Product Description
These pioneering writings on the mechanics, tactics, and strategies of government were devised by the Roman Republic's most enlightened thinker. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Rewarding Reading, Average Translation
I want to talk about the selection first and then the translation of this book, Cicero: On Government.
First, the selection: the Verres oration, Brutus, and the Philippics are the three main reasons that why you should buy this book."For Balbus" is only a selection (so don't be fooled!), and "For Murena" and "The Republic" and "The Laws" are available in Oxford World's Classics. (As a general rule, don't buy penguin if the same thing is also published by Oxford.)
Second, the translation: Michael Grant's translation is only of average quality.(See my comment on "Cicero: Selected Works").If you want to read excellent translation of Cicero's works, I'd strongly recommend "Cicero: Defence Speeches" translated by D.H. Berry, which included a better translated version of "For Murena".
Finally, this book was first published in 1993, and "Cicero: Selected Works" in 1960.If you compare these two books, you can see moderate improvements in Michael Grant's translation. However, his translation in 1993 is barely OK, while his in 1960 is terrible. Unfortunately, the Verres oration, Brutus, and the Philippics are still not published by Oxford, so you are stuck with Grant's translation unless you want to buy the expensive Loeb Classic edition.

Superb, superb, superb!!!
This book truly shows the art of a great speaker and orator. Cicero is the best!. "On government" truly develops the mind. (The book is alsohandy if you want to expand your vocabulary.)

LOVER OF THE CLASSICS
Cicero is the greatest of latin writers. His knowledge is so wide. This bookbrings together many of his thoughts on government.This book makes it obvious how much he loved the republican form of government. Our foundingfathers were widely read on Cicero's treatise's and rightly so. Excellentreading. ... Read more

Product Description
This very funny, very bleak novella, "The Human War," is about the first hours of the 2003 war in Iraq, as experienced by a screwed-up kid in Ohio who feels the world is spinning out of his control. His reaction to the coming war? He drinks, has sex, goes to a strip club, he does anything that Youngstown, Ohio offers as human distraction--but this only makes the horror deepen. Noah Cicero’s deadpan humor is reminiscent of Beckett's, and "The Human War" is a blackly funny and deeply cruel look at the cold hearts of men. The novella is accompanied by two outstanding short stories, "The Doomed" and "Little Flowers," both dark, funny vignettes on the impossibility of human interaction: further examples of Noah Cicero’s wicked talent. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Lindah Squeeze Me
If you think sentences--single sentences. You know the type: unmarried, lonesome, etc-- describe a particular aspect of the core of your being, then you're in luck because Cicero delves right into the problem of trying to get you to disagree with yourself in that those sentences really hate you.

I really like this book.Read it.
I really like this book.It's honest.The language is honest.Noah is effectively communicating with The Human War.

Buy this book.

White Trash Existentialism -- BRILLIANT
Imagine if Sartre and de Beauvoir battled it out on The Jerry Springer Show, and you get an idea what reading this book is like. Noah Cicero is one of the most amazing voices in fiction I've ever discovered. Remember the first time you read Bukowski, Miller, or Ginsberg's HOWL? Reading this book was like that for me: it just riveted me to the back of my seat and made me shake my head in wonder.

Noah's great innovation is the "sentegraph": prose so clipped that each line becomes poetry; the perfect obverse of "vers libre" poets who simply write prose with irregular line breaks. Noah comes screaming from the rust belt hell of Youngstown, Ohio, but don't expect just another sad-sack, Harvey Pekar type of artist: Cicero is young, brilliant, fearless, and completely original. He hangs out in Denny's and goes to strip bars and, in this book--written on the eve of the Gulf War II--rages against war and politics and the horror and emptiness the eve of war has caused him.

I cannot recommend this book highly enough. I hope this has helped. ... Read more

Product Description
In the two Books of De divinatione Cicero considers beliefs concerning fate and the possibility of prediction: in the first book he puts the (principally Stoic) case for them in the mouth of his brother Quintus; in the second, speaking in his own person, he argues against them. In this new translation of, and commentary on, Book One--the first in English for over 80 years--David Wardle guides the reader through the course of Cicero's argument, giving particular attention to the traditional Roman and the philosophical conception of divination. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

De Divinatione
The only thing preventing me from giving this five stars is
the sloppy fact checking in the volume.Many works are
mentioned in the commentary, but are nowhere to be found
in the Bibliography.There needs to be an addendum listing
these citations. I found between 20 - 30 such errors. This
rather vitiates the usefulness of the commentary.
Otherwise it is a very serviceable translation. ... Read more

Product Description

Studying references and writings in over 900 personal letters, an unparalleled source, this book presents a rounded and intriguing account of the three women who, until now, have only survived as secondary figures to Cicero.

In a field where little is really known about Cicero’s family, Susan Treggiari creates a history for these figures who, through history, have not had voices of their own, and a vivid impression of the everyday life upper-class Roman women in Italy had during the heyday of Roman power.

Artfully assembling a rounded picture of their personalities and experiences, Treggiari reconstructs the lives of these three important women:

• Cicero’s first wife Terentia: a strong, tempestuous woman of status and fortune, with an implacable desire to retain control of both
• his second wife Publilia: shadowy and mysterious, the young submissive who Cicero wedded to compensate for her predecessor’s steely resolve and fiery temper
• his daughter Tullia.

Including illustrations, chronological charts, maps and glossaries, this book is essential reading for students wishing to get better acquainted with the women of ancient Rome.

Product Description
Cicero wrote On Obligations (De Officiis) in late 44 BC after the assassination of Julius Caesar to provide principles of behavior for aspiring politicians. It has subsequently played a seminal role in the formation of ethical values in western Christendom. Adopted by the fourth-century Christian humanists, it became transmuted into the moral code of the high Middle Ages. Thereafter, in the Renaissance from the time of Petrarch, and in the Age of Enlightenment that followed, it was given central prominence in discussion of the government of states. Today, when corruption and conflict in political life are the focus of so much public attention, On Obligations is still the foremost guide to good conduct. This new edition is based on a more systematic examination of the vast manuscript tradition than has previously been attempted, and shows with new clarity the major contribution to the improvement of the text made by scribes and readers of the later manuscripts, both in the Middle Ages and in the Renaissance. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

One of the best editions
This is one of the best translations of Cicero: easy to read, translated idiomatically and not word by word. Cicero's ideas are conveyed vividly and concisely. Lively translation and fun to read.

Cicero MUST be read and learnt - it is a MUST! - if you want to comprehend patriotism, freedom and love of your fellow citizens in general. Studying Cicero makes you understand what foolishness Communism, Socialism and even Capitalism advocate. The only true path to salvation is love of thy neighbor - I know sounds anachronistic, but it is true - Cicero's views are in perfect concord with Christianity. We all have our God-given obligation to care not for the capital, not for the chosen few, not even for the majority (as in the perverted forms of democracy), but for the true common and honorable good.

The print: low quality paper, formatting is average, the book's physical integrity still holds once you are through it, so overall a C+ print of an A+ translation of an A+ book.

John Brown

From the Point of View of a Student
This book was part of my required reading list, so, of course, I had negative first impressions about it. However, as I began to read the novel, I enjoyed the stylistic elements as well as the theme of the novel. Overall, it was a good read.

Classic practical wisdom
Once again I'm amazed to be the first to be writing thereview of a book over two thousand years old, and such an influential book at that, and once again I'm amazed that Cicero's works have become the hinterlands of the literate public, as reflected here at Amazon.com anyway. Perhaps I'm wrong and there is some other hugely popular translation of Cicero's De Officiis that I'm unaware of; let's hope so.

This work takes its place in my mind among a very small handful of special books dealing directly with moral philosophy in the Western tradition: Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics, Epictetus' Discourses, Marcus Aurelius'
Meditations, and Kant's Lectures on Ethics.Unlike some of those others, it is a practical work by a practical and worldly man, who hoped to instill in his son and countrymen some practical wisdom on appropriate ethical behavior in public and private life.

This work was written toward the end of Cicero's Life in 44 B.C. as a set of three treatises dedicated to his son, who was off studying philosophy in Athens. Basically, the first treatise deals with honorable conduct, the second with what is useful (utile), and the third with the potential conflict between the two.Cicero considered himself an adherent of the Academic school, but the book mainly espouses Stoic philosophy: His son voiced allegiance to the Peripatetics, but worried Cicero by leading the life (at best) of an Epicurean. So all four of the main philosophical approaches of that time are brought into play. But a wider theme is nicely mentioned in the introduction as well: that the De Officiis, compared to Cicero's other works, was "more directly a political manifesto, addressed much more closely to the concerns of a Rome still reeling from the effects of the Roman revolution engineered by Julius Caesar". Indeed, it was written, as were all his philosophical works, late in life after his political career was marginalized by Caesar's overthrow of the republic.

This edition itself is another wonderful book put out by the folks at the Oxford University Press in their Oxford World's Classics series. I have several in my personal library and each is wonderfully thought out and rendered. Preceding the actual text there is a series of very helpful preliminary sections, such as a list of abbreviations of works by Cicero and others, an introduction, a summary of the text, notes on the text, notes on the translation, a select bibliography, and a "Chronology of Cicero the Philosopher".

Among these early sections, all of which are really quite thoughtful and helpful, the introduction stands out as exceptionally good. It is divided into six sections which cover, 1) The political background of the text, 2) Cicero as philosopher, 3) "De Officiis: Title, Content, Audience", 4) Sources, 5) Hellenistic schools and ethical theory, and finally 6) The subsequent influence of the treatise [from later Roman and early Christian thinkers through such giants as Augustine, Boethius, Peter Abelard, Thomas Aquinas, Dante, Petrarch, Erasmus, Milton, Locke, Voltaire, Hume, Adam Smith, and Kant].

The text is wonderful. I have not yet read the Latin original, though it is available in the Loeb Classical Library and I'd like to some day, so I don't know how accurate the translation is, but the language here is clear and pleasant to read. Following the text there are copious and highly useful explanatory notes and an index and glossary of names to round out this outstanding book.

To sum up, from the introduction: "It will be clear that Cicero is no professional academic. `These works do not attempt, and therefore should not be expected, to make the same kind of appeal as, for instance, the epistemological and metaphysical speculations that were fashionable in the last century . . . These writings deal with the kind of philosophy which concerns man as a political and social being'. Though his approach to problems is less sophisticated than that of modern philosophers, he dealt with issues of perennial concern, in ways comprehensible to those unschooled in, or impatient with, the abstruse discussion characteristic of the discipline today". No complaints here! It's a great book, with a lasting influence on the best in Western thought and civilization. Read it, and incorporate its wisdom into your own life. ... Read more

Product Description
It is the twenty-seventh millennium, and dark forces have arisen to threaten the peace and freedom of the universe's intergalactic government. A crafty villain who calls himself Emperor Z'tark is planning a war of conquest in order to create his own tyrannical empire. In these uncertain times, the people of the galaxy look to their youthful champion, the brave and resourceful Commander Cody of the Interstellar Police, and together with his older sidekick Sub-Commander Brady, they are all that stand in the way of this evil. Over and over the two have foiled the Emperor's plotting, but now Z'tark believes that his newest scheme will prevail. With the aid of the lizard alien, Doctor Gazo, the two invent a helmet which, if used on the buff commander, will render him a submissive sexual slave to the monstrous ruler. Will the designs of this villain prevail? Will treachery from an unexpected source betray the handsome young hero into the arms of his foes? The galaxy holds its breath in fear!In another tale: As the twenty-seventh millennium draws to a close, recent academy graduate Interstellar Police Officer Huangdi dreams of following in the path of the academy's legendary heroes by engaging in adventures of bravery and danger. Yet, his first assignment seems a rather mundane mission. The handsome young Asian officer is ordered to go to a far off planet that once served as the final battleground between Emperor Z'tark and Commander Cody. There he is to secure the transfer to the academy of this planet pursuant to an offer of transfer by its lone occupant who calls himself 'The Caretaker'. The mission seems simple, but once there, Huangdi finds himself caught up in a hidden agenda by the Caretaker in the form of a seductive mind game that will play out "In The Gardens Of New Eden"! Finally a mysterious prisoner who is held in solitary on Planet G becomes the object of curiosity for an Interstellar Police Officer who has been assigned as his guard. The young well-built policeman should have obeyed headquarters' order that'absolutely no one is permitted contact with this prisoner'. If too much curiosity can kill a cat it can also set one loose among the pigeons! ... Read more

Product Description
The Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn has been considered one of the most important Western magical systems for over a century. Although much of their knowledge has been published, to really enter the system required initiation within a Golden Dawn temple — until now.

Regardless of your magical knowledge or background, you can learn and live the Golden Dawn tradition with the first practical guide to Golden Dawn initiation. Self-Initiation into the Golden Dawn Tradition by Chic and Sandra Tabatha Cicero offers self-paced instruction by two senior adepts of this magical order.

For the first time, the esoteric rituals of the Golden Dawn are clearly laid out in step-by-step guidance that's clear and easy-to-follow. Studying the Knowledge Lectures, practicing daily rituals, doing meditations, and taking self-graded exams will enhance your learning. Initiation rituals have been correctly reinterpreted so you can perform them yourself. Upon completion of this workbook, you can truly say that you are practicing the Golden Dawn tradition with an in-depth knowledge of qabalah, astrology, Tarot, geomancy, spiritual alchemy, and more, all of which you will learn from Self-Initiation into the Golden Dawn Tradition.

·No need for group membership
·Instructions are free of jargon and complex language
·Lessons don't require familiarity with magical traditions
·Grade rituals from Neophyte to Portal
·Link with your Higher Self

If you have ever wondered what it would be like to learn the Golden Dawn system, Self-Initiation into the Golden Dawn Tradition explains it all. The lessons follow a structured plan, adding more and more information with each section of the book. Did you really learn the material? Find out by using the written tests and checking them with the included answers. Here is a chance to find out if the Golden Dawn system is the right path for you or to add any part of their wisdom and techniques to the system you follow. Start with this book now.
... Read more

Customer Reviews (32)

You'll need more than just this book!
In the Suggested Reading sections towards the end of almost each chapter (save the one on the Portal Grade), there are books written by the Ciceros themselves which are recommended, especially the first 3 Golden Dawn Journal books, which are out of print and NOT cheaply available secondhand for the most part.

The Golden Dawn Journal: Book I, Divination (ISBN: 1567188508)
The Golden Dawn Journal, Book 2: Qabalah: Theory and Magic (ISBN: 1567188516)
The Golden Dawn Journal : Book III : The Art Of Hermes (ISBN: 1567188524)

The same is true for their "Secrets of a Golden Dawn Temple: The Alchemy and Crafting of Magickal Implements" (ISBN: 0875421504).

For those who want to buy ritual tools instead of make them, there's the HermeticKa website.

Pleasantly Suprised
I must admit that I was pleasantly suprised with this book. The Golden Dawn is covered within all sorts of legitimacy of lineage issues. All this seems to produce a degredation to the movement from my point of view. In any case the book does present core type information and is easily readable. Recommended for those who just simply cannot stand to read through the ealry 1900s style of writing. That is to say, bringing modern style to the dusty old way of presenting material.

More than justSupplementary Guide to the Golden Dawn System
Firstly, I will explain why this book only received four stars from myself. This text opens under the assumption that you are a practicing magician, and that you are well versed in basic rituals such as the LBRP, the Middle Pillar Vibratory Technique (I don't know how else you would intend to create the astral shells for the initiations), and that you own Secrets of a Golden Dawn Temple and are skilled with your hands. It also assumes that you are a true occultist and that you are seeking more than launching some sigils to make manifest your "will."
However, this book is a great piece of work that stands on it's own as does Regardie's Golden Dawn, Crowley's Liber ABA, and to a much lesser degree Peter Carroll's Liber Null and Psychonaut. In fact, all of these books are must haves by serious students. I would not know how someone could study Crowley's system of magick without being well grounded in the magick and rituals of the Golden Dawn (Crowley places great emphasis on the Neophyte Ritual and refers to the Z-documents about five times in his book). So, my fellow thelemites stop bashing the GD please! You make us all sound like fools!
Moving on. The information contained within this text is absolutely indispensable, not to mention the chapter that deals with astrology! The Cicero's put a great deal of care in compiling a text book, for those magicians who really want to bring their understanding above par. The pace of the book is a little slow, but we tend to fall down when we run to quickly.
If you are looking for a book that will initiate your level of understanding of your magical-self and your magical-universe, then this is the book for you. However, if you are on the fast track to enlightenment, (which is oftentimes the fast track to failure) then by all means move on don't waste your money and continue delude yourself. Remember: it is our understanding that provides the mortar for the building blocks of experience

A Wealth of Information
This book offers more information than most will want to deal with, yet it is a great place to get familiar with the teachings of the Golden Dawn. One will probably seek initiation into the Esoteric Order of the Golden Dawn to get clarification on the rituals and knowledge presented in this book, though.

Awesome Course
Those who wish not to expend serious time and effort into their conscious spiritual awakening need not waste their money on this book.This book is for the serious seekers with an interest in ritual and who feel that "pull" into the GD current.The important factors in a valid initiation are intent and the activation of relevant symbolism within the initiate's sphere.This book supplies the knowledge to utilize the latter - the former is entirely up to the student.
This book contains such a wealth of information on many aspects of the Western Esoteric Tradition.My gripes however are two in number:1. Towards the back of the book spelling and grammatical errors become increasingly common-not a huge deal (as none of them occur during the rituals) but it's just something that a literally-anal person like myself catches notice of;and 2. Lack of completeness in regards to having everything basic that the student needs (i.e. ritual implements)-they should really have devoted a section in each grade to construction of implements.I understand that they want the seeker to get in the habit of consulting other sources, which is good, but completeness in the basics should be mandatory.
All in all an awesome and wonderful opus by 2 superb writers -- maybe I should take back my first sentence of this review, for even those who are not willing to seriously work themselves into the GD current can benefit greatly from reading the Knowledge Lectures and contemplating the words and readings from the grade initiations.5 stars was an easy decision for me on this one. ... Read more

Product Description
The De Officiis ("On Duties"), written hurriedly not long before Cicero's death, has always commanded attention. It is based on the moral philosophy of the Greek Stoic Panaetius; but Cicero adapted the material to his audience in such a way that the book stands as an invaluable witness to Roman attitudes and behavior. This new edition is based on a more systematic examination of the vast manuscript tradition than has hitherto been attempted, and exploits fresh evidence for the poorly represented X branch. The apparatus shows with new clarity the major contribution to the emendation of the text made by scribes and readers of the later manuscripts, both in the Middle Ages and in the Renaissance. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Beautiful text, masterful edition
Not only does this work of Cicero's beautifully lay out a feasible system of ethics, it also describes the relationship between virtue and utility and how one may pursue morality.Also, Winterbottom does a fantastic job editing this masterpiece, with quite helpful apparatus criticus, preface, and indices.A beautiful text for a most brilliant piece of Latin literature!

A book every person should read
It has been said in the past by prominent Christians that a person familiar with Cicero's De Oficiis can be moral without having read the Bible.What a fitting statement for this book!De Oficiis shows you how to lead a moral life, as a father would tell his son (in fact, this work is a series of libelli written from Cicero to his own son).Particularly if you are in a position of power, or aspire to someday ascend to that status, this is a must-read.For a contrasting view, also read Nicollo Machiavelli's The Prince.

A book every person should read
It has been said in the past by prominent Christians that a person familiar with Cicero's De Oficiis can be moral without having read the Bible.What a fitting statement for this book!De Oficiis shows you how to lead a moral life, as a father would tell his son (in fact, this work is a series of libelli written from Cicero to his own son).Particularly if you are in a position of power, or aspire to someday ascend to that status, this is a must-read.For a contrasting view, also read Nicollo Machiavelli's The Prince. ... Read more

Product Description
In letters to his dear friend Atticus, Cicero reveals himself as to no other, except perhaps his brother. These letters, in a four-volume series, provide a vivid picture of a momentous period in Roman history--years marked by the rise of Julius Caesar and the downfall of the Republic. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Cicero's Letters to Atticus in 4 Volumes
Loeb's 4-volume collection of Cicero's Letters to Atticus is probably the best set published today.Each of the Loeb volumes has Cicero's well-crafted Latin on the left-hand page and a faithful translation on the right-hand page.With these two texts, the reader can learn from the English while practicing latin at the same time.Even readers not interested in Latin, per se, will benefit from the Latin text because it allows the reader to dive into Cicero's time in a way that few other texts allow.

The Letters to Atticus cover the period of Julius Caesar's rise and the end of the Roman Republic, so students of history have much to study here.However, it is more than just history.It is a gripping story of a world in change.And no one has earned eternal praise for being able to speak better about his world than Cicero.

The Letters to Atticus is completed with Cicero: Letters to Atticus, II, 90-165A (Loeb Classical Library No. 8)

Cicero: Letters to Atticus, III, 166-281 (Loeb Classical Library 97)

and Cicero: D. Letters, Letters to Atticus 282-426 (Loeb Classical Library No. 491)

Each Loeb volume is produced with high-quality paper and sewn binding. So these books can be in your library for several lifetimes.

very recommendable book
If you are interested in the classical world, you should read Ciceronis epistulae in Latine. And do not read them in English-translation. Not to choose an easier way. ... Read more

Product Description
Cicero (106-43 BC) was the greatest orator of the ancient world and a leading politician of the closing era of the Roman republic. This book presents with nine of his speeches that reflect the development, variety, and drama of his political career. Among them are two speeches from his prosecution of Verres, a corrupt and cruel governor of Sicily; four speeches against the conspirator Catiline; and the Second Philippic, the famous denunciation of Mark Antony, which cost Cicero his life. Also included are On the Command of Gnaeus Pompeius, in which he praises the military successes of Pompey, and For Marcellus, a panegyric in praise of the dictator Julius Caesar.
These new translations preserve Cicero's oratorical brilliance and achieve new standards of accuracy. A general introduction outlines Cicero's public career, and separate introductions explain the political significance of each of the speeches. This edition also provides an up-to-date scholarly bibliography, glossary and two maps. Together with the companion volume of Defense Speeches, this edition provides an unparalleled sampling of Cicero's achievements.
... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Great work, kindle edition needs hyperlinks to endnotes
I really like the translations by OWC of ancient texts, but the fact that there are no hyperlinks to the endnotes as in the Penguin kindle editions makes reading a chore, especially when dealing with kindle's location system.It is often necessary to consult the endnotes when reading ancient texts and adding hyperlinks would vastly improve these kindle editions. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Elizabeth Rawson's portrait of Cicero
The author gives a very detailed descirption of the politics that surround Cicero's time. It fills in the political how to Ciceros rise to fame and the important people that surround him, both enemy and friend. I would recommend this book to anyone who knows about the fall of the Roman senate and what Cicero did to help and hurt it.

The one indispensable modern portrait that we have
Rawson's biography of Cicero is probably the ONE indispensable modern portrait that we have.Readers are advised to start here and avoidAnthonmy Everitt's better publicised and more lavishly produced volume, "Cicero, A Turbulent Life". Cicero has, of course, been the subject of innumerable books. His importance to any understanding of his age (or indeed our own) simply can not be underestimated. So prolific was he that during the middle ages he was actually thought to be two people. Tullius and Cicero.

With each succeeding generation, new biographers shoulder forward to offer their own interpretations. Cicero's reputation has suffered somewhat of late. A fantastic example of this is the crudely distorted and utterly unhistorical (though admittedly novelistic) treatment he receives in one of Colleen McCullough's Masters of Rome series (which series seems to steadily deteriorate in quality and coherence from volume to volume).Here Cicero (a tub in the mind of McCollough to Caesar's whale) squeaks and grovels his way through some of the most momentous moments in Roman history.McCollough (who comically purports in one of her "After Words" to have her "nose glued to the historical record") is not alone -- but her purportedly "historical" portrait surely remains the most distempered and dyspeptic view of Cicero in recent memory.

To my view Rawson offers a readable, erudite, accessible biography that canvasses all of the important aspects of his life and thought. She is sympathetic and an admirer,but she is not blind to his many foibles.

As a young man I had a perhaps unreasoning admiration for Cicero. I held him in a somewhat old-fashioned esteem. Rather like the English aristocracy of the 1500s- they loved their Tully so much that it became a fashion to name their daughters Tully.I confess I named a succession of dogs after him!

But it was Rawson who provided me with the necessary perspective on him. You really need no other. I think that what is important about this volume is the careful attention devoted to Cicero's political and philosophical works.As you can see from my review of Everitt's book, Mary Beard has best described what we are waiting for: "a biographical account that tried to explore the way his life-story has been constructed and reconstructed over the last two thousand years; how we have learned to read Cicero through Jonson, Voltaire, Ibsen and the rest; what kind of investment we still have, and why, in a thundering conservative of the first century BC and his catchy oratorical slogans. Why, in short, is Cicero still around in the 21st century? And on whose terms? Quo usque tandem?"

Cicero's reputation gets a much needed shot in the arm IN Rawson's volume. She writes, "whatever the shortcomings of Cicero's political works, there is no evidence that any of his contemporaries understood the problems of the time as clearly or indeed produced nearly so positive a contribution towards solving them as he did."

Her penultimate chapter on his final year in Rome also offers a closely argued reassessment of his place in the "final conflict". In Rawson's view it was in 43 that he became the "true ruler of Rome" -- for however brief a period.

The book is filled with little gems. It is often remarked that one of Cicero's principal contributions to Rome was his elevation of the language itself. But it was unknown to me that words such as "quality", "essence" and "moral" were first found in Cicero (though derived from Greek roots).

Also reproduced here are some of the marvelous witticisms for which he was so justly famous. Upon hearing that Brutus deemed Caesar to have "joined the boni", Cicero remarked that he did not know "where Caesar would find them, unless he first hanged himself."Cicero is also famous for the oft quoted expression "o tempore, o mores" which comes from his famous attack on Cataline that began, " How far, then Cataline, will you go on abusing our patience. How long, you madman, will you mock at our vengeance? Will there be no end to your unbridled audacity".

Perhaps the most poignant assessment of Cicero was Plutarch's, though he puts the words in, of all people, Augustus' mouth. The story is extremely famous. August discovers a young grandson reading a volume of Cicero. The terrified boy trembles while his grandfather leafs through the book at length. At last he hands it back with the famous words: "an eloquent man, my boy, an eloquent man....and a patriot."

Cicero is one of the most important personages in all history. Indeed it is almost impossible for us to understand the roots of our culture unless we understand him. If you read nothing else of him, read this wonderful book. ... Read more

Product Description
Cicero's First Catilinarian speech is now available in a practical and inexpensive annotated edition for third-year Latin students. In light of existing textbooks, Karl Frerichs' new edition has several important and distinguished strengths. 1. Clear, tripartite page layout for text, vocabulary, and notes on facing pages. 2. Running vocabulary separate from notes and complete vocabulary at the end. 3. Introduction and Glossary of Terms and Figures of Speech provide basic biographical, historical, and rhetorical background. 4. Maps and illustrations.

Also available:

Cicero: Pro Caelio - ISBN 0865165599
Asconius: Commentary on 5 Speeches of Cicero - ISBN 0865162204

For over 30 years Bolchazy-Carducci Publishers has produced the highest quality Latin and ancient Greek books. From Dr. Seuss books in Latin to Plato's Apology, Bolchazy-Carducci's titles help readers learn about ancient Rome and Greece; the Latin and ancient Greek languages are alive and well with titles like Cicero's De Amicitia and Kaegi's Greek Grammar. We also feature a line of contemporary eastern European and WWII books.

Some of the areas we publish in include:

Selections From The Aeneid
Latin Grammar & Pronunciation
Greek Grammar & Pronunciation
Texts Supporting Wheelock's Latin
Classical author workbooks: Vergil, Ovid, Horace, Catullus, Cicero
Vocabulary Cards For AP Selections: Vergil, Ovid, Catullus, Horace
Greek Mythology
Greek Lexicon
Slovak Culture And History ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Weak on grammatical notes
I used this text alongside of Cerutti's Pro Archia (2nd ed.), and I found Frerich's edition of the First Catillinarian to be sorely lacking in comparison. First, the running vocabulary is presented alphabetically on each page, not by line number, extending the time it takes to find words. This may sound minor, but it makes a difference over the course of several hundred lines. But more significantly, the notes were too few and far between. After a while, I found myself forgetting to check the grammatical notes because most of the time, they didn't address the problem with which I was working. Cerutti's Pro Archia notes, on the other hand, were copious and much more detailed. So in summary Frerich's edition is useful in so far as it gives running vocabulary and a few grammatical notes, but I would choose many other annotated editions before his.

Standard text in student-friendly format
Cicero's First Catilinarian is a great read for students just finishing grammar and moving towards translation of Classic works.Frerichs' edition of this oration makes that transition smooth with this book's numerous aids to students.

The Introduction provides background on Cicero, Catiline's conspiracy, and Latin oratory itself, as well as maps of the Forum and Italy.Having this information available puts this oration into context, and students will have a better time understanding Cicero's references.Before the text of the oration, the book also has a glossary of terms and figures of speech, which also prepares students nicely.

The Latin text has vocabulary on the facing page, and many notes beneath on grammar, idioms, etc.A comprehensive glossary in the back serves as quick reference to unfamiliar words.About 60 pages long, students won't complain about having to take this book home!With a student-friendly format, Frerichs' book is wonderful for any student of Cicero's important oration.

Great Educational Tool
This 60 page book provides aspiring latin scholars with the chance to understand and translate an important part of history. With it's glossary and included grammar helps a student with three years of latin should find this an interesting and exciting piece of authentic literature.

Great Educational Tool
This 60 page book provides aspiring latin scholars with the chance to understand and translate an important part of history. With it's glossary and included grammar helps a student with three years of latin should find this an interesting and exciting piece of authentic literature. ... Read more

Product Description

Cicero (Marcus Tullius, 106–43 BCE), Roman advocate, orator, politician, poet, and philosopher, about whom we know more than we do of any other Roman, lived through the stirring era that saw the rise, dictatorship, and death of Julius Caesar in a tottering republic. In Cicero's political speeches and in his correspondence we see the excitement, tension and intrigue of politics and the part he played in the turmoil of the time. Of about 106 speeches, 58 survive (a few incompletely), 29 of which are addressed to the Roman people or Senate, the rest to jurors. In the fourteenth century Petrarch and other Italian humanists discovered manuscripts containing more than 900 letters, of which more than 800 were written by Cicero, and nearly 100 by others to him. This correspondence affords a revelation of the man, all the more striking because most of the letters were not intended for publication. Six works on rhetorical subjects survive intact and another in fragments. Seven major philosophical works are extant in part or in whole, and there are a number of shorter compositions either preserved or known by title or fragments. Of his poetry, some is original, some translated from the Greek.

The Loeb Classical Library edition of Cicero is in twenty-nine volumes.

Product Description
Completely Parsed Cicero is an irreplaceable, primary resource for educators. The complete text of In Catilinam I, an interlinear translation, and an accompanying, more polished translation are just part of this goldmine. At the bottom of each page below the text, each Latin word is completely parsed and the commentary includes useful references to the revised grammars of Bennett, Gildersleeve, Allen and Greenough, and Harkness and delves into word derivations and word frequencies, making this volume helpful for the competent reader of Latin as well as the novice. A new introduction by Steven M. Cerutti of East Carolina University provides guidelines for the use of this resource by high school Latin teachers and educators at all levels.

Also available:

Asconius: Commentary on 5 Speeches of Cicero - 0865162204
Cicero: The Patriot - ISBN 0865165874

For over 30 years Bolchazy-Carducci Publishers has produced the highest quality Latin and ancient Greek books. From Dr. Seuss books in Latin to Plato's Apology, Bolchazy-Carducci's titles help readers learn about ancient Rome and Greece; the Latin and ancient Greek languages are alive and well with titles like Cicero's De Amicitia and Kaegi's Greek Grammar. We also feature a line of contemporary eastern European and WWII books.

Some of the areas we publish in include:

Selections From The Aeneid
Latin Grammar & Pronunciation
Greek Grammar & Pronunciation
Texts Supporting Wheelock's Latin
Classical author workbooks: Vergil, Ovid, Horace, Catullus, Cicero
Vocabulary Cards For AP Selections: Vergil, Ovid, Catullus, Horace
Greek Mythology
Greek Lexicon
Slovak Culture And History ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

The Gold Standard
This is a work without peer.Every word of the text is parsed and explained.The notes are outstanding.A flawless interlinear translation accompanies an excellent (if somewhat archaic) translation that runs on along side of the text.This slim volume is well organized and easy to use.If you are teaching a class on Cicero's First Oration Against Catiline or tutoring a student who is studying it, it will increase your understanding and level of preparation dramatically. ... Read more

Product Description
Sextus Roscius was murdered in Rome some months after the official end of the Sullan proscriptions on 1 June 81 BC. The case was tried early the following year with a young Cicero acting as defense counsel in his first criminal case for the accused son. Though a novice, Cicero was able to tap into the public anger over the uncontrolled killing and looting of the proscriptions and channel it against the men behind the prosecution, T. Roscius Magnus and T. Roscius Capito. Cicero won a career-making victory, establishing his reputation as a formidable advocate. This, the first new edition of the work in English to be published for almost a century, provides a Latin text and commentary updated to take account of advances in the study of the Latin language as well as Roman institutions, law and society. It is suitable for use with upper-level undergraduates and graduate students. ... Read more

Product Description

Cicero (Marcus Tullius, 106–43 BCE), Roman lawyer, orator, politician and philosopher, of whom we know more than of any other Roman, lived through the stirring era which saw the rise, dictatorship, and death of Julius Caesar in a tottering republic. In his political speeches especially and in his correspondence we see the excitement, tension and intrigue of politics and the part he played in the turmoil of the time. Of about 106 speeches, delivered before the Roman people or the Senate if they were political, before jurors if judicial, 58 survive (a few of them incompletely). In the fourteenth century Petrarch and other Italian humanists discovered manuscripts containing more than 900 letters of which more than 800 were written by Cicero and nearly 100 by others to him. These afford a revelation of the man all the more striking because most were not written for publication. Six rhetorical works survive and another in fragments. Philosophical works include seven extant major compositions and a number of others; and some lost. There is also poetry, some original, some as translations from the Greek.

The Loeb Classical Library edition of Cicero is in twenty-nine volumes.

Customer Reviews (4)

Who Shrunk The Book
I hate to rate such a great
book with less than 5 stars,
but I am compelled to do so.
This is an indispensable book
for the English speaking classical
Latin reader, but...
the book is smaller than a pulp
fiction paperback and the print
is tiny.
The price is not tiny.

I'm glad that I have the book
and I will no doubt make good
use of it, but I will remain
disappointed due to it's size.
If there is a bright side,
I suppose it is that you can put
it in your pocket and have it
handy as you are moving about.
This is a not a great benefit.
A book of Cicero's orations
in Latin and English translation
is not generally the kind of book
that one carries around to read
on the bus or during a break in
one's activities.
It is most useful for study,
and for that purpose,
it ought be larger and have
larger print.

I highly recommend getting this
little book and a magnifying glass
to go with it.

One of the best books ever in a very good version
This is what a cicero's fan expect of an opus of him...great work by harvard university press doing this book...very good version, very good investigation

Some of Cicero's Greatest Speeches
These are probably Cicero's best speeches in which his oratory is full of passion in its appeal to save The Republic from the impending doom brought by Catiline's sinister plot to consume Rome in flames and slaughter the wealthy.

Cicero's style in the Catilinam is very inflammatory and accusatory as he urges his fellow senators to issue a decree approving of his actions as Consul against Catiline and to ratify his plea to execute Cataline's co-conspirators. His pacing and choice of words make the reader feel that doom is near unless swift action is taken. A simply marvelous piece of oratory. The final speeches 'Pro Flacco', 'Pro Murena', and 'Pro Sulla', are his defense presentations in the trials of Flacco, Murena, and Sulla (Sulla's son that is.) Although not as moving as his speeches on Catiline, these criminal defense speeches are useful in understanding the origins and effects of Catiline's bizzare attempts as well as Rome's judicial system in the context of political elections. It was common for defeated candidates to seek prosecution of their successful opponents to frustrate their ability to obtain that office: almost all of these trials involved claims of bribery and corruption. Political trials were extremely common in The Late Republic and these are fine examples of them: the rhetoric is heated and many of the accusations speculative; all of this is colored by the free use of invective. These trials are also important in that they show Cicero to be a rather practical politician who has no qualms in defending staunch optimates to the likes of Sulla or working with other defense advocates whom he doesn't like such as Marcus Licinius Crassus. What is perhaps most touching is Cicero's pompous flair which makes him quite human: I saved The Republic! Me! Me! Me! Cicero's self-congratulatory remarks in his speeches and letters were often considered pompous even by Roman standards of oratory and behavior. Perhaps no one else was more dismissive of Cicero's arrogant airs than Brutus, the tyrannicide, who tought of them as too Greek for his taste.

These are some of Cicero's greatest public orations that will capture the reader into all of the intrigues and turmoils of The Late Roman Republic.A good companion to this text would be Loeb's edition of Sallust's monograph on Catiline which both complements and deviates from some of the information presented in Cicero's speeches. The Loeb library is unique in that its classical texts are printed in both the original Latin text and English side-by-side. The translations are quite good and were done by competent scholars of classics whose choice of language is accurate, clear, and modern. These hard bound volumes are small but their covers are durable: the paper is of good quality.

Worth the effort
Shows general disragard by this conservative hack for the civil liberties of the accused.This guy ought to have his ears pinned back, at the least; preferably put on display so he would have to listen to his speeches. Readability is generally ok, although sentences ramble on occasion and are often unnecessarily lengthy.This may, however, merely reflect the customs of the times ... Read more

Product Description
Cicero may be best known as a politician, but he was also one of the few significant Roman writers of philosophy. Powell presents a new and exciting selection of current scholarly work on this neglected side of him, establishing Cicero firmly as a serious philosophical writer of continuing importance and relevance. ... Read more

Product Description
This volume is intended as a companion to the study of Cicero's oratory and rhetoric for both students and experts in the field: for the neophyte, it provides a starting point; for the veteran Ciceronian scholar, a place for renewing the dialogue about issues concerning Ciceronian oratory and rhetoric; for all, a site of engagement at various levels with Ciceronian scholarship and bibliography. The book is arranged along roughly chronological lines and covers most aspects of Cicero's oratory and rhetoric. The particular strength of this companion resides in the individual, often very original approach to sundry topics by an array of impressive contributors, all of whom have spent large portions of their careers concentrating upon the oratorical and rhetorical oeuvre of Cicero. A bibliography of relevant items from the past 25 years, keyed to specific Ciceronian works, completes the volume. Brill's Companion to Cicero will become the standard reference work on Cicero for many years. ... Read more

Product Description
Cicero's letters to his brother, Quintus, allow us an intimate glimpse of their world. Vividly informative too is Cicero's correspondence with Brutus dating from the spring of 43 b.c., which conveys the drama of the period following the assassination of Julius Caesar. These are now made available in a new Loeb Classical Library edition.Shackleton Bailey also provides in this volume a new text and translation of two invective speeches purportedly delivered in the Senate; these are probably anonymous ancient schoolbook exercises but have long been linked with the works of Sallust and Cicero. The Letter to Octavian, ostensibly by Cicero but probably dating from the third or fourth century a.d., is included as well. Here too is the "Handbook of Electioneering," a guide said to be written by Quintus to his brother, an interesting treatise on Roman elections. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

A Literary and Historical Treasure
Marcus Tullio Cicero (106-43 B.C.)was a man of well-to-do equestrian origins from outside of Rome who quickly earned his reputation as a lawyer with his eloquent oratory.A moderate conservative, he was a close friend of Pompey The Great whose politics he often agreed with.By the time these letters had been written Cicero had already been elected to the highest office of Consul and had saved Rome from the domestic insurrection of Catiline.It is said that one of Cicero's freedmen kept and published these letters after Cicero's execution by Marc Antony's men in 43 B.C.The letters came to be widely copied during the Imperial period and, that copies were eventually discovered by Petrach in the 14th Century. The Loeb library is unique in that its classical texts are printed in both the original Latin text and English side by side.The translations are quite good and were done by competent scholars of classics whose choice of language is accurate, clear, and modern.These hard bound volumes are small but their covers are durable: the paper is of good quality.

The first sets of letters are between Cicero and his 5 year younger brother Quintus.The value of these letters is that Cicero had never intended to publish these letters and their candidness offer the modern reader a unique window into the past. For example, Quintus was assigned to govern Asia Minor and Cicero, as his older brother, gives him friendly advice as well as news of his family in Italy.The paternalism from one brother to another in these letters is humorous and so timelessly human, "In your province, however, there are a great many who are deceitful and unstable, and trained by a long course of servitude to show an excess of sycophancy."It is these kind of documents that bring history to life: their candidness allows to understand them in a context that is more human.

I find the letters between Brutus and Cicero the most fascinating to read.The letters were written in 43 B.C. when Cicero was in Rome and Brutus in Greece.Both would die before the year had ended.Cicero wanted to find a way to legitimize Brutus' assassination of Caesar without deligitimizing his inheritor, Octavian.To obtain support from Rome, Cicero insisted that Brutus come to show his face in Rome and earn the respect he covets.Uncomfortable with leaving his control of the wealthy provinces Asia Minor and Greece in jeopardy to Marc Antony's army, Brutus asked that Cicero obtain more support and money from Rome first.To make matters worse, Cicero foolishly sought to enhance Brutus' position by achieving a compromise with Octavian.He as foolish because he failed to see that Octavian would obviously never compromise anything that would illegitimize his inheritance and title from his adoptive father, Caesar, no matter how much they both hated Marc Antony: Octavian' pretenses at being interested in Cicero's suggestions were simply attempts at buying time to position himself politically with Caesar's legacy which he inherited: a legacy that would, 23 years later, make him the undisputed master of Rome as its first Emperor, Augustus.Both Brutus and Cicero paid dearly for their miscalculations: Brutus would take his life at Phillipi fighting Marc Antony while Cicero's was taken by Marc Antony's bidding and Octavian's approval.Quintus, Cicero's brother, would also be executed along with his family.The tension of this dilemma is certainly felt in reading these letters.Suddenly, the vision of Brutus as a man whose name would become synonymous with savagery disappears as one can also see a man struggling with his conscience; between a sincere sense of republican duty against the agents of tyranny and the painful reality known all too well by Sulla that to convince Romans to act on your cause you must come to Rome and tell them so.

The Book Of Electioneering and the Letter To Octavian are widely believed to be of later periods and "forgeries."I use forgery as a loose term as it was typical for rhetorical scholars from Imperial Rome onwards to prepare mock speeches or arguments in a similar sense to Plato's 'Dialogues' with Socrates.The Book Of Electioneering is illogical because Quintus is giving Cicero, his older brother who had already been Consul, advice on how to run for office.Not only would such advice have been frowned upon, its hard to conceive why Quintus would even write such a text knowing it to be culturally unacceptable.The Letters from Octavian suffer more on historical inaccuracies in the text that indicate the writers lived in a time when the Republic was a fading memory.Overall, the rhetorical styles in these letters are cruder and reflect more of what would be found in the Imperial period as opposed to the Late Republic.

This is a great book to read and own as it is truly a precious window into the past of over 2000 years ago.The urbanity expressed in these letters brings a more human element to history that is rare to find.I strongly recommend this book to any one who enjoys exploring the human past. ... Read more