Autore: Ferguson, James R.
Titolo: Cicero: Crises of Humanism and Republicanism
Rivista/Miscellanea: Past and Future
Anno edizione: 2024
Pagine: 1-14
Parole chiave: Histoire - Storia - History, Philosophie - Filosofia - Philosophy
Descrizione: Marcus Tullius Cicero (106-43 BCE) was a Roman lawyer, orator, politician and philosopher who lived in the turbulent days of the Late Republic. As a 'new man' in Rome, he made his fame through major law cases and thereafter as a 'saviour of the republic' by stopping Cataline's attempted coup d'etat of 63-62 BCE. Beyond this, however, Cicero was a transmitter and transformer of a vast body of Greek philosophy into Latin via his numerous texts on philosophy, ethics, and rhetoric. Works such as his De Re Republica (the Republic) and De Officiis (On Moral Duties) sought to set forth a practical approach to government via a mixed constitution (including elements of kingship, aristocracy and democracy) and the idea of a concord of different orders, relying on a consensus of common goods shared within an educated community. He made important contributions to humanism and republicanism that would be taken up again in later ages. However, as a politician, he was unable to put this idea of a balanced and stable republic into practice. As the power of proconsular armies increased, this led to the rise of leaders such as Pompey, Crassus, Julius Caesar, Mark Antony and then the young Octavian (later on the emperor Augustus), often working extra-constitutionally. Cicero was unable to retain the friendship and clemency of Julius Caesar, and thereafter earned the hatred of Mark Antony, whom he had fiercely criticized in his speeches, The Philippics. In 43 BCE the agents of Antony hunted Cicero down, cut his throat, and brought his head and hands back to be nailed on the rostra in Roman forum. If, politically, Cicero was unable to protect his vision of a mixed and balanced Roman constitution, he was nonetheless a man who tried to stand up for great philosophical and political ideals. He was doomed not so much by his own limitations as by the nature of the age, a period when personal ambition and civil wars were tearing Rome apart. His successes and failures were not trivial, and had much more impact and long-term value than the trivial successes of the minor writers and selfserving politicians who surrounded him. [Author]
Link: https://www.academia.edu/121740013/Cicero_Crises_of_Humanism_and_Republicanism?email_work_card=title
Sigla autore: Ferguson 2024
Titolo: Cicero: Crises of Humanism and Republicanism
Rivista/Miscellanea: Past and Future
Anno edizione: 2024
Pagine: 1-14
Parole chiave: Histoire - Storia - History, Philosophie - Filosofia - Philosophy
Descrizione: Marcus Tullius Cicero (106-43 BCE) was a Roman lawyer, orator, politician and philosopher who lived in the turbulent days of the Late Republic. As a 'new man' in Rome, he made his fame through major law cases and thereafter as a 'saviour of the republic' by stopping Cataline's attempted coup d'etat of 63-62 BCE. Beyond this, however, Cicero was a transmitter and transformer of a vast body of Greek philosophy into Latin via his numerous texts on philosophy, ethics, and rhetoric. Works such as his De Re Republica (the Republic) and De Officiis (On Moral Duties) sought to set forth a practical approach to government via a mixed constitution (including elements of kingship, aristocracy and democracy) and the idea of a concord of different orders, relying on a consensus of common goods shared within an educated community. He made important contributions to humanism and republicanism that would be taken up again in later ages. However, as a politician, he was unable to put this idea of a balanced and stable republic into practice. As the power of proconsular armies increased, this led to the rise of leaders such as Pompey, Crassus, Julius Caesar, Mark Antony and then the young Octavian (later on the emperor Augustus), often working extra-constitutionally. Cicero was unable to retain the friendship and clemency of Julius Caesar, and thereafter earned the hatred of Mark Antony, whom he had fiercely criticized in his speeches, The Philippics. In 43 BCE the agents of Antony hunted Cicero down, cut his throat, and brought his head and hands back to be nailed on the rostra in Roman forum. If, politically, Cicero was unable to protect his vision of a mixed and balanced Roman constitution, he was nonetheless a man who tried to stand up for great philosophical and political ideals. He was doomed not so much by his own limitations as by the nature of the age, a period when personal ambition and civil wars were tearing Rome apart. His successes and failures were not trivial, and had much more impact and long-term value than the trivial successes of the minor writers and selfserving politicians who surrounded him. [Author]
Link: https://www.academia.edu/121740013/Cicero_Crises_of_Humanism_and_Republicanism?email_work_card=title
Sigla autore: Ferguson 2024
