out of it.
The title is a bit misleading because the book's unity, as Adler would call it, is not about winning an argument but rather about becoming an Orator; that is, a persuasive speaker. You can get the principles to win a discussion out of it, albeit not profoundly, but it isn't what the book is leading toward.

What a great feeling to hear such a voice of reason and maturity from over two millennia in the past, and that too in a modern, easily accessible style and idiom. A prominent personality in the Roman polity during the uneasy period between the Republic and the first emperors, Cicero was a man of diverse parts: while he weighed in on important political events, he refrained from taking up actual power (he declined an invitation to be a part of the ruling triumvirate after the collapse of the Republic). During his periods away from the centre-stage of the Roman Senate and Forum, he solaced himself with writing on philosophy and ethics; his natural Stoic bent served him well at the final testing moment, his execution by the minions of Marc Antony, against whom he had been outspoken to the point of scurrilianity. This volume includes his writings on "Philosophy at Rome", "Against Fear of Death", "Tusculan Disputations", "Friendship", "On Duties, Book I", and a short selection from different ancient authors on the "Death and Burial of Cicero". There is also an able Introduction on "Why Does Cicero's Philosophy Matter?" by the translator Thomas Habinek, and "Cicero's Life" by Siobhan McElduff.

It's an amazing feeling to hear such a contemporaneous tone from a remote era over two thousand years ago. Cicero was one of the leading figures in the Roman polity at the tumultous time of Julius Caeser and Marc Antony, and in fact was even invited to be part of the triumvirate at one stage; he declined, inveigled against Marc Antony in virulent terms, and was later decapitated for his trouble. But as per most accounts, he died nobly in dignity, and thereby demonstrated the strength of his own philosophy of how to live - and die- well. This slim volume contains his tracts and letters "against tyranny", especially "Against Verres, I", the "Second Philippic against Marc Antony", and "On Duties, III" and "Cato the Elder on Old Age", my favourite. I suspect that the translation has probably been cast in a modern mould, as it speaks directly without the burden of rhetorical convolutions that mar so many of the 19th century and early 20th century English works.

An excellent book on moral duty written by Cicero to his son, also named Cicero, during the times of Julius Caesar, Pompy, and Marc Anthony. Essentially, what is expedient isn't always moral. His book would put to shame our own Congress and countless so-called world and "thought" leaders of today. An important treatise then, and now.

En el año de su consulado (63 a.C.), CICERÓN (106-43 a.C.) tuvo que hacer frente a un intento de golpe de estado encabezado por Catilina. Creyendo cumplir con las obligaciones del cargo, pronunció contra el cabecilla de los conjurados cuatro discursos que tuvieron una influencia decisiva en la frustración del complot. Años más tarde, según la costumbre al uso y probablemente para justificar su actuación, los publicó como obra autónoma. Desde ese momento las CATILINARIAS contribuyeron como ningún otro discurso a la fama de su autor, así como también a la del propio Catilina, y son todo un clásico de la oratoria política. El presente volumen ofrece una traducción a cargo de Crescente López de Juan, precedida de un prólogo con los datos del contexto histórico necesarios para comprender mejor los propios discursos.

My wife got this for me as something of a joke for my 40th birthday. I've been re-reading it every year since--although I've not reviewed it or included it in my list of reading in prior years.

Written by a classical pagan, rooted in that variety of stoicism fashionable among elite romans, there are pieces here I disagree with (particularly the last section on death -- although notably, i think there are interesting pre-figuring of Pascal's wager there). The main point of the book is that old age itself is merely part of life and nothing to fear or dread. Rather, old age is the time to reap the harvest of the crops planted in one's earlier life -- and what folks tend to complain about regarding old age (its striking how unchanged that list is from the age of Cicero to today), are either a reflection of an immature philosophy or else of bad fruit from poor choices earlier in life. I find the book a good annual reminder to think big picture about the kind of life I'm leading, the kind of crop I'm planting so to speak. On that level its a good innoculation against our culture's obsession with the passions and tastes of youth.

(2022 Book 3)

An excellent study of ethics, if one desires to maintain some standards in a world gone debauched by liars, prostitutes, profiteers, thieves, cleverness confused for wisdom and sedition and corruption confused for thrift and acumen. Oftenwise people behave like they do because they are taught to in the process of socialization amongst peers in such a manner. Rarely ever do they inspect with reason why to behave ethically, and what are the ideas they truly cherish. The pillars upon which both philosophy, theology and government should stand is reason that is ethically, morally grounded. In similitude to rhetorics, "one cannot speak well if he is not a good man in all honesty", he may appear as good or worth adoration to the inexperienced, but the wise will peel off his masks to the utter core. That is especially worth remembering among the rising populist autocratic sentiment, seducing peoples into the lowest common denominator and praising crooks that from a public treasury spoil the populace from the latter's own pocket to their utter demoralization. This work is a benchmark for ethics that are pertaining to the waning Republic, but they also stand as a testimony to a great, begrieved man. Marcus Tullius' son for whom this work was written as a didactic teaching did not spoil the teachings of Cratyllus and his father, scattering them to four winds, he excelled in a manner that would make his father proud. My favorite idea from the whole book is that "one should not measure his strength by others' weakness, but by his own character"

I fell in love with Cicero as a Junior and he's still got it. We don't quite agree philosophically but he knew how to turn a phrase.

Absolutely one of the most essential classical texts and Tully's masterpiece. He discusses what is honorable, what is expedient, and the presenting dilemma when the honorable and expedient conflict.

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